As much as we joke and shake our heads at the cars of the late 1970s, there’s still some real entertainment value in watching videos like this which manufacturers made to showcase their cars against the competition. This 1977 Dodge Aspen vs Chevy Nova promotional film is one for the books because the cars are absolutely God awful and picking a winner is like coming out victorious in some sort of sad race to the bottom.
If someone put a gun to our head and made us pick, we would have grabbed a 1977 Aspen at the time. There’s no right choice but the Aspen at least had a few things going for it that the Nova did not have. The styling was slightly better and depending on how you optioned the sucker, you could end up with a weak suck car with a better tape and stripe package than the Chevy.
This had to have been a horrifying time to be in the domestic car business. The imports were running rampant over the American offerings with small cars that were attracting a generation of buyers that wanted something different and efficient to fit their needs. The Aspen and the Nova were indicative of their times in the fact that the cars were on older platforms and at their base had not changed much (if at all) over a span of several years.
It is often neat to look at the current situation of things and consider how history will remember it. Many of you were alive in the late 1970s. Did you all know then that it would be a time period of infamy as it relates to the American industry? We want to know…after you watch the video.
Weirdly, there’s currently a debate going in the forum about whether the Aspen / Volare platform was a clean slate design or a next generation of A-body. While I’m in the “next generation of A-body” camp myself, it was a very extensive updating and a lot more than a restyle. Unfortunately they were going for improved NVH over good handling…
I was 18 iassemqz7. I just assumed it would keep getting worse. A co worker ordered a new Volare station wagon with a 4 speed manual, trading in his Road Runner for a family car. We knew new cars were junk but he was certain if he took excellent care of it and got it Ziebarted it would be okay. It was not okay. Rust through in about 3 years. It looked like it was assembled at 430 on Friday. Everything went wrong with it.
Of these two, I’d take the Nova.
18 in 1977…no idea what happened in that first sentence.
As I said on here before I personally like the Aspens and Volares. I’ve had several that were quite good cars. I wouldn’t go as far as saying they were better in any way than my older stuff but most of the absolute ripping they’ve gotten over the years is in my mind MUCH undeserved. There were FAR worse cars out there made by ALL the brands.
My 76 R/T was a one woman owner car that sat outside it’s whole life yet somehow it didn’t have ANY of the rust issues I always hear about. Especially with the first year cars. Still had all the original body panels on it, original paint, original interior and had almost 200K on it and ran perfect and handled very well. Other than a set of tires when I first bought it and oil changes I don’t think I spent 2 cents on that thing in the 12 years I had it. Not bad for a $300 investment! Wish I would’ve never sold it.
Those cars were supposed to be a replacement for the Abodys. Other than being the same size and having the same basic driving feel they were a complete departure from the previous stuff. Nobody ever seems to remember that the cross mounted torsion bar deal and motor mount design change started with the 73 Bbodys. Funny nobody ever seems to complain about those cars.