from approximatly 76 to 80 ,dodge made the aspen. there was a sport and a rt option. was there a model that came with 3 shifters in a center council as an automatic? 1 shifter was first gear and 1 shifter was second and 1 shifter was park thru drive. i was about 8 or 9 yrs old and every bit a car nut . my neighbor friend’s cousin was approximatly 16- 18 and had just stoped over to visit. he pulled up in what i now guess to be a SPECIAL EDITION aspen or something vary similar, with this type of shifter set up and it completley looked dodge/stock. i remember looking at it thru the driver door and pointing it out.my friends cousin knew what he had and was quite proud! this would have been around 1981 summer/ give or take a year. does anyone know this to have been avalible?
Brother owned a Volare’…and my Dad owned a Aspen…Don’t remember that option…It might have existed. But it could very well have been aftermarket.
What I do remember about those cars…They needed a LOT of maintenance. Engine was great (Slant-6)…Just EVERYTHING else needed to be replaced or repaired within the first 50k miles.
I can’t speak for the Aspen, but the Cutlass Supreme 442 of that era came with the Hurst Lightning Rod shifter which was a triple stick.
My wife had an Aspen wagon as a company car. Nothing unique about the car at all. I think it was a bench front seat and the shifter was on the column. The Aspen and Volare were mid sized cars that just used standard Chrysler parts. They weren’t bad cars, but they had no new technology and pretty mundane styling. If they had fancy versions, or sport versions they didn’t stir any excitement with car enthusiasts, no hemi’s etc.
I think your recollection is likely some modification that was not standard equip. I don’t think they put 4WD or AWD on these cars so no need for more than one shift lever.
They weren’t bad cars
Matter of opinion…sorry but these were LOUSY cars. SO MANY PROBLEMS…Carburator, power steering problems, paint pealing, warped fly-wheel, door handles falling off, leaky windshield, rusting out after 2 years and 40k miles…Those were just SOME of the known problems with those cars. My brother-in-law who was a Plant manager at the time owned one…and even he couldn’t believe how poorly made this car was.
I don’t think they put 4WD or AWD on these cars so no need for more than one shift lever.
AWD or 4wd was NOT an option for these cars.
I do know that there was a V-8 engine available for the Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volare. One of my colleagues had a Plymouth Volare station wagon with the 318 cubic inch V-8 engine. I think there were some performance models with the Chrysler 360 V-8, but I’m not certain about that.
It is too bad that these cars were so poorly assembled and had such severe rust problems. These cars did have roomy interiors and a good sized trunk. The Plymouth Volare and Dodge Aspen replaced the Plymouth Valiant and Dodge Dart which had been good cars.
As I said this was a company car and we only had it for a year or year and 1/2 at most. It had marginal power, ran poorly until it warmed up (standard for the era), and the space inside was small for the size of the car. It was heavy and got poor gas mileage for a “mid-size” car. We didn’t have it long enough to experience all the problems. I have no problem calling it a junky car. The slant 6 was generally a good motor so it had that going for it.
It is too bad that these cars were so poorly assembled and had such severe rust problems. These cars did have roomy interiors and a good sized trunk.
I thought they were FANTASTIC vehicles. I liked the style…handled nicely…and it was very difficult to beat the Slant-6 for reliability…But within months of ownership…brother and dad were experiencing a LOT of problems. They had this known Carb issue (actually the float). It was so prevalent that many companies were offering aftermarket kits and rebuilds within the first 2 years that car came out. My brothers Volare’s would die every time he made a left turn. The float was sticking and would stop the gas flow when a left turn was made. I looked at getting a rebuild kit…The kit was something like $25…But I was able to buy a complete rebuilt carb for $30 with a new float.
A friend’s mom had one of the R/T Aspens. But it got wrecked before we became friends - so I only ever heard about it. It was definitely a V8, not sure about shifting. Uncle Turbo, it had nothing to do with 4WD, it was not a transfer case lever, it was a setup like the Cutlass’ Hurst multi-lever deal, just don’t know it it was stock
There was a hyper version of this car with a 360 (?). It was supposed to be pretty fast for a pollution plumbed car and it had lots of bolt on plastic that made it look like a semi nascar.
I do not know about the shifter but the Dodge imports made by Mitsubishi had a manual transmission that had 2 shift levers. It was suppose to be for power and economy. If you wanted to look like you were driving a KW or a PETE you jack with those 2 sticks and act like you had an 8 or 10 speed trans.