From The Classifieds: 1974 Chrysler Valiant Charger XL Sportsman

Campaigned at the same time as the Holden Monaro and Ford Falcon hardtop coupes, the Charger owed its basics to the four-door Valiant sedan – with one major difference compared with its main rivals: It was clearly

Valiant-derived from the front bumper to the windscreen, but was all its own from there to the sloping roofline, C-pillar “sails”, the vertical rear window and the blunt rear deck.

And where the Holdens and Fords shared their wheelbases with the donor sedan models, the Charger had its own, shorter wheelbase (2667mm against 2819mm for the Valiant sedan) designed to create a more nimble, lighter (more than 50kg) vehicle that still happened to supply enough space in the back seat for at least a couple of extra passengers.

And it made full use of the company’s penchant for delivering throaty, triple Weber carburetted six-cylinder “Hemi” performance engines where its competition relied on V8s.
This gave rise to some interesting nomenclature: In a challenge to any lover of tongue-twisters, a fully specified VH series E38 Charger was correctly titled as a “Chrysler Valiant Charger R/T E38 Six Pack Track Pack”.

Undoubtedly the prime road-going Charger was the 225kW/441Nm 4.3-litre (265 cubic inch) four-speed manual transmission R/T E49 model that was developed for competition. With this in mind, a Track Pack option included items such as a dual-filler 160-litre fuel tank, unassisted steering, a limited-slip differential and ROH alloy wheels.

For its time, the E49 was blindingly fast. It was clocked at 14.4 seconds over the standing quarter mile (400 metres) and could reach 60mph (97km/h) in 6.1 seconds.

On the racetrack, the E49 Charger was a serious challenger to Ford’s XY GTHO Falcon and Holden’s XU-1 Torana, particularly on the hallowed grounds of Bathurst in NSW.

Through to its eventual retirement from Chrysler’s model range in 1978, the Charger was gradually emasculated through a preponderance of less-athletic versions – although today, just about any version has emotional appeal.

Which brings us to this 1974 VJ series four-speed manual-transmission Charger Sportsman offered for sale in Ferny Creek, Victoria, for an asking price of $37,000.

The Charger Sportsman was an XL-based limited-build edition released in 1974 with the standard 151kW/355Nm 265 engine and four-speed manual transmission. It was painted in a red/white combination and had a startling interior featuring tartan-style seat trim, colour-matched with bright red carpet.

This example, which is now on just its third owner, is quoted as having the original 265 cubic inch engine, original trim and carpet as well as – apart from a couple of areas that have had a “blow over” after minor rust repairs on the lower corners of the doors – the original red/white paintwork.

A total (unverified) 163,823 kilometres has been covered in four decades by the Charger, prompting the owner to claim it “Would be very hard to find a more original unrestored Charger Sportsman let alone a standard VJ Charger this original.”

It’s relatively easy to pinpoint a well-restored and modified Charger today, but a very tidy and essentially untouched Charger is not an easy thing to find. This one comes with the unstated edict that the buyer would be best advised to leave it as it is.