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Hey Charger! (book) | Reviews of Australian Valiants | Valiant Chargers | Other Australian Chryslers
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The Valiant made a place for itself in Australian motoring history, mainly due to the heroic efforts of Chrysler Australia's engineering team. Their six cylinder engines and special body styles, such as the Charger, Utility, and Drifter, made the Valiant unique and truly Australian, despite its USA roots. Though Chrysler eventually mismanaged its way out of Australia, the Valiant remains a presence, and its racing record in New Zealand is unparalleled.
Americans may quickly say that no such thing as the Hemi Six Pack existed - and, in the US, it did not. There were several Hemis and there were Six-Packs, but no Hemi Six-Packs. To be fair, like the current 5.7 Hemi, the name was more marketing than a description of the head design.
The Australian Hemi did not need eight cylinders to get muscle-car acceleration. With its six hemispherical-head cylinders fed by triple Weber carbs, it easily outdistanced even Chrysler's own 340 and 360 V-8s. Powered by this straight six, the Valiant Charger was until very recently the fast accelerating production car made in Australia -- and it came out in 1972.
Why did Chrysler not realize what they had? Why did they even let their Australia division disappear? Why did they let some of their top talent go to Mitsubishi? Their failure speaks volumes about their ability to see the obvious.
The first Valiant to hit Australia was the Q: a single Q was imported in 1960 for evaluation, but after it was sold it was wrapped around a tree. The main problem with the Q was the difficulty in converting the American version to right-hand drive, because the slant of the engine prohibited a simple gearbox move (see our engineering page).
In January 1962, after the Plymouth Valiant turned out to be a success in the United States (starting with its 1959 introduction), Chrysler created the R, a locally-assembled (from mainly American components) version. It had a single engine, the 225 (3.7 liter) slant six, which was still exciting at the time, and either a push-button Torqueflite automatic or a three-on-the-floor. It put out about twice the horsepower (145 vs 75) as the popular Holden and cost only about 10% more. This family sedan had a quarter mile time of 19.5 seconds and a top speed of 145 km/h. The vehicle was essentially an American Valiant, with styling that was to influence the 2005 Chrysler 300. 1,009 R series Valiants were made.
The S series took over two months later, with a larger gas tank, better braking, lower maintenance, and a three on the column manual transmission. 10,009 S Series were made.
If you are interested in the Q, R, and S Valiants, you may want to visit the American-oriented parts of this site - see our home page for many, many details. The R and S Valiant club caters for these early models.
The AP5 (Australian Production 5) took over later, in 1963, with a more conventional look, a clean front end, and a serious investment in Tonsley Park. There was also a Regal version, adding some luxury. The AP5 was based on the equivalent American model.
The AP5 (Australian Production 5) was much more Australian than the R and S Valiants, hence the Australian Production (AP) name. They shared general body designs with the 1963-1966 American Valiants, but had a slightly different roofline and grille and trim differences. All these were 4 door sedans, 225 (3.7 litre) Slant Six engines, with Carter Carbs (except AP5, which had a Holley 1920). After the AP5 sedan was released they released a wagon and a V-8 (273 ci) engine. Chrysler couldn't build enough AP5s to meet demand; total sales were 49,440 in 22 months.
Australian Valiants from about the AP5 on used electrical components from non-Chrysler sources, notably Bosch and I believe Prestolite. (Mike Sealey) The Australian-built vehicles were also sold in New Zealand and South Africa.
In March 1965, the AP6 came. The TorqueFlite was now column-shifted. The speed advantage was evaporating, as the car became heavier and the competitors became stronger. Then the American 273 V-8 was introduced in the AP6 Regal body. It had a premium price, a top speed of 107 mph, and a 17 second quarter mile time. Its performance dominated the market, even with the smooth, reliable TorqueFlite.
Responding to Ford's optional V-8s, Chrysler introduced a 160 bhp version of the slant six as a $60 option on all Valiants. Later, they also made the V-8 an option ($210) at all price levels, though disc brakes were now required (in a page from Ford's book). Prices now ran from $2500 to $3650.
The Valiant Utility ("ute") is now rare as there were only 2000 built, and many were used by farmers and as work vehicles. The utes came with a slant 6 engine out of the factory. (Thanks, Louise Cleary).
The AP6 was superseded by the VC series in 1966. The VC model actually shared the same doors and structure as the AP6, but cleverly the Australian designers added a new nose and tail to give the impression of a much longer car. There was also the first long wheelbase option, which were known as either the VIP or Regal through the VE, VF, and VG Series.
The VE model was based on the new 1967 A body (108" wheelbase, up by 2") but combined Plymouth Valiant midsections with a Dodge Dart-like front design. Again, the sedans had a uniquely Australian roofline (the roof's trailing edge overhanging a complex-curved concave rear screen slightly reminiscent of contemporary Triumph sedans). Rear end design was, as in the VC design, totally Australian.
Chrysler Australia produced a wagon version missing from the post-1966 US range and, at VF time, a hardtop coupe which used the Valiant front end (VFs and VGs had front and rear design unique to Australia) on the US Dodge Dart body (it used the latter's longer 111" wheelbase and had the just detectable kinked body crease at the hipline).
The VIP began with the VE to fill extended wheelbase luxury sedan market (virtually invented by Ford's ZA Fairlane); the name derived from an upmarket full-size American Plymouth introduced to compete with the LTD and Caprice in the mid '60s. I also believe the wheelbase was initially unchanged (i.e. 108") but probably around VF time it was extended to 112" and the styling made more distinctive (quad headlights, standard vinyl roof, frenched rear screen = US limousine!).
The VF was introduced in early 1969, and the 273 was replaced by its close relative, the 318 (which put out 230 hp gross, 150 net, and would last through to 2002). The VF's heavier bulk countered the increased power, and the VF ended up being only a little faster with the 318.
Chrysler also brought out the sporty Pacer, powered by a high-performance slant six, beefed up suspension, floor-mounted four-speed, snarly exhaust, and built-in tachometer. The slant six put out about 170-180 hp, and the quarter mile was about 17.8 seconds.
For more Pacer information, click here.
The VG series brought new power (but not a new look) in 1970.
Work on the powerful 245 was started in 1966 for the Australian market, with surprisingly good results. The engine, produced in 215, 245, and 265 cubic inch versions, took amazingly well to increased carburetion. Equipped with that six, the VG could run the quarter mile in 16.4 seconds; the Pacer, with a four-barrel carb, could do it in under 16. Sales were slow, probably due to the conservative body; the performance was beyond much of the competition, and the Six-Pack was still in the future. We have an interview with one of the engine designers coming up soon!
About [200] VG hardtops came with the buttress-like sail panel extensions shown in the South American "Charger" article; possibly it was an idea someone had and adopted for both markets? These were known as "Mexicanas" in Australia; maybe it was thought that we wouldn't understand anything relating to below Latin America (as in say, "Brazilia")! - BT (Clare Richards' is a 1970 VG, It's a 1970 VG, auto, V8 (318). It has the Regal 770 dash. 2-door, pillarless.)
The long wheelbase models in the VH, VJ, and VK series were known as CH, CJ, and CK. These long wheelbase models were known as the "Chrysler by Chrysler" and were loaded up with luxury items unseen in Australian made cars. They were available as four door sedans, or as a 2 door hardtop (with an enormous boot/trunk), and as they resembled elongated Valiants they still have a strange curiosity value today. They were introduced as a replacement for Chrysler Australia's previous "top-of-the-range" offering, the Dodge Phoenix, which was imported to Australia as a CKD (Complete Knock Down) kit, and assembled in Australia (using a variety of Australian Valiant parts, eg door handles, etc). The "Chrysler by Chrysler" range tended to be fitted out with power seats and windows imported from the USA.
Somewhere in the 1970s the Chrysler Centura, based on the Simca, came out.
The VG gave way to the VH in 1971. Though only slightly longer, the VH was five inches wider and designed to look even larger. It had three engines: the 215, 245, and 265. The 265, a bored out 245, used the same pistons as the 318, while the 215 was meant for economy.
In 1962, Valiant stood for performance. By 1971, it was a conservative, staid family sedan. Just as the American 340 Duster's superb performance failed to impress Americans, the performance of the 265 Pacer failed to impress Australians.
Enter the Charger. Built on a shorter wheelbase, with a clean, sporty look, it was 130 kg lighter than any Valiant sedan, but it still had room for five. Click here for much more information..
When the Australian designed VH series was introduced in 1971 the range of body styles was vast, there was the short wheelbase 2 door (Charger), there was the long wheelbase 4 door and 2 door (CH) as well as the standard wheelbase 4 door sedan, long wheelbase 2 door hardtop, both short and long wheelbase station wagon and utility (pickup) - a unique situation like this has not occured since.
The VH Pacer had a higher performance 265, and it set a record for being the fastest mass-produced four-door sedan with a six cylinder engine produced in Australia (the record was indisputed until 1988). The key to its success, other than a well-designed and well-made engine, was the addition of triple Weber side-draft carburetors, tuned by Weber and Chrysler engineers in Italy.
The 1972 E49 Charger was another significant move forward, and not just because it was the first to get a four-speed manual gearbox (from Borg-Warner). The E49 pushed the 265 engine to a full 302 hp (better than most V8s), and had the quickest acceleration of any Australian production car - 14.4 seconds in the quarter mile, six seconds and change 0-60, respectable even when compared to American big-blocks or modern, hot sport compacts.
The 340 V-8 was Chrysler's last high-performance V-8 intended for cars. In the American Dusters, it was a match for many big-blocks, but was often underestimated in the US (and in Australia, where it was the first high-performance V-8 to be offered in a Valiant or Charger). With an automatic, its performance was better than the manual XA GT Falcon. Zero to sixty (mph) was 7.2 seconds, and the quarter mile was an impressive 15.5; top speed was over 200 km/h. The camshaft was nonperformance (same as that of the 318) and the exhaust was restrictive, so it was capable of much more.
In 1976 the CL Series of Valiants was launched, it had the same wheel base as the VH,VJ and VK, and the long wheelbase Chrysler by Chrysler was dropped.
The CL series introduced the first Valiant "Panel Van" model, which it was claimed was the result of intense market research by Chrysler Australia (GM Holden and Ford had been offering panel van derivatives since the 1960s). No-one was suprised when this panel van turned out looking like a Utility with a roof. In the CL series sports versions of the Panel Van and Utility were offered during the panel van craze of the late 1970s (to compete with Holdens "Sandman" and Ford's "Sundowner") and these were known as the "Drifter" (a critic apparently claimed the name described the torsion bar/leaf spring handling). Drifters were fitted with a Charger honeycomb grille, wide side stripes, blackout treatment around the side windows, and styled steel wheels, the panel vans have a huge black triangular plastic fitting behind the front door window that resembles an air vent but may not have any function. Drifters also were probably fitted with upgraded suspension, and any number of other options. Drifter Panel Vans are fairly common, but apparently less than ten Drifter Utilities were actually produced, and are now quite rare.
Television Valiant Van (by Chris Keating)
A one-off Valiant panel van was custom-built by Chrysler in 1971, for use by Crawfords Productions. Crawfords were producing three weekly police drama series, one of which ("Division 4") was set at a suburban police station. Suburban police stations in Victoria used modified panel vans, termed "divisional vans," as patrol vehicles. The body modifications consisted of the rear tailgates being removed and replaced by a single door, and bars fitted to the windows of the van section.
Crawfords had just switched their vehicle allegience from Holden to Chrysler, meaning that Valiants would be used in all their programs from that point on; so Chrysler custom-built them a one-off VH "divvy van" for use in "Division 4"!
Registered LDH-018, it was also used in episodes of "Homicide," "Matlock Police," and "Bluey," by which time (1976) the front sheet-metal had been upgraded to VJ. The van was also used extensively in the first year or so of "Cop Shop" (1977), and was last seen in the background in an episode of "Special Squad" (1994).
Making this even more interesting, Dodge was making small commercial vans in England at the time!
When the CL series Charger disappeared in 1978, the last sports model Valiant was the CM series Valiant GLX. The name "GLX" is still used by Mitsubishi Australia, who by 1978 were half owners of the Valiant factory (taking full ownership in October 1980), and Valiant under bonnet compliance plates were starting to have "Mitsubishi" printed on them, and referring to the "Chrysler" name as being used "under license from Chrysler America."
The GLX had substantially upgraded suspension, refered to as Radial Tuned Suspension. Allegedly, a Valiant was shipped to America to have the suspension tuned further, and it was returned with Chrysler stating that the Valiant had better handling than any large car they had produced. The GLX was also fitted with a 4 speed floor shift Borg Warner gearbox, and the Electronic Lean Burn (ELB) 4.3 Litre Hemi 6 cylinder; this combination was in the right hands able to achieve fuel economy of over 30 miles per gallon (Imp.). Nevertheless, customers after sports handling had left the Valiant for the newer generation Australian cars, such as the Holden Commodore and XD Falcon. The GLX can be identified by a black stripe down the side (similar to the "Drifter"-style stripe) that ends at a "GLX" badge on the rear C-pillar.
The CL and CM models lost sales and performance. Later cars were designed to look bigger than they were, which played well in the US, but not in Australia. By the 1970s, buyers in both countries wanted large interiors, small exteriors. There were also quality problems each time a model was introduced. There was insufficient support for racing. The Charger died in 1978 as part of the "muscle car scare," and took with it much of the Valiant's sales, and all of Chrysler's production performance except limited edition American turbos and the Viper.
Competition from Toyota and Nissan hurt, though the Sigma, a Mitsubishi with a Chrysler badge, sold well. There was some talk in the late 1970s of bringing K-cars (Reliant/Aries) into Australia, but it never happened. The last Valiant was the N, and it never saw production. Mitsubishi took over Chrysler Australia.
Mitsubishi Australia has no records of the Valiant, aside from some sparse sales literature. There was only a little information on the Valiant itself.
Maybe one reason for the Valiant's fall from Australian (and North American) grace was Chrysler's lack of support for those who remembered (or owned) them.
When Valiant production ceased, apparently ex-Chrysler Australia engineers were in a daze for a few years, eventually concentrating on designing the Mitsubishi Magna. Rather than working out ways of reducing the size American cars to fit Australian tastes, in the case of the Magna, they widened a front wheel drive Sigma, to give it the interior room that Australians wanted, and created a success story that was adopted by Mitsubishi head office in Japan, and is now exported round the world (as the Diamante).
Chrysler is slowly entering Australia once again. With their new management, they may avoid making the same mistakes again that caused them to lose the glory; on the other hand, maybe not!
rose wrote: The 215/245/265 sixes were rugged and durable (though rattly and noisy) and all went well once they got "up on the cam," I'm talking standard engine here. They were not true hemispherical heads, more like a canted valve head (like a Cleveland 351 or bb Chev). They were pretty gutless down low but boy they took off once they got a few revs up!! You always knew when a Valiant started over here - a distintive low geared starter motor gave the game away! [Gavin Farmer and Gary Bridger noted that the "slow takeoff" may have been due to an overly steep first gear on three-speed models.
I strongly suggest that you visit the Valiant Chargers of New Zealand page to get further insights and information on the Valiant Charger and its admirable racing record.
Also visit the Dodge Dart site, which has its own Australian section!
The primary source for this page was Hey Charger!, sent by Robert Pascale. Much information was added later by Darren Ponton of the City of Perth, Bryan Thalbourne of the Australian government, and many others.
This page describes the Australian Chrysler Valiant series - Chargers, Pacers, Utes, Safaris, and more variants of the A-Body Valiant line (sold as Plymouth Valiant in the US).
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