Regular Car Reviews: 1980 Dodge Aspen

“Aspen and Volaré were introduced in 1975, but they should have been delayed a full six months. The company was hungry for cash, and this time Chrysler didn't honor the normal cycle of designing, testing, and building an automobile. The customers who bought Aspens and Volarés in 1975 were actually acting as Chrysler's development engineers. When these cars first came out, they were still in the development phase.
“Looking back over the past twenty years or so, I can't think of any cars that cased more disappointment among customers than the Aspen and the Volaré. … But the Aspen and the Volaré simply weren't well-made. The engines would stall when you stepped on the gas. The brakes would fail. The hoods would fly open. Customers complained, and more than three and a half million cars were brought back to the dealers for free repairs – free to the customer, that is. Chrysler had to foot the bill.” ---Lee Iacocca, Iacocca: An Autobiography (pg. 160)

[VECORlt]

So this is the official horror movies car that always refuses to start.

[trevrcRs]

I think you need to sign on with Rockstar and have your own in-game Radio/TV show in GTA.

[joegavin]

"The Dodge Aspen makes arriving a victory." genius

[jamespringle]

I had a 77 Volare, the trunk was so rusted out that I lost a full sized spare tire threw the gapping rust hole.

[YakoffShmirnoff]

You should make more creepy phone calls to automotive personalities.  Put one in every video

[sidefx]

I just found these, these reviews are fucking insane, and they keep getting better and better.  Some of this stuff is just fucking brilliant.

[qdHazen]

How Patrick George kept a straight face for that long is a modern mystery.

[michaelramsey]

"This is a 1980 Dodge Aspen."
_CLUNK_

[MrAtaristic]

The slant-six is the engine for the apocalypse, nothing can stop that old beast. If you are one of the types that wants to get a car to keep in storage at a secluded location in the middle of the forest, just in case society collapses, get a Chrysler with a slant six, if you can manage it, one with the manual transmission.  a close contender would be the AMC straight 6 four liter.

[Justin-ykdu]

One finger steering, so your 12 year old could be your designated from the local sketchy bar.

[md_vandenberg]

My brother bought a '76 Volare from an estate sale. 48, 000 miles on the clock and damn near everything was original. AM radio with a single speaker in the dashboard. No slant-six, this had a proper 318. Car rode like it was on a cloud and I can assure you the steering effort really was a one finger job.
We wound up destroying the 7.25 rear-end from too many burnouts. Twice. 

[SergioLambo]

That phone conversation with Patrick George was gold.

[gefiltepaprika]

Don't knock the Slantsix. It may be weird, but it always starts. It will always get you home. The trick to starting it is to pump the gas pedal 12 times and then hold it to the floor. Keep it held down when it catches until you have all cylinders. It'll drive like it has a governor until it warms up. I've gotten a slantsix to start at 40 below without being plugged in. They're amazing and also have absolutely no power. They always start.

[nooranik]

Sure the /6 has problems, but I would argue no modern engine comes close to the burtality that engine could endure. I had a truck with a /6 that hadn't moved in ages I pulled it out of the field it was sitting in and drove it almost like a daily. The only major parts I had to change were the carb, replacing it with the same carb re manufactured, and a starter. The beast was bullet proof. Also, due to its compactness and the fact every car that had a /6 had a V8 option, you had massive amounts of clearance to work on that engine in the event anything did every need to be repaired. I love the /6 despite its flaws and eccentricity.

[sirstrongbad]

I remember hearing tales of the Slant 6's legendary durability.. such that when they were doing infomercials in the 90s at 2am for some miracle oil additive that was so good you could drain all the oil out of it and dump sand on the valves and it would keep running because this additive was AMAZING... GUESS WHAT ENGINE IT WAS!?..

[mikeadams]

I had a 79 Volare with a slant 6. It didn't have enough power to pull a greasy string out of a cat's ass, but the engine way out lasted the car.

[jongeddes]

Both my vehicles have AM only radios. You get caught up on your talk radio in rural areas like the one I live in lol

[Cyr]

the one side view mirror on the dodge aspen reminds me of that bathroom mirror that girls use to pluck their facial hairs

[tombraver]

The "Every cop stake out in 80's-90's gangster movies" car.

[Reaper]

This is how Top Gear USA should be like.