“The hottest Dodge Aspen available”…if there was every a cynical statement, that’s it. There is truth to the statement…the 360 four-barrel Kit Car could knock out a 7.3 second 0-60 MPH run and a 15.9@88 mph quarter mile. For a brand new car in 1978, that wasn’t bad, but the problem is that the engine, transmission and the 245/60 tires on 15×8 wheels were wrapped up in a Dodge Aspen, a car that was going through the bad side of the word “recall”. It’s probably for the best that only 247 Volarés and 145 Aspens got the full-deal A67 Super Coupe treatment…not many people were probably willing to pony up the dough for a car that was being bashed as an instant-rust investment.
The thing is that these cars can be pretty decent, and we’re happy to see anyone that has the cojones to bring one out onto any kind of racetrack and is willing to flog it. If thousands of Mustangs and Camaros can get beat on, surely a Dodge Aspen that has some grunt is worthy of being shown off to a crowd…right?
The Kit Car and Super Coupe were two different packages. The magazines were quite pleased with how the F body handled.
247 blue Volare and 145 red Aspen Kit Cars. Code A43 The Super Coupes were similar but a completely different exterior package!
Rust was an issue for the 76 model and fixed by 77..
Had several F-bodys over the years. Bought my 76 Aspen R/T off the original woman owner who worked with my dad around 1989. It had NONE of the rust issues everybody talks about and never did since new.
It handled REAL good after I redid the front end with polygraphite stuff and put gas shocks on it. Because of the smog cam and emissions crap I could never get more than 17MPG pout of it but that 318 was NOT a complete pig. It would 60 foot as fast as my friends 69 340 4spd Dart but after that the show was over. It still ran consistent low 16s at Maple.
That car had over 180K on it and never needed anything. It ran perfect but I stupidly sold it when I bought my 77 Aspen SE with a Super 6 because I didn’t need 2 daily drivers. Oops!! Wish I still had it.