Wagon Week EP28 - Road Runner Station Wagon?

I had a '76 Volare coupe, with the 225, and, I can say from experience, the 100 mph speedo was highly optimistic.

That dog loves you Steve lol

Take 2 Aspen and call me in the morning....they dissolve easily in water....😂

Never thought I'd watch a video with a volare station wagon with fake wood panels! But Mags makes it interesting!

It is the nicest car in the Junkyard.

The Volare/Aspen mopars made very good taxi cabs back in the 80s when I lived on Long Island, my very abused 225 slant 6 kept running and never let me down.

I still wish they would have made the Load Runner, I bet it would have been a hit! Thank you as always sir, keep healing. ~ Chuck

We had a 78 Volare wagon with the leaning tower of power and the late 70's version of Rally wheels when I was a teen. I took my first driving test in it, got my first ticket in it, went over 100 MPH for the first time in it (110mph!!!!!) My mom lost a drag race to a kid on a bicycle in it, so they traded it for a Buick.... lol

Steve, you never fail to make me learn something with each video!! This is great stuff!

Being a Dad and having a practical vehicle, I always thought it would be cool to have a performance version of a wagon, or if I had the skills and resources...building my own...I thought it would be cool to create a Taurus SHO wagon or a BMW wagon/touring with an M3 drivetrain. I think Plymouth would have made some sales had the Load Runner made it to production.

Another day closer to seeing you back in the yard. As stated last time: Looks like Katie is joining the episodes again. She is one very, very friendly dog. You can tell she is well treated and friendly. I wouldn't mind her in all of the episodes. Yes, correct, the Super Six had the BBD (Ball and Ball two barrel) and the regular Slant would have a Holley one barrel. Both were wretched carburetors and notorious stallers. My friend had two of these cars, both Aspens. The first was a 1979 with a 318 V8 and the second was a 1978 with a Super Six. Both were four doors. We got the VIN, we win: H for Plymouth Volare, L for low price class, 45 for two seat station wagon, D for 225 CID Slant Six with two-barrel, aka "Super Six" aka "Leaning Tower of Power", 8 for 1978 model year, F for Newark, DE assembly and the rest is the production sequence. The plant opened in 1938 as a parts depot, then it produced military equipment for a time and by 1957 it was producing vehicles. It closed in 2008. This one was made on Monday April 3, 1978 at about the 12th hour. No tag, can't brag, but possible code PY1 Jasmine Yellow exterior paint. Correct, many of those test vehicles were "wringers" and they had some tricks and adjustments made that may not have been done when it left the assembly plant. The '79 Trans Am 400/4 speed car used for test articles from back in the day was rumored to be a "wringer" and had been warmed over a bit before testing it. I think what they wanted to show was what could still be done with some tuning. Yes, those fenders were rot boxes and ruined the reputation of the car. My uncle had a 1976 Aspen and by 1978 the fenders were rotted. They were fixed by the dealer with a bit of a fight, and my uncle never bought an American car after that. He was a WWII veteran and actually bought Hondas for the rest of his life. His brother-in- law, my other uncle fought in the Korean War and he also stopped buying American made vehicles and bought a Hyundai as his last vehicle. I worked on both of their last cars and both said, "Won't buy an American car again. Too many problems". As you noted, Chrysler was in big trouble by 1978-1979 and the lack of quality in their vehicles showed. Unfortunately, it's often said that cars of this era made import buyers for life.

Back in 1982, I worked at a dinky little, hole-in-the-wall used car lot. With a growing family, we were in the market for a used wagon. One day, the manager brought a Volare Premier wagon that he had bought at auction onto the lot. The man was NOT happy! Yes, the car ran fine. Mo, it didn't have any (apparant) rust damage. What it DID have was the standard 3-speed manual transmission, something that he didn't realize when bidding on the car! It was a nice looking car, black with a wine red leatherette interior. It looked to have been well thakn care of, with nice, shiny paint and clean whitewalls. And, of course, the drivetrain. The 3-speed was attached to the "Super Six" that Steve mentioned. A luxury-ish wagon with a 6-cylinder, 3-speed stick drivetrain wasn't likely to sell very soon, and it didn't. I took it home overnight to show it to my then-wife, but she nixed it right away because of the stick. Hey, that was a selling point for me! A week later, we bought a '73 Chevy Laguna wagon from the dealer. Pigger, smoother, more powerful. Plus, I'm a Chevy man at heart. The previous owner had done some major performance work on the engine, so it was a real sleeper! But that's a story for another time.

I have a picture of my Aunt and Uncle while on holiday in Northern Ontario 1979. In the background is a Volare Wagon wood grain and all, same colour too. Good one Steve.

Friend had 318 4spd o.d. 2.71 sure grip 78 volare wagon . Favorite car ever Did it all irreplaceable!

I had 78 and 80 Aspen wagons. Two 78 sedans. Slant 6 with the stick. Best car ever!

Still want to find a Dodge Aspen like my mom had. V8, floor shift automatic, baby blue with t-tops, a white vinyl quarter top and bucket seat interior. Loved that car

yep remember my dad had a 1977 Plymouth Volare wagon and it was equipped with the 360 4 barrel engine.

The family wagon.....well 3/4s of it anyway. But you Sir! 200% and peeling out!! Thank you for the video again Steve, I love to hear you describe how & why BIG auto did certain things (when one can figure it out). But you have always help celebrate our history. The Detroit Lions football team (for example) lends credence to that great city and helps us all remember how important that city and way of life was & is. You Sir do the same thing in describing what was on the menu, and the lifestyle that surrounded all of us during those fast times. Never stop Steve, you bring much momentum along with you. Thanks brother.

Keep these coming until you are ready for the yard crawl again.

20 years ago I acquired a '78 Dodge Aspen station wagon from a co-worker's backyard. I had a trailer and he just wanted it hauled away. The lean-burn computer quit was the only thing wrong with it. It was very straight and solid, no rust! It cleaned up nicely. But under the hood was a factory 318 topped with a Thermoquad carburetor. Surprise! That made the car VERY interesting. That is when I figured why Dodge Aspens are killer in the NHRA Stock Eliminator class. I got the car running with an older Thermoquad carburetor and standard electronic ignition to bypass the lean-burn system and drove it around for a while. A car with much potential recognized by others. I traded it for an old non-running Barracuda