1976 Dodge Aspen R/T from North America - Comments

*YAWN* Sounds like everyone just wants to show what they know. I don't mean to offend, but a simple google search can tell you all that. A muscle car doesn't have to be that way from the factory. True, the term came about to describe cars with big engines and agressive body style; but later, people were stuffing bigger engines into smaller cars. Proof positive; It's what's inside it that counts. Factory combos can always get improved. What else can you call them? Hot Rod? That's reserved for '32 Roadsters and the like of that era. The term "Muscle Car" is used for a lack of better term. Please, get over it.

Re the June 29th comment: well, yeah, any car that has a big motor dropped into it can be fast if you know what you're doing. A Ford Pinto with a 351 in it? Yeah, a fast car, but does that make all Pintos muscle cars? No, and neither does the fact that an Aspen or Dart or whatever (with a much bigger motor than was ever available from the factory) is a fast car mean that all Aspens/Darts are muscle cars, particularly not a Dart GT 6-cyl as one commenter is claiming.

We're talking about stock cars here, not modified.

Interesting comments. You can tell who has or hasn't had an Aspen or Volare to play with. I've had 7 variations 225 to 440. What exactly makes a muscle car a muscle car? Aspen and Volare were indeed last ditch efforts for some type of muscle car image, but do the emission additions mean they weren't really muscle cars? The Super Coupe's were stock with police package 360s. For their time they were indeed faster or just as fast as most cars on the showroom floors. Quite frankly I think it is a moot point. My original Volare was a 2 door coupe premier with a simple slant six with no modifications and you may not be impressed, but it blew the doors off of many so-called muscle cars. So you may choose not to like them, but they were and still are impressive to work with so don't be so closed minded. My current project with my son is putting a 74 440 in an 80 Aspen cop car which works for me. Catch me if you can.

It doesn't matter if it was "fast for its time". A 1928 Ford Model A was fast for its time, too. If somebody dropped a 429 into a Model A, it still wouldn't be a muscle car. It would be a built-up hotrod, an oddity, a highly modified machine, perhaps even a "funny car" but definitely NOT a muscle car.

It's like saying that Ford Escorts are muscle cars because you saw one once that some guy had put a blown 351 in. It's not a case of some people being close-minded, it's a case of some people trying to liberally stretch the definition to include everything they want it to. Your 440 Aspen will be an awesome car... but it still won't be a muscle car.

That's OK, just call everything a "muscle car" and the term will soon cease to mean anything at all.

Just like what happened to the terms "sports car" and "classic car".

I just bought a 76' Aspen Super Pack & soon will complete a ground up restore on it. I did not buy it & restore it to call or pass it off as some 70's want to be! I did it to keep cars like it alive & remembered at shows & cruises. I will not try and show it or claim it as something it was not!

I have a 78 Road Runner with a 340 mag, all black with orange strips, done a lot to engine, all the way down to the wheels, pushing 550 hp. Very fun to drive and turns heads.