> MPC 1980 Road Runner

[2000-cvpi]

I wonder if there is an Aspen conversion kit out there. My second car was a 1980 Dodge Aspen in dog poo brown with a faded brown vinyl top. It wasn't quick at all with the slant six. For years I hated the car, but lately I have developed a soft spot for it.

[mnwildpunk]

I honestly think that happens with everyones first couple cars they grow on you I think it has more to do with the memories then the car honestly. The aspen was Dodge's F-body right? So the only difference really would be the grille/headlights and tail panel I would think

[stavanzer]

Well, now the Volare, is coming after all.

So, those of you an this forum who wished for one, will get it.

Yea!

[dartman]

Sounds like good news for me.I'll be getting a couple four five of them....

[gray07]

theres a volare/aspen site on facebook

[Nova-ss]

so MPC is going to reissue the kit?

[charlie8575]

so MPC is going to reissue the kit?

That appears to be the case.

I'm in for one or two.

Charlie Larkin

[unclescott58]

I'll be buying one for sure. I love Volares.

My first new car was a '77 Volare Custom 2-door coupe. Slant-six with the Torqueflite. Spitfire Orange with a black vinyl roof from the "B" pillar forward. Black vinyl interior w/silver vinyl inserts. A very sharp looking car for the time. I still have a '77 Volare promo in the same Spitfire Orange.

i do not like the '80 Volares as much as the '76-'77s. But, I do like them better than the '78-'79s. Since I have the '77 promo, I be happy with the '80 kit.

Edited December 22, 2015 by unclescott58

[Craig Irwin]

I'm in for at least one.

[Bob Ellis]

I hear they are going to do a special version where the tops of the Volare front fenders are rusted through.

[dartman]

My mom had an 1980 Volare and the windshield surround had rust as well as the fenders at one year 

old.The dealership replaced the fenders once and the second time they used glass fenders.They fixed

the windshield twice under warranty.After four years the rest of the car was gone.

[DaveM]

I hear they are going to do a special version where the tops of the Volare front fenders are rusted through.

"The car that killed Chrysler"   We had a 1976 Volare station wagon with a 318.  Less than a Year after we bought it, we were taking a family vacation in the U.P.  We went to take the canoe off of the roof, and I bumped the antenna with the rope holding the front of the canoe.  I looked up, and told my Father that I had just bent the antenna.  He said he might be able to pull it straight, and he pulled it right off of the car.  The bracket under the fender was gone, and within a couple more Months, the tops of the fenders were showing blisters.  After a little more than a year or so, you could see holes right through the tops of the fenders.  My Father was so mad when Reagan bailed out Chrysler Corp.  He thought that money should go to the poor owners, who were still making payments on cars that were already heading to the scrap pile.  Of course, he payed for his up front with cash, and ended up driving it into the Eighties, where I took over for it's last three or four years of life.  The car ran pretty well, but it was a rust heap.  I took it because I was painting tanks for a propane company during the Summers, so it was the perfect working car for that.  I used my "Good" car to drive downstate to College in the Winter.  The back was roomy enough for several paint trays, rollers, buckets, scrapers and my work partner and I took that thing all over Clare, Gladwin and Roscommon Counties for three Summers, not having to worry about spilling or smearing paint.  By the time it totally gave up the ghost in 1985, I think the spilled paint and the wood grain vinyl were the only things holding the car together.  My Father and I took a good look and decided safety needed to trump budget.  The car got hauled off, and actually buckled when my buddy's wrecker lifted the front end off of the ground.  The engine, which was the original with about 200k on it was still in a pickup, plowing snow five years later.  The early Volares were probably the worst cars in an era full of very bad cars.  Up here in Michigan, the '76s were already showing so much rot in the first year and a half that it hurt Chrysler's ability to sell any more of them.  I think they sold (And lasted)  much better in the South and West than they did up here.  By 1978 or so, the gig was up for the Volare/Aspen platform and getting pretty grim for Chrysler.  I remember looking through classifieds with people actually offering money to get rid of those cars and their payments!  Our neighbor ended up giving his Aspen and $750 to our Pastor to get out from under the last year of payments and buy a Ford!  The Pastor was too poor to say ,"no" to an almost free car, but his wife was mad!  She didn't want to be seen in that heap, even though it was still mechanically sound.  It was white, and they were the worst for showing the rust off.  I still refer to those cars as, "The Yugos of the Seventies".  That said, I will buy a couple of the kits.  They did well in NHRA Stock, and they made some neat street machines for the guys that could find rust free Southern cars.  There are still a couple of them doing damage in bracket and footbrake races up here.  

['70 Grande]

I hope they put the fender flares and the rear side-window louver pieces into this reissue like they had in the "Fuzz Duster" release!

[Rob Hall]

I hope they put the fender flares and the rear side-window louver pieces into this reissue like they had in the "Fuzz Duster" release!

I wouldn't be surprised if the reissue is nearly identical to the Fuzz Duster (except probably now molded in white), as that was the only '80 release I believe...

[Crusader101]

 

 

The Volare was a good looking car but a tin can on wheels. Perhaps even worse was the K-car.....expensive parts like the foreign produced alternator and radiator gave out after a few thousand miles and cost more to replace than the monthly car payment. Most owners ended up with 2 car payments, the car note itself and then the monthly repair bill (which usually exceeded the car note).

Edited December 23, 2015 by Crusader101

[unclescott58]

"The car that killed Chrysler"   We had a 1976 Volare station wagon with a 318.  Less than a Year after we bought it, we were taking a family vacation in the U.P.  We went to take the canoe off of the roof, and I bumped the antenna with the rope holding the front of the canoe.  I looked up, and told my Father that I had just bent the antenna.  He said he might be able to pull it straight, and he pulled it right off of the car.  The bracket under the fender was gone, and within a couple more Months, the tops of the fenders were showing blisters.  After a little more than a year or so, you could see holes right through the tops of the fenders.  My Father was so mad when Reagan bailed out Chrysler Corp.  He thought that money should go to the poor owners, who were still making payments on cars that were already heading to the scrap pile.  Of course, he payed for his up front with cash, and ended up driving it into the Eighties, where I took over for it's last three or four years of life.  The car ran pretty well, but it was a rust heap.  I took it because I was painting tanks for a propane company during the Summers, so it was the perfect working car for that.  I used my "Good" car to drive downstate to College in the Winter.  The back was roomy enough for several paint trays, rollers, buckets, scrapers and my work partner and I took that thing all over Clare, Gladwin and Roscommon Counties for three Summers, not having to worry about spilling or smearing paint.  By the time it totally gave up the ghost in 1985, I think the spilled paint and the wood grain vinyl were the only things holding the car together.  My Father and I took a good look and decided safety needed to trump budget.  The car got hauled off, and actually buckled when my buddy's wrecker lifted the front end off of the ground.  The engine, which was the original with about 200k on it was still in a pickup, plowing snow five years later.  The early Volares were probably the worst cars in an era full of very bad cars.  Up here in Michigan, the '76s were already showing so much rot in the first year and a half that it hurt Chrysler's ability to sell any more of them.  I think they sold (And lasted)  much better in the South and West than they did up here.  By 1978 or so, the gig was up for the Volare/Aspen platform and getting pretty grim for Chrysler.  I remember looking through classifieds with people actually offering money to get rid of those cars and their payments!  Our neighbor ended up giving his Aspen and $750 to our Pastor to get out from under the last year of payments and buy a Ford!  The Pastor was too poor to say ,"no" to an almost free car, but his wife was mad!  She didn't want to be seen in that heap, even though it was still mechanically sound.  It was white, and they were the worst for showing the rust off.  I still refer to those cars as, "The Yugos of the Seventies".  That said, I will buy a couple of the kits.  They did well in NHRA Stock, and they made some neat street machines for the guys that could find rust free Southern cars.  There are still a couple of them doing damage in bracket and footbrake races up here.  

The rescue of Chrysler came during the Carter administration. Not Regan.

[Casey]

'spose this's what the chrome'll look like:

['70 Grande]

That chrome tree photo makes me curious.  It looks like it has 2 carbs and the 2-carb intake manifold, too.  But I don't see an air cleaner anywhere on the tree, so what kind of air cleaner would go over that dual-carb set-up?   (I realize that this dual-carb set-up is not a factory stock set-up but a custom option found inside this kit).

[pack rat]

That chrome tree photo makes me curious.  It looks like it has 2 carbs and the 2-carb intake manifold, too.  But I don't see an air cleaner anywhere on the tree, so what kind of air cleaner would go over that dual-carb set-up?   (I realize that this dual-carb set-up is not a factory stock set-up but a custom option found inside this kit).

The air cleaners are just above the carbs....yes, they look like headlights

['70 Grande]

That explains it, thanks Mike!

[1972coronet]

The 1980-only square headlights . This grille was shared with the M-body Diplomat .

The weakest point of the 1980 "Road Runner" was its 318 engine (the 360 was a 4-door only option in 1980) . That rip-snortin' 'teen put out a tyre tread peeling 120 hp !

I can't wait for this kit to come out . I bought the Fuzz Duster kit from eBay a few years back , and have been apprehensive about building it until my skills improved .

[Luc Janssens]

The appearance of this model could improve dramatically if only Round2 would re-tool the headlamps (chrome buckets with clear lenses) but since this kit is a niche within a niche, I doubt the benefits will outweigh the tooling costs.....cuz the 1960 Ford Ranchero "Ohio George"  was the sole tool they did a grille/headlamp update with....and that's 2-3 years ago already.

Luc

 

 

[disabled modeler]

Looks cool...Id like to find the mid 70s Dodge Aspen/RR kit to make a replica of a Aspen R/T we once owned.

[Rob Hall]

Looks cool...Id like to find the mid 70s Dodge Aspen/RR kit to make a replica of a Aspen R/T we once owned.

There was no Aspen kit.  MPC started w/ the '77 Volare then did a Road Runner version of it, then the '78,' 79 and '80.

[Tom Geiger]

The appearance of this model could improve dramatically if only Round2 would re-tool the headlamps (chrome buckets with clear lenses) but since this kit is a niche within a niche, I doubt the benefits will outweigh the tooling costs.....

There's enough differences between the 1980 and previous Volares to make it cost prohibitive.  The interior is all different,  the fenders would need reshaping, new grille etc, and there were also differences in the tail panel.

As was said, this Volare was the basis for the Diplomat etc and I understand that the front fenders were actually the same part.  The 360 was available in the 4 door because it was a popular cop car in Canada.   Perry's resin was rumored to have a 4 door Volare master but it never came to be. It also would be cool to do an Aspen conversion.