From The Classifieds: 1962 Chrysler Valiant S series

Chrysler was a little late joining the locally-built six-cylinder family car race in Australia, but its early Valiants were considered to be a cut above the rest when they arrived in early 1962

Hitting the streets in 1962, Chrysler's R series Valiant R arrived after its two major competitors in Australia, the XK Ford Falcon and FB Holden. Yet its departure from then-contemporary styling norms made a dramatic contrast that set it on something of a pedestal at the time.

Compared with the more conservatively-rendered XK and FB, it featured one of the airiest glasshouses ever seen on a US-designed car, along with a uniquely sculpted profile and a boot lid that featured the R series Valiant’s most recognisable signature – the prominent, dummy spare tyre cover.

The Valiant also came with some distinguishing mechanical elements, including a torsion-bar front suspension, TorqueFlite push-button three-speed automatic transmission and a brawny 3.7-litre inline six-cylinder engine that stood head and shoulders over its local competitors in terms of capacity and output.

Producing 108kW and 292Nm, the Valiant was dubbed a “road rocket” by Australian motoring writers of the era who were weighing the Chrysler against the existing Holdens and Falcons. The Falcon mustered only 67kW/187Nm from its 2.4-litre six-cylinder engine, while the Holden was positively scrawny with just 2.3 litres and 56kW/163Nm.

The competition in the US was a little different, where General Motors fielded the radically engineered, rear-drive Corvair against Valiant (sold under the Plymouth badge) and Falcon. In its early days the Valiant was not received with particular favour by American buyers. Some US motoring writers described the boldly-styled car as “Valiant by name” but little else.

The car gained a distinct status in Australia, where its individual looks and unquestioned performance advantages elevated it above its more mundane competitors. However, it was so unpopular in the US that it was quickly replaced by a slightly modified S series that scrapped the dummy spare and revised the front end.

The result in Australia was that Chrysler only sold 1008 R series Valiants before the updated S series followed just a couple of months later. (The S series, which made 10,009 sales before being replaced by the more regular-looking AP5 in June 1963 is more familiar, but still far from common almost 50 years after its local introduction.)

Thus R series Valiants are pretty rare these days but the odd example does come up, as in the case of this Essendon (Vic) 1962 S series that is described by its current owner (the car’s third) as being in “original” condition.

The odometer is showing just 129,440km and the car still has its original service books to help support this.

Although the Valiant does not pretend to be a concourse car, its largely original condition and service history help score ticks for buyers looking to do a restoration. The white manual-transmission S series is, according to the owner, driven these days only on the proverbial weekends.

The fact that the car will be sold for $15,000 without a roadworthy certificate is indicative of its current running status, but it is pretty unlikely any prospective buyer of one the most distinctive cars from the beginning of Australia’s truly competitive six-cylinder family sedan era would be looking at mere transport.