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The Grizzled Veteran: This 1980 Dodge Aspen A38 Has Gone From Stand-Up Cop Car To Shady Racer!


The Grizzled Veteran: This 1980 Dodge Aspen A38 Has Gone From Stand-Up Cop Car To Shady Racer!

For most people, the only cars that Mopar produced after 1971 that mattered were police package specials. In the midst of bloated C-bodies, K-cars and cowboy performance trucks, the police units still kept a bit of respect going for Mopar. The magic that had been the Polara/Monaco Pursuits had trickled down into the B-body platform, which kept the big-block intermediate flame going until 1978, and when that died out, the E58 360 cubic inch small block took over. It was no barn-burner but it would get the job done, and when placed into the lighter-weight Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volaré, performed very well…at least, by late Seventies standards. The two codes that the truly demented hunt out on production tags are A38 and AHB: depending on what year the vehicle is, those are the two codes that call out a Police package FJM Mopar. And on the options tag of this 1980 Aspen, A38 is present and accounted for.

J.D. Posey is the owner of this former upright citizen. He bought the car….oh, nearly twenty years ago or so. He handed off $300 to his father and took possession of the former cop car and by 2001, the car had been built up into something interesting. Under the hood is a 380 horsepower crate 360 from Mopar Performance, backed up to a 727. The rear axle is now an 8.75″ unit from a Super Bee, a move that J.D. made after blowing apart a few 8.25″ units.  That’s all…no real trickery, nothing fancy hidden, just a standard FJM performance package wrapped up in what looks like a car that was drug out from behind the barn and repowered.

So why is it on BangShift? It’s not my love of weird Mopars…I mean it when I say it, I’m not that big a fan of Aspen/Volarés. I can dig a sleeper, but what catches you about J.D.’s car is two things. First, it’s exhaust note. I’m very familiar with these cars, both stock and modified, and the noise this Aspen makes when the foot goes to the floor is something else entirely. The Aspen gets gutteral, barking out a bass note as it charges forward. The other is it’s history, which the rear door glass on either side speaks for.

Every sticker: MONEY WINNER. It wasn’t the fastest car on the strip, but it’s consistent. It behaved the same every last time. The ruse this car pulls must be a riot as he drives this old Dodge around Athens, Alabama. The patina isn’t faked, how could it be? This Aspen is what you would expect every local legend car to be like: built to look like a rube’s machine, capable of embarassing a hot shoe at a stoplight, and predictable to a fault. It drives to the track, gets radials put on out back, runs, changes back into street shoes, and drives home. It’s beautiful.

The F-body Aspen and Volaré still have a tainted reputation, to this day, for the rust issue. But the truth was, after the disasterous 1976 run, Chrysler Corporation went full-kill on damage control, implementing a new process for rustproofing that worked better and was more ecologically friendly. It didn’t matter, however…1980 was the last year for the F-car, and with four years of public outcry over rusted fenders, even brand new, this squad must’ve been thrashed, mistreated, and left for dead simply because it was one of those rusty Mopars. I see this car, then, as the cop who has been on the force just a little too long, has gotten a little too cold, and will just as easily shut someone up than bring them to the station. It’s gruff, it isn’t for everyone, but bet your ass, it works tirelessly.


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3 thoughts on “The Grizzled Veteran: This 1980 Dodge Aspen A38 Has Gone From Stand-Up Cop Car To Shady Racer!

  1. Raymond

    Nothing after 1971? What about 72 Road Runner/Chargers with 440, 74 360 Cuda/Challengers,fastest truck in 78/79, any turbo Shelby/GLH, gotta keep an open mind!!! Still better than anything from GM and Ford at the time.

  2. RockJustRock

    The E-58 could be had in F bodies and more in any trim, not just police. Plus it was the only new car package with dual Catalytic Converters in ’79.

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