Top five Aussie Chryslers from the 1960s and 70s

FCA Australia has announced it is putting an end to the Chrysler brand in Australia, once more withdrawing the Chrysler nameplate at the pointy end of the local market.

The last time the Chrysler badge was discontinued in Australia was in 1978, 1980 or 1981, depending on whether you count the badge to be a model, a make or a design, respectively.

The Chrysler name as a level of trim ended in 1978, but it carried on as a brand through to 1980, when Mitsubishi acquired the Tonsley Park manufacturing plant in Adelaide, and the name finally succumbed to the inevitable when Mitsubishi concluded production of the Chrysler-designed Valiant in 1981.

As of now, ‘Chrysler’ is reduced to little more than the ‘C’ in FCA, itself a subset of brands within the giant Stellantis conglomerate, following the merger of PSA and FCA.

To mark the sad occasion, we’ve revisited the past to find five ‘Chryslers’ that were iconic at the time and remain so, even 60 years later.

The run-away success of the Ford Falcon GT and the Holden Monaro in the latter part of the 1960s compelled Chrysler Australia to develop a sportier rendition of the six-cylinder VF Valiant sedan launched in 1969.

This sporty sedan was named Valiant Pacer and was powered by the same 225 cubic-inch (3.7-litre) slant six engine also located under the bonnets of more pedestrian Valiant sedans and wagons.

It wasn’t until the introduction of the VG series in 1970 that the Valiant Pacer was bequeathed the powertrain it deserved – the new 245ci (4.0-litre) Hemi six-cylinder engine.

This locally-built engine was an oversquare design (shorter stroke, wider bore) that was more powerful and revved harder than the old undersquare engine.

Originally developed in the USA, the Hemi six never went into production there, but was picked up by Chrysler Australia to succeed the slant six across the range.

In the Pacer the engine developed 123kW and 318Nm, which was a marked improvement on the 119kW and 298Nm of the low-revving predecessor.

With the introduction of the VG model, the Pacer also spawned a two-door hardtop style on a longer wheelbase than the sedans. The wild decals, the VG’s rectangular headlights and the Hemi six have ensured the last of the Pacer’s on-going collectability.

Introduced in 1978 as a limited-edition model – around 400 units were built at Tonsley Park – the Chrysler Le Baron was essentially a successor to the opulent but confusingly named ‘Chrysler by Chrysler’ long-wheelbase model that had been developed in rivalry to the Ford Fairlane and Holden Statesman of the time.

Unlike the earlier model, the Chrysler Le Baron was based on the same standard 2819mm wheelbase as the downmarket sedans – just over 100mm shorter than the stretched Chrysler by Chrysler.

The standard engine for this model was the 318ci (5.2-litre) V8, coupled to a three-speed automatic. Its arrival just six months before the CL series Chrysler Valiant model range was replaced by the CM model ensured that the Le Baron would be exclusive – and it is naturally rarer with each passing year.

Images: Shannons

At the height of the era when ‘sin bins’ were all the rage – and stickers reading ‘If it’s rockin’, don’t bother knockin’ were calculated to outrage fathers of teenage daughters – Chrysler Australia released the Drifter van.

Based on the standard Valiant van in the CL series (from 1976 to 1978), the Drifter was offered in bright colours with decals that were hard to miss. A Drifter ute was also available, but it was likely the van that contributed more to teenage pregnancies.

The Drifter was a retort to the Holden Sandman and Ford Sundowner sticker packs for their respective vans and utes. Chrysler offered the Drifter with the 265ci (4.3-litre) six-cylinder engine or the 318ci V8 as an extra-cost option.

The first generation of Chrysler Valiant sold in Australia was the R Series (RV1). Launched here in 1962, the locally-built Valiant (from a CKD kit built in Canada) was based on the American Plymouth Valiant and powered by the same 225ci slant six.

Compared with the more mundane EK and EJ Holdens of the era, and even the XK Ford Falcon, the Valiant was considered special. It offered a push-button automatic transmission at a time when automatics of any kind were exotic and unusual.

The inline six offered significantly better performance than the smaller-displacement Holden and Ford counterparts of the time, and the Valiant’s brash American styling drew a lot of interest from buyers – particularly the unusual styling affectation of a mock spare tyre cover in the boot lid.

Images: Shannons

The power race in Australian touring car circles in the 1970s was largely exemplified by ever-faster cars from Ford and Holden putting it all on the line to win the country’s premier event, the Bathurst 500 (and latterly the Bathurst 1000 after Australia converted to the metric system).

While Ford and Holden were always front-runners, Chrysler Australia also saw the wisdom of the ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday’ marketing strategy. To compete against the Toranas and Falcons, Chrysler built a short-wheelbase coupe named the Charger for the VH series of 1972.

Like other Valiants, the Charger was powered at the entry level by a six-cylinder Hemi engine which could be specified in three capacities – 215ci (3.5-litre), 245ci (4.0-litre) and 265ci (4.3-litre). V8 engine options were available too.

Chrysler saw its best opportunity to win touring car races – and Bathurst primarily – rested with a hot-shoe version of the Charger. The company developed a special R/T variant with the ‘six-pack’ engine, a 265 with three sidedraught Weber 45DCOE carburettors.

Webers were considered the pinnacle of carburetion technology at the time, and bolting three of them on the side of the Hemi six spelled out for the competition that Chrysler meant business.

The engine was fitted in the ‘E38’ Charger R/T from the VH series of 1972. This variant was fitted with a three-speed manual transmission which didn’t provide the Charger with quite the performance necessary to laud it all over the Falcons and Toranas.

Some more work on the engine found added power (226kW, up from 210kW) and two more Newton-metres (433Nm), plus the extra cog in the manual transmission all set the four-speed E49 Valiant Charger R/T apart from the E38.

Chrysler never won Bathurst with the E49, but its mystique as the world’s fastest six-cylinder production car grew in the telling once enthusiast publications learned they could knock nearly a second off the E38’s quarter-mile time, and it was reportedly 0.3 seconds faster to 100km/h from a standing start.

All that serves to make the E49 Valiant VH Charger R/T is so collectible (and rare) today.

Related: Official: Chrysler axed in Australia