Our 1979 Dodge Aspen ultra-low mile time-machine in depth review and drive.
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- Опубликовано: 7 июн 2024
- Reece and I do an in-depth review of our 1979 Dodge Aspen that has only 31000 miles on it. We go over every inch of this car, inside and out and then take it for a drive. Reece gets into the spirit by wearing some period correct clothing and I try on some clothing I found in the trunk.
We bought this in August of 2022 with 29,734 miles on it. Sure it's a pretty basic model with Slant 6, AM radio, bench seats and no A/C but we love it just the way it is.
This car is an unrestored survivor that runs, drives and looks how it did 44 years ago. It was even riding on the 30 year old Goodyear Tiempo tires that were probably it's second set.
00:00 Pulling Out of Storage
03:00 Quick Walk Around
03:18 Reece Being Cool
03:38 Intro
05:00 Exterior Features
09:20 Undercarriage
10:30 Engine Compartment
13:40 M-Body Comparison
16:00 Trunk and The Pants
22:38 Driving Impressions
39:30 Interior Features
43:10 Wrap Up
45:32 Reece Being Cool Again 
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The transmission whine and the starter sound great to me. 76 Dart sounded similar
Takes me back every time as well since I had a ‘72 Duster in HS. Only thing I couldn’t put on video is how similar the interior smells.
@@stage0garage thanks for the content by the way
That key-reminder buzzer, the speedo, and all those push buttons really bring back some memories. My parents had a '76 Aspen.
That is a really nice Aspen, Such a cool time capsule you have.. The shirt and glasses really do make this video a hit.. Great video, thanks for sharing this ride with us.
Great review ! This brings back good memories of my parents 76 Aspen sedan . These are getting rarer to find . I hope one day i can find a Aspen/Volare 4door . I currently own and drive a 81 Oldsmobile Delta 88 sedan which I love to drive and takes me back in time growing up in the 70s and 80s .
Thank you! They are hard to find and I had a very similarly optioned ‘72 duster. That and how clean it is was really the only reason I snagged it.
Very nice Aspen coupe! I really like the color which is pretty unusual to see. You were very fortunate to find such a survivor. I own a '78 Aspen station wagon survivor with 30K on it that I bought 12 years ago near Pueblo Colorado. I bought it sight unseen and my friend and I flew out to get it and then drove it home to Pennsylvania. It has the original Super Six and four speed overdrive transmission, and amazingly, the pretty rare AM/FM/CB transceiver with power antenna. It is the one year only "Classic Cream" light yellow with butterscotch color interior. I love it and don't ever anticipate getting rid of it either. These old F bodies are getting very hard to find and are also becoming more popular. Really enjoyed your video of your coupe. Good luck with it!
They are getting rare because nobody considered saving them…probably like saving a Dodge Neon. I had a friend that had a coupe in that color scheme. Nice you have the wagon, wagons are very popular now.
Very nice Aspen!
I have one like that in the same condition and same trim, but is Mexican version called “Dart” and with the V8 360.
It wasn’t kept in garage for all these years, but The dry weather of México city kept it in perfect shape!
For 78 and 79, Special Edition was separate options for interior and exterior. If I recall correctly, the badges were included with the interior option, which was the steering wheel, seating, door panels, woodgrain instrument bezel and glove box door, etc... and the exterior package was the color side mouldings, landau roof, upgraded wheel covers, etc... Yours is Special Edition exterior only.
Sounds about right…ours is very basic interior-wise
What a primo car. That thing is beautiful.
Thanks! I’d daily driver it but it’s just too much of a time capsule.
On the Diplomat with an Aspen front end thing. That was an actual option in Mexico where these were called the "Dodge Dart". Numerous examples of 80-81 Dip 2 doors with Aspen fronts exist down there
Interesting, I didn’t know it was an actual option…although I’m sure Reece knew.
@@stage0garage these were 80 Aspen fronts on 80-82 Dip 2 doors. Not 100% certain if any 4 doors or wagons had the option
What nice condition, looks great and brings back a lot of good memories. Just watched your Lil Red build too. Just subscribed. Thanks.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed our videos, it’s a good way for us to have even more fun with our hobby.
Sweet car, and nice 70's threads to go with it
Cool part is…that’s the kind of stuff he wears now. When we were younger, I didn’t get that fashion. But I’m starting to understand the appeal.
I would give it a valve adjustment but do it while its warmed up and running. A slant 6 should tick slightly but not that loud. Great find !
Hmmm. Maybe I’ll take a look at that. Thanks for the suggestion
The Aspen was an amazing car. My buddy, back in the day, had a green Aspen, Special Edition that his grandpa gave him. The velour seats sucked up the pot smell. Sitting in that car was like floating in bong water. Thanks for that memory.
Lol. Glad I could help!
This reminds me of when I had a 1977 Gran Fury Sport Suburban which was the same color as your Aspen. I bought it off my father in 1982 then kept it for 5 years. He was the original owner as well.
I’ll bet that was a beast, looks huge!
I loved mine.
They are nice and were Motortrends car of the year for a reason.
I would daily drive this no problem. I seem to remember the ASPEN/VOLARE models being on the news back then due to customer complaints of early rust showing on cars that were just a couple years old. Thanks for the video.
If only it had the buckets. There’s a video on YT from a newscast about the rust.
Very nice car and I mean no insult when I tell you this story. A kid in high school in the late 1980s drove a Dodge Aspen and I had a crappy Ford Granada 250 CU Six. Everyday I would yell out to him, "Hey man, hows your Ass been (Aspen)." I feel stupid now but it was funny at the time kind of like someone using Ben-Gay. Sweet car no insult intended.
No insult taken! Granadas are another car you don’t see anymore because people just didn’t consider it worth saving.
@@stage0garage My Granada came from grandparents in Boston so no factory air, rust from one end to the other and unlike the ads nobody confused it with a $20.000.00 Mercedes. He always had a quick comeback when I yelled down the halls of school, "Hey man, How's your Ass Been. (It was better then my piece of crap) Thanks for taking no insult just stupid high school kid who thought he was funny.
I use to drive the Dodge Aspen 4 door with the 318 motor as a police car.
Must be a retired policeman
They give the engine a bit more ooomph for police service?
@@stage0garage Four four barrel carburetor, they weren't bad cars, smaller inside then the plymouth fury and grand fury, but the bodies rusted out badly after just two years.
Damn, I want that.
I know the feeling! Sooo many cars I want to own.
Lovely survivor. My uncle worked for Goodyear and I remember the Tiempos which was considered first all season tire and probably eliminated the need for snow or winter tires. He had them on all of his cars and I believe they were made from 77 well into the mid 90's when it was slowly phased out by various versions of the Vector and early versions of the Assurance. My uncle said the Tiempo, Vector and assurance line of tires have or had the same build with differences in tread/compounds.
Thank you. If they went until mid 90’s then the tires on it were from ‘89, ‘93 and ‘95 probably. Couple i bought the car from was lucky they avoided a blowout!
She’s a beauty. This was definitely a low point in the American automobile industry.
Yeah we love it! They thought it was going to be a high point but just couldn’t pull off the execution. But this one seems to have been made right.
Not that bad, because at least we could afford new cars. Most of the problems of cars of this era can be a DIY repair. This was a slow car, but Japanese cars were pretty slow too. This platform lasted through '89
What are the perforations on top of the dash? I see defrost openings, so are those speakers for the radio?
Yep. It’s got a speaker in front and one in the rear.
i KNEW he was gonna put the key in upside down before he did it. dont get me started on saab.
And when I’m in my Reatta I put it in upside down even though that’s correct…I’m still trying to reach in the car to open the hood.
The Saab story is something to sob about.
You guys seem to be just a little too "sweet" on yourselves! But eventually, you get down to the car itself. I owned a 1976 Aspen four door. Slant six with the "Baby" torqueflite transmission. I bought it in the mid 1980s--it had 70,000 miles at that time...I drove it pretty trouble-free, for another 90,000 miles, and finally sold it for about what I had paid for it-$900. Basic transportation, very comfortable, and 22mpg (I was using it mostly on the freeway, as my commuter car.) A work friend of mine, told me that my car was just a "cab for losers" Whatever, it was a good car!
I had a friend who had one back in the 80’s and thought the same thing. But now I think it’s pretty cool. I can probably drive this thing 20k miles and not have it lose any value. As far as us being ‘sweet’, that’s just how we normally are so if that’s bad there’s probably not much we can do :)
Blue jeans western shirts and cowboy boots were pretty popular back in 1979. Even non cowboys would wear that type of clothing. Did you ever watch smokey and the bandit or Dukes of Hazzard from 1978,79
Oh man I remember all that stuff as a kid…and don’t forget the turquoise!
Correction!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Saw it wrong! Now I cry!!!!
I thought about making it a super six but I really don’t want to modify it at all (other than when I removed some egr crap)
And it's a "SUPER Six"!!!! Two barrel carb/manifold % 2&1/4 inch diameter exhaust. 10+ h.p. & torque. May actually help ,mileage overall.
If only!
single or dual exhaust?
Single
Nice Aspen. Too bad it wasn't an SE. They had really nice interior. Although very nice, it doesn't really show just how luxurious these cars could be when optioned up.
Yeah we actually ran cross an SE at a car show this weekend that had all the options. Would definitely make that a daily driver.
Don't pay no attention to the bull crap on here mostly jealousy, I had a 79 with the SE package. Had the 318 with the thermo-quad four barrel. I would give anything to have another one, that car is super nice man.👍
If it only had an ASC optioned manual crank or electric sunroof,gauge package,and bucket seats.Still,nice find.
Agreed. I think it’s saving grace is how nice it’s been preserved. Otherwise I’d have passed on it.
@@stage0garage I'm on the hunt for a : Duster,Dart or Volare- Aspen with a sunroof, factory AC, rally gauges and bucket seats....most important,no rot. Picked up recently a low mile 86 Eagle wagon with zero rot,so there has to be a zero rot Mopar out there too,kwim .
@@dmcnamara9859 I’d say west coast (OR, WA) are good areas to search (away from coast tho) since stuff seems to hold up better over there. Good find on the Eagle! Saw one here in WI not long ago that was pretty clean.
Hola tengo uno año 78 y quiero conseguir esas platinas cómo puedo hacer soy de Venezuela please
He gets some of his plates off eBay.
I actually like the look of the aspen. Too bad it has the huge bumpers imposed by the govment. I can't believe you wore those pants for the whole drive. You guys are hilarious, and I loved this video of a cool old car. I also have a few old mopars.
Lol thank you! It’s way more fun when we do the videos together.
1979 Dodge Aspen? No, I just can't. We try so hard to keep the kids off drugs, lol. Great show though.
Lol! Thank you!
Had a 1977 Aspen R/T. I like the look and ride of the car. But, sadly poor quality.
I had a ‘78 Diplomat with questionable quality…I’m guessing this one had to have been a decently built one or it wouldn’t have lasted this many years.
" and speaking of trim..."
Nobody ever got any in an Aspen.
😂
Drop an LS in it....
But I LOVE the \6!
No air will help drivability & mileage.
It’s a very comfortable ride without it at least. Not like that Reatta of mine.
All I got to say is 360
It would be sweet…but it’s so untouched I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
My dad bought one new in 79
And did he keep it for awhile?