Yahoo Autos The Spirt of ’76: Drive Small the Comfortable Way, in This Plymouth Volaré
Replacing the humble Plymouth Valiant after a decade and a half, the new Volaré arrived fresh on the scene for 1976. While the Valiant, a darling of Consumer Reports, was a paragon of practical transport, it was also deeply unsexy, a pitfall the Volaré hoped to avoid. One could hardly turn on the television back then without being serenaded by Italian crooner Sergio Franchi singing the eponymous song, only with the lyrics altered to promote the new Plymouth as a “small car with the accent on comfort.”
Yes, this is what passed for a small car, at least for Chrysler Corporation in the mid-1970s.
In contrast to the parsimonious Valiant, the Volaré could be optioned up with a thick frosting of luxury features. Unfortunately, the Volaré also drew a contrast with the reliable Valiant by racking up a record number of recalls in its debut year.
Presumably those issues have been sorted long ago for this example, for sale by a private owner on Hemmings. It has traveled only 35,000 miles and has avoided the premature rust that afflicted so many of its brethren. Finished in B5 Blue, it swings Seventies style with a half vinyl top and matching body-side molding. Inside, there are high-back bucket seats in white vinyl, but unfortunately no A/C. Under the hood, Chrysler’s long-serving 225-cubic-inch slant-six is paired with a three-speed automatic transmission, as bulletproof a powertrain as you’ll find in a 1970s Mopar product.
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Now this Volaré again tempts Americans to “drive small, the comfortable way”-or at least, the Seventies way.
“The Spirit of ’76” is C/D’s Fourth of July holiday series highlighting some of the most awesome cars for sale from our nation’s bicentennial year.
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