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By nasty vj
– Darren Witte
(Darren
Witte is a contributor to
Slick 6 Packs Magazine – Australia’s only
Chrysler magazine)
Chrysler
cars have been in Australia since 1921 with a group
of 18 independent distributors forming Chrysler –
Dodge – De Soto Distributors (Australia) Pty Ltd in
1935. The company gained enough capital to acquire
TJ Richards & Sons, an Adelaide based motor body
building company which was the main competitor to
Holden’s body builders (Holden’s later became part
of the General Motors group of companies). In 1937,
the distributors were the first company to produce
an all steel sedan in Australia.
During WW2
the company turned its skills to producing munitions
and aircraft components, but returned to automobile
production in 1945. The company was entirely
Australian owned until 1951, when the Chrysler
Corporation bought a controlling interest and
changed the name to Chrysler Australia Ltd. The
company began a rapid expansion, with a goal of
producing vehicles with 90 percent local content.
The company
is best known for producing the range of Valiant
vehicles between 1962 and 1981. This began when
sales of large US based cars began to rapidly lose
ground to the smaller, locally produced vehicles of
Holden and Ford. Company officials decided to import
1008 US designed 6 cylinder compact sedans to test
the market.
The launch
of the R-Series Valiant in January 1962 firmly
marked Chrysler Australia as a public favorite. The
new model was sold out within days of its launch.
The buying public impressed with its 145 HP, 225
cubic inch slant six engine, 94 Mph top speed and
generally high build quality. This was at a time
when Ford delivered a best of 90 HP (and had
developed a poor reputation for durability) and
Holden could only muster 75 HP out of its 148 cubic
inch 6 cylinder. The R-Series was also notable for
its ‘cats eye’ tail lights and fake spare wheel
cover molding pressed into the trunk lid.
3 months
later, Chrysler Australia released the S-Series
Valiant, a revised version of the R-Series, with
round tail lights, smooth trunk lid, better brakes
and a larger fuel tank. 10,009 S-series were sold
for the remainder of 1962.
By late 1962
Chrysler Australia began work on the new Tonsley
park facility in South Australia, where it could
boost annual production to 50,000 cars. 1963 was the
first year that cars were manufactured, not just
assembled, in Australia. That first locally
manufactured car was the AP5 (AP standing for
Australian Production). The car was an entirely new
design for that year, although the driveline was
retained from previous models. This was also the
first model to offer more than a 4-door sedan, with
the introduction of the ‘Safari’ station wagon in
November 1963.
In 1965 the
new AP6 model was introduced, and it marked a number
of firsts for both Chrysler and Australian cars. The
first Australian built V8 car was released in August
with the 273 cubic inch motor as the available power
plant. The engine developed 180 HP and pushed the
Valiant to a top speed of 109 Mph. The other
significant moment was the release of the ‘Wayfarer’
utility in November, Chryslers first Ute!
In 1966 the
styling team at Chrysler entirely changed appearance
of the range to give it a longer, lower look and
created the VC model. The car looked entirely
different, even though it was basically the same
underneath as the AP5/AP6. A number of mechanical
and comfort refinements ensured the Valiant retained
sales success selling 65,634 cars that year.
However,
trouble was brewing as Ford had just released the XR
Falcon with an optional 200 HP V8 available across
the entire model range. The new Ford was bigger and
more powerful than the Valiant at a time when the
public was in love with big, powerful cars. These
problems were compounded when Holden (GM) released
the 307 cubic inch V8 in their model range in early
1968.
The release
of the all-new VE model range in October 1967 was
Chrysler Australia’s response to the threat posed by
Ford and Holden – and a very successful response at
that. The model was larger than ever, a mix of Dodge
Dart and Plymouth Valiant, again with further
refinements and a remarkable variety of options
available to the buyer. The VE was a hit with
motoring journalists, winning Wheels magazine’s
prestigious ‘Car of the Year’ award.
March 1969
saw the introduction of the VF series of Valiants, a
simple facelift of the VE, but with 3 important
milestones for the company - namely, the release of
the high performance Pacer model, the introduction
of a 2 door hardtop and the new 318 cubic inch
‘Fireball’ V8 developing 230 HP.
The Pacer
was a 4 door sedan distinguished by its black and
red grille treatment, body striping and ‘Pacer 225’
insignia. It was powered by a high compression
version of the 225 slant six engine, equipped with a
2 barrel carburetor producing 175 HP.
In 1970 the
release of the VG model was notable not for its
minor body enhancements, but for the introduction of
a uniquely Australian engine – the 245 cubic inch
Hemi 6 cylinder. The Hemi is an overhead valve
straight six design with hemispherical combustion
chambers. The engine was more 16% powerful and 40
lbs lighter than then slant 6 it replaced. Three
versions of the engine were available, a base engine
producing 165 HP, a 2 barrel version with 185 HP and
a high performance version available only in the
Pacer, producing around 195 HP.
1971 was
perhaps Chrysler Australia’s greatest year. The new
Hemi 6 engines were expanded to include 215 and 265
cubic inch versions. The new VH model was again a
complete new model, which was entirely Australian
designed. The company claimed $22 million and 4
years had gone into the design of the new range.
Chryslers trump card came in the form of the Charger
coupe – a short wheelbase sports model that was a
truly new design, and was immediately loved in the
showroom. Australian motoring News touted:
“There can
be no denying that the Charger is the most handsome
car Chrysler has produced, and probably the best
looking car ever produced by an Australian
manufacturer. For this reason alone it should be a
solid success…”
At the time
of its release, the base model Charger was the
cheapest Valiant in the model line-up. The success
of the Charger can be easily likened to that of the
Mustang at its release in the US. Within 12 months
of its release the Charger accounted for half of all
Valiant Sales!
In August
the E38 R/T Charger was introduced with a 280 HP
‘six pack’ Hemi engine, a high performance version
of the 265 6 cylinder fed by 3 dual throat Weber
carburetors. It was available dressed with stripes,
blackouts and R/T decals - a true muscle car. In
June 1972 the new E49 R/T was released, a similar
vehicle but with engine output now reaching 302 HP,
it was Australia’s fastest accelerating car at 14.1
seconds over the quarter, a title it retained for
nearly 2 decades (not bad for a six cylinder!).
The VH also
saw the introduction of the 340 cubic inch V8 (in a
special limited run of Chargers) and the 360 V8.
The release
of the VJ model range in 1973 saw the model range
cut from 56 to 18 types, but the option list opened
up to compensate. The model range (and its
successor, the VK range in 1975) were a minor
facelift that primarily focused on quality control
problems. The R/T Charger and Pacer models were
dropped due to pressure from the Government and
public to rid the streets of high-powered ‘supercars’.
The
introduction of the CL range in 1976 saw a
significant facelift to the ageing VH platform,
despite promises of an all-new Valiant. The US
Plymouth Aspen/Dodge Volare was costed and styled,
but failed to materialize due to Chryslers
struggling financial position. This was evident in
the cut back to 7 model variants and 4 engines. The
writing was on the wall for Chrysler as they
struggled to compete with Ford and Holden with the
cars criticized for poor handling and numerous other
problems. Interestingly a CL was shipped to the US
for engineers to remedy the handling issues, and was
sent back to Australia untouched with the comment
from the engineers “It’s the best handling Chrysler
we have driven.”
The CL range
saw the on off introduction of a Panel van – the
Drifter – in an attempt to capitalize on a fast
growing market segment.
The last
model range – CM – was released in 1978 and was a
minor facelift of the CL model. Gone were the
Charger, Utility and Drifter. Chrysler was churning
out more ‘badge engineered’ Mitsubishi’s than
Valiants. Finally, on August 28 1981 the last
Valiant rolled off the Tonsley park assembly line.
The white automatic sedan was Valiant number 565,338
and had the words “the last barstard” (sic)
scratched into the sound deadener in the boot. The
car was presented to Purnell Brothers dealership and
has never been licensed. The car was recently sold
at auction (with only 26 Kms traveled!) for $37,500.
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