Chrysler killed off the wagon versions of the Plymouth Valiant and Dodge Dart compacts in the United States after 1966, which meant that the only new small station wagons offered through the middle 1970s by American Dodge and Plymouth dealers were the Mitsubishi-built Colt and the Hillman-built Cricket. Meanwhile, American Motors was doing pretty well selling Hornet Sportabouts, so something needed to be done. That something turned out to be the Dodge Aspen and its Plymouth Volaré sibling, which debuted as 1976 models and included longroof versions. We saw a discarded Volaré wagon in glorious brown a couple of years back, and now it's the turn of a similarly brown Aspen wagon, found in a northeastern Colorado self-service boneyard recently.
Aspen got even more absurdly wealthy in the decades that followed the Dodge Aspen (which was built for the 1976 through 1980 model years), so Fiat Chrysler couldn't resist reviving the name on a luxed-up Durango with Chrysler badges during the late 2000s.
The chassis design was all new, though it still used an old-timey torsion-bar front/leaf-spring rear rig. The powertrains were essentially identical to those of the Dart/Valiant.
The transmission is the optional three-speed automatic rather than the base three-speed column-shift manual.
How much was the 1977 Aspen wagon? This one appears to be a top-of-the-range Special Edition, so its MRSP with 318 V8 and automatic transmission would have been $4,758, or about $25,403 in 2024 dollars. The cheapest possible 1977 Aspen wagon (with six-cylinder engine and three-on-the-tree manual transmission) started at $3,953 ($21,105 after inflation).
This car has some pricey options beyond the $270 ($1,442 now) automatic transmission, the biggest-ticket one being the $466 air conditioning ($2,488 in today's money).
There were some notebook pages with maintenance and repair items dating from the 1980s inside.
The Aspen/Volaré platform lived on, in slightly modified form, through the 1989 model year (when it underpinned such cars as the Dodge Diplomat and Chrysler Fifth Avenue). The final new Dodge wagon sold in the United States was the 2008 Magnum.
Hey, it's Dr. Dolittle pitching the Aspen wagon!
Consumer Reports: These are the best new-car Memorial Day deals
Junkyard Gem: 1977 Dodge Aspen Wagon
2024 Porsche 718 Boxster Road Test: Let summer season driving begin
Redesigned Nissan Murano interior caught in new spy shots
2023 Subaru WRX Long-Term Update: Some thoughts on ride quality
Mazda CX-5 hybrid coming later this year with new, in-house powertrain