Chrysler Drifter - circa 1977

[g465b]

aahh valiants of  yesteryear, got hit by a  "S" series valiant-broken arm and leg,fractured skull,ruptured spleen ,liver damage and a
2 month holiday in hospital. didnt even mark the paintwork on the val.         g

[firko]

My dad had the first Valiant registered in NSW, the leaf green R series car that was on show at the 1962 Sydney Motor Show on the Harvey Drew stand. Being a quickie show car import it had been the recipient of a pretty ordinary RHD conversion, right down to a rough hole oxy cut in the floor for the 3 speed floor shifter. He'd wanted to order a white one but when he was told there was a 3 month wait unless he settled for either the green or a black show cars, he took the green one. After his previous EK Wagon the Valiant was a veritable muscle car (by 1962 standards) and he was the king of Maroubra with that car. Unfortunately after owning it for 18 months he lost it in the wet coming home from a fishing trip with the tinny on the trailer and rolled it into a ditch on the central coast and it was written off. He then went back to his beloved Holdens with a new EH 179 wagon. After my VG VIP I owned a Transit van and then went overseas for 7 years. On my return I bought a VG ute for $100 that lasted for 2 years until the 245 wore out with 250 000 miles on the clock. I then bought a CL Ranger sedan which to this day is the most basic car I've ever owned, that was followed by a VG Hemi 4 barrel coupe I bought off a Kiwi workmate who was heading home then a VF 318 ute and there's probably one or two Mopars I've missed. My all time favourite Musclecar is the 1964 Plymouth Fury with the 426 wedge/ 4 speed options and my current daily driver is a 4.7 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee that's given me 8 years/160000klm of almost trouble free driving so I guess you could say that I'm a closet Mopar guy. I've even got a 426cu in wedge engine sitting under the bench. If they decide to accept the Chrysler 300c into the V8 Supercar series next year I'll start watching again.
                                                                                     
                                                                                   

[TT5 Matt]

yeah it would be good to see the 300c's in the pack and give the other 2 brands a good shake up, maybe they'll finally get a win at Bathurst the brand deserves and like you firko ill start watching the v8's again

[FourstrokeForever]

I've always had a place in my heart for the big old Valiants. I learnt how to drive in a VC station wagon that my grandfather owned. He would sit me on his knees because I couldn't reach the pedals and I would do the steering and gear changes. It was the old 3 on the tree column shift. The day I got to drive it by myself on the dirt at East Hills (near Holsworthy) was one of the biggest thrills I had as a young bloke. From that moment on, I always wanted to go to East Hills for a drive....
Despite being a Chevy/Holden man, my all time favourite musclecar is the 1970 R/T Dodge Challenger with the big block 460, 2 crossfire 4 barrel carbs and 4 speed. Ever seen the movie Vanishing Point? To me the star of the show was the R/T being driven hard everywhere it went. The whole movie was basically one big car chase.....cool  Then there was the big bad and black supercharged R/T Dodge in the first Fast and Furious. What a car!! The knob heads totaled it as well....

[firko]

Here's my two all time favourite Mopar products (You could add the Dodge Viper to the list too).
                                                                 
                                                                  1964 Plymouth Sport Fury 426/4 speed
                                                                 
                                                                  1971 Plymouth Hemi 'cuda
                                                             
                                                                  Dodge Viper
                                                               
                                                                    Chrysler 300c V8 Supercar     
                                                               

[KTM47]

The Garry Rogers cars will be Volvos this year.  Apparently Brad Jones Racing is trying to get Chrysler interested.  You never know.  After 2016 the V8s will probably be two door cars.  Mustangs, Camaros etc.  The Chrysler could be a Charger.  They could paint them purple and have fluffy dice on the mirror.  Sorry Mark I couldn't resist.

[Paul552]

The Garry Rogers cars will be Volvos this year.  Apparently Brad Jones Racing is trying to get Chrysler interested.  You never know.  After 2016 the V8s will probably be two door cars.  Mustangs, Camaros etc.  The Chrysler could be a Charger.  They could paint them purple and have fluffy nice on the mirror.  Sorry Mark I couldn't resist.

Purple chargers are fn awesome!!!!!

[firko]

Billy West who worked for Rick Doughty at Vintage Iron owned a purple Hemi 'cuda identical to that in the photo and he gave me a drive of it back in 96. It was the most frightening stock standard car I've ever driven. Even though the factory quoted 425 bhp they were deliberately under quoted for insurance purposes and were actually closer to 550bhp. With 550+hp in the flimsy Barracuda monocoque body the car torqued like all buggery, tried to lift the left side front wheel and wandered all over the road at even a hint of too much throttle or letting the clutch out too abruptly. It handled like a bucket of prawns but whoo hee it was fun, and boy did it look the goods with its 'Plum Crazy' purple paint. Another friend owned a lovely Curious yellow (that was the name of the colour ) 340 4 speed 71 model and even though it too was pretty snappy, it was a very smooth, good handling and predictable car in comparison to the monster hemi.

[frostype400]

I'd love to see them being the challenger and charger like has been rumoured for a while now.

I am a fan of the movie Dirty Mary Crazy Larry they give the big dodge charger a flogging in that.

[Big Bird]

Thanks for the responses thus far.  Since we have started talking about movie cars and Valiant Chargers...

Curiously enough, in the same box as I found the Drifter brochure, I found an envelope of old photos.  This is me in Alvin Purple's Charger, at the 1974(??) Aus Grand Prix at Sandown.  Dad's mate was Clerk of Course or something, and the Charger was being used as a course car.  After the race, I was taken for a lap of the track in it.  I thought I was royalty.



Graeme Macrae won the race...



My favourite car of the meeting was Mike Stillwell's Escort



And just to get back to panel vans, in the same envelope I found this very dodgy photo I took of the Coca Cola 3XY Freedom Machine, taken at Wattle Park Speedway - 1979 maybe??



Cheers all, 

Geoff

[huskibul]

      Those Bike/Ute shots must of been taken just after  Gaston came thru ! check out the laid back bars 

[r4brightred]

 I think those Drifters are weird but I like them. I've been keeping my eye out for a mid 70s El Camino for a track truck. This is my favorite Mopar, bar none.

[FourstrokeForever]

That '71 Hemi Cuda looks fast just sitting there. Awesome. Amazing how similar they look to the same era Dodge Charger and Challenger.
And the hot rod Bedford van...cool. I can remember as a kid that nearly every other Bedford had the XC ford grille and lights makeover. Never made any sense to me as it wasn't HOLDEN....I was thinking of doing the same style flares and spoiler with my yet to be restored '77 SWB Bedford van but have opted to keep it reasonably stock looking. I might put a HG holden premier grille and lights in if I can find one.....

[firko]

That '71 Hemi Cuda looks fast just sitting there. Awesome. Amazing how similar they look to the same era Dodge Charger and Challenger

The Plymouth Baracuda and Dodge Challenger are essentially the same car based on Chryslers E body platform. Badge engineering at its finest. A bloke in our club had a SWB Bedford with a 350 Chevy engine. Comparing it to my stock as a bog V4 Transit was like comparing a Dodge Viper with a Triumph Herald. I set about getting the parts to fit a 289 to the Transit but it all got too hard so I sold it and went travelling instead. The 289 is still under the bench.
                                                                                           

[r4brightred]

Hey Firko, That Cuda picture that you posted is a 1970. The 1971 had the gills in the front fender.