Australia’s long relationship with the U.S. Big Three automakers and the American-influenced designs produced as a result have been extensively covered here, as shown in the large Australian Brands Archive of past features. GM’s Holden and Ford have dominated the conversation, with Chrysler in Australia receiving far less coverage, reflecting their historic market shares. Now here is an example of perhaps the ultimate Australian Mopar muscle car, spotted at a beach on the last day of a recent trip to Australia: the Chrysler Valiant Charger 770SE, a limited edition produced briefly in 1972-73.
“Chrysler Valiant Charger” presents an unusual mix of names to Americans, so a brief explanation of its origins is in order. Chrysler Australia Ltd. sold cars using a variety of Chrysler Corporation division names from 1951 to 1980, and when it introduced an Australian-assembled Plymouth Valiant in 1962, it named the car the Chrysler Valiant. The Chrysler Valiant soon became fully Australian-built, with unique Australian variants designed independently of the U.S parent company, as described in Johnh875’s detailed history of the Australian Valiant in 2015 (Part 1, Part 2). The Chrysler Valiant Charger emerged in 1971, as the two door coupe version of the 1971-73 VH series that was designed entirely in Australia. In this way, Chrysler, Plymouth, and Dodge nameplates came together on a uniquely Australian Mopar.
This rear view shows that Chrysler Australia’s stylists derived inspiration from the earlier U.S.-market Dodge Charger, with the tunnel-back roofline and tail spoiler of the 1968-70 Dodge Charger evident on the 1971-73 Chrysler Valiant Charger. The similar styling elements further highlight the mixed American and Australian origins of the Chrysler Valiant Charger.
The result was a coupe similar to American pony cars but different from them in significant ways. The 1971-73 Valiant Charger rode on a 105 inch wheelbase, substantially shortened from the VH Valiant sedan’s 111 inches, and shorter than the 108 inches of a Plymouth Barracuda or the 110 inches of a Dodge Challenger from the same year, or the 108 inches of a first generation Ford Mustang. The Valiant Charger was smaller than its American cousins, and the use of styling cues familiar from the long and low Dodge Charger — built on a 117 inch wheelbase — contributed further to making the Valiant Charger appear remarkably small to my American eyes.
An even more fundamental difference existed under the hood, where Chrysler Australia’s unique “Hemi” inline six powered most Valiant Chargers, rather than the V-8s of its American cousins or its domestic Australian rivals the Holden Monaro and the Ford Falcon GT. Chrysler started the Hemi six design process to replace the Slant Six but abandoned it, and Chrysler Australia picked up the project and continued its development to power its Valiant series. The Hemi six came in 215, 245, and 265 cubic inch versions with outputs ranging from 140 horsepower in the 215 cubic inch base model to 302 horsepower in the 265 cubic inch E49 version with three twin-choke sidedraft Weber carburetors. Only the range-topping Charger 770 luxury model was available with a V-8, initially the 318 cubic inch Chrysler LA-series, which at 230 horsepower was far less powerful than the top Hemi sixes. The Charger 770’s V-8 made it a more relaxed grand touring car than the Hemi six powered versions. The E49-powered Valiant Charger was Australia’s fastest car in 1971, capable of 0-60 in 6.1 seconds and the quarter mile in 14.1 seconds.
Source: tradeuniquecars.com.au
The 770 badge on the rear panel, 340 badge on the front fender, and “CHR E55” license plates indicate that this Chrysler Valiant Charger may be no ordinary example. In 1972, Chrysler Australia introduced the Valiant Charger 770 SE (Special Edition), powered by Chrysler’s high performance 340 cubic inch LA-series V-8. Chrysler Australia had imported a supply of 340 V-8s to homologate them for use in the Australian Touring Car Championship but ended up cancelling the project. To recoup the cost of the engines, Chrysler used them in a Special Edition of the Valiant Charger 770, with the 340 V-8 designated the E55 engine. Even the E55 340 V-8 could not match the performance of the E49 265 Hemi six, being rated at 275 horsepower, but the potential for more performance was there with further development.
Source: Wikimedia
Only 125 examples of the Valiant Charger 770 SE were made in 1972-73 before the Valiant VH series gave way to the Valiant VJ Series. The E55 340 V-8 continued in the VJ Series in 1973-74 in the Charger 770, no longer as a “Special Edition.” When the stock of 340 V-8s ran out in 1974, a lower-powered two barrel 360 V-8 from the “Chrysler by Chrysler” luxury sedan became the Charger 770’s powerplant, bringing the E55 340 V-8’s era to a close.
The odds of encountering a Chrysler Valiant Charger 770 SE on the street in 2020 are very low, so this car may have been a “tribute” car with the badges of a 770 SE added. The lack of white vinyl trim on the C-pillar vents and the lower side window edges, a feature of the 770 SE, indicates that this car is a more common Valiant Charger. Or maybe the car is a 770 SE, and its owner removed the vinyl trim pieces before a repaint. I cannot say for certain, not having met the car’s owner. I count myself lucky to have seen a Chrysler Valiant Charger of any sort in public, and moreover to have seen one doing a quintessentially Australian thing, going to the beach.
The Chrysler Valiant Charger will never be as well known to Americans as its Australian rivals the Holden Monaro, which came to the United States as the 2004-2006 Pontiac GTO, or the Ford Falcon GT, featured in the movies as “the last of the V-8 Interceptors” in Mad Max and The Road Warrior and as Eric Bana’s car of a lifetime in his 2009 documentary film Love the Beast. This brief profile could only scratch the surface of the Chrysler Valiant Charger’s story, but it allowed a look at the car’s rarest version, one with great performance potential that the factory did not realize during the small production run. There is plenty of room for arguing that the all-Australian E49 Hemi six was a superior performer. So this feature will end as it began, by asking the reader, the 1972-73 Chrysler Valiant Charger 770SE — was it the ultimate Australian Mopar muscle car?
I can’t remember the source, but IIRC during development a Charger with 340 was twisty-track tested against the 265 and found wanting, primarily because the weight distribution was better for the 6.
Love me a Charger, but. One of those few shapes where every iteration VH to CL was attractive. 770 with blackout panel behind the side glass works best for me.
Killer find Robert.
The E-49 is the one for me. You could de-option the quarter vent windows for the cleanest look, but there is more to my opinion than that, natch.
To start with, those Hemi sixes were such magnificent things in standard form. Equipped with an ordinary Borg Warner 3-speed auto – no Torqueflite on these later cars, local-content restrictions and B-W had a factory here – they could shift the fairly gigantic VH Valiants with every option down the quarter mile in 16 secs or less. That’s a bloody fine effort from only 265c.i., especially as the same car would get about 18 mpg in daily use.
Chrysler Aus didn’t even do a huge amount to this motor (tougher crank, big cam, headers, bigger valves) before adding the triple Webbers and giving one lucky Charger a flight to Italy for Weber to tune it up. It had no problem with 6,500 rpm.
The six in the E-49 is lighter than the 340, so the spindly front end – think Dart torsion bars, essentially – had some chance of keeping the show on the road. Mind, doesn’t mean the race drivers werern’t mad: unpowered unventilated discs, waftomatic steering box, 135mph at the end of a long, long hill ending in a 30mpgh left-hander at Bathurst. But it sounded sublime. Didn’t win, but that’s because it originally (as E-37) ran those speeds on just three gears, and the next year, the others had upped their game.
I reckon this sample is a tribute. It has full registration (not historic) and most owners can’t afford the risk of using a genuine one on the roads much, just too expensive now.
As The Don says, quite a find even for a local, Mr Kim!
Torque flight was most certainly available Justy the BW trans were the light duty trans, I had a 265 Regal with the factory tow package that included a 727 trans and LSD along with heavy duty brakes I think that came from the utes altogether a very nice car on the highway it could and did run at 170kmh for long periods on some inland roads though not while towing but a steady 110 with a 15 foot Viscount behind it on the Hume was easy and it still returned 15mpg, Sorry about the demise of the Falcons and Holdens but having owned plenty of each the Valiants were the better cars, I did have a Charger VH 215 with a Speco floor shift converted 3 speed more rust than metal got dirt cheap in Adelaide, it was the absolute poverty pak model in that dull putrid green with primer patches the car yard was happy just to see it gone I think but hey not the worst car they had, no that was a seethru HD Holden wagon.
I love the looks of this car. It’s styled exceptionally well, and seems completely right-sized compared to much of what Chrysler was offering in the States at that time.
I’m not dissing the E-Bodies or E-Bodies, but aside from this Valiant Charger’s slightly Austin Allegro-esque face (and the popularity of our Duster), I almost wish we would have gotten this Stateside.
Austin Allegro!
Man, don’t ever come down here and say that to the wrong person in a pub! (As in, “Here, I say old chap, your cherished Aussie muscle car looks a helluva lot like the worst car the Poms ever made…”).
In truth, I see how photos could give you that idea, but in the metal, it doesn’t bring the Leyland product to mind at all. Also, it got a round-headlight, different-grilled face from about mid-’73.
That styling that you like was a huge hit here, Chargers making up an unlikely chunk of total Valiant sales, which was really odd in a country that was notorious for avoiding two-door cars of any type (hence even our most famous muscleys mainly being 4-door sedans). That’s also because many who wanted a Val were really put off by the perceived bloatiness of the standard sedan or wagon body, and it’s true that they DID seem outsized.
However, oddly enough – and I am nothing if not odd – I always preferred the big fuselage sedans and wagons to the slightly mismatched chopped-fuselage (curved and square) Charger. The others, to me, always looked better than a bunch of the Chryco fuseys in America, too.
At least in OZ you didnt get the Allagro on the roads.
Haha! Justybaum, I had to look up “Poms”. My vocabulary is enriched on this site pretty much every week.
I love the ads for these cars – the “Hey, Charger!” campaign. I also like that the same “Chrysler ad theme music” that was used in these spots was the same for the ’71 Plymouth Duster, to name one commercial I’ve seen.
The wheels on that look strikingly familiar
Those rims were optional on all Valiants they came in 6 and 7 inch widths my Regal had 7s, I also had a set on a MK2 Ford Zephyr many years ago best part of the whole car.
Still much more likely to find a VH Charger curbside than a VH hardtop. Beaut find.
They sold more Chargers than sedans or wagons back in the VH days, so you’re more likely to see one of these than any other body type. I wonder which is rarer though, the VH or CH hardtop?
Probably the VH. The CH’s possibly survived better as the upmarket twin and because they weren’t sacrificed for their GT running gear as the Landau’s were. I mean, I’ve actually seen a CJ but I don’t know I’ve ever seen a VH / VJ hardtop.
Can’t remember the last time I saw either on the road. Friend of a friend caught a cola-coloured VJ/VK hardtop out country recently. Landau starting to pop up quite a bit again.
It is good to get an up-close look at one of these. So familiar in so many ways, yet so foreign.
I was just thinking yesterday when we were talking about Dodge Power Wagons how Chrysler never had a really big six over here in the US for its trucks – the 225 was it and it was quite undersized compared to the bigger sixes offered by the competition. It is interesting that the US operation never saw any use for this engine after the Aussies had gone to all the work to finish the engineering and to build it.
This market would probably never have taken to it other than in truck applications where more cubic inches were needed over the 225, so perhaps Chrysler just didn’t see the business case for building a second six, presuming it could have been tuned to maximize torque for truck duty.
The engine had the capacity to go up to 300 cubic inches, and the original intention was to export the big inch version back to the US for use in trucks , unfortunately this never happened.
Aussie Dodge trucks used the hemi six Ive seen one in a 3 tonner and it went quite well, very torquey engines compared to the old slant six.
There’s a real ’78 Chevy Monza feel to the styling of this Aussie Charger.
Liked the license plate “CharJa”.
This is really cool, and for me, it doesn’t have that slightly jarring “familiar yet unfamiliar” vibe provided by the mix of cues from American counterparts, as in the “Mad Max” Falcon, for example. And that high powered six, wow! I’d love to see what it would like with a set of Magnum 500 wheels!
Luv these old Vals of all the Aussie cars these were reguarded as the best in Kiwiland though not in Aussie the guy I bought my old Hillman from has a Valiant collection 34 in total including a 340 VH Charger well several Chargers actually in various stages of disreapair but the 340 is a running driving car, NZ assembled Valiants like their Ford and Holden counterparts differ from the Australian models and the standard 265 auto model was the king of the showroom showdown on race tracks, A Kiwi prepared E49 showed Alan Moffat how slow his GTHO Falcon was on our fast flowing race tracks too beating the championship winning Aussie at each meeting.
Not an Australian design, I should say more accurately not styled by an Australian but an American Chrysler employee on a ‘working holiday’ which I think was John E. Herlitz designer of the 70 Plymouth Cuda.
99% sure of my facts.
Checked the inter web, couldn’t find any mention, nor can I locate my copy of The Valiant book : a history of Chrysler Australia’s Valiant, 1962-1981 by Tony Davis.
The beauty of Curbside Classic someone will correct me no doubt an Australian.
It was the golden era of motor racing in Australia and New Zealand and Chrysler Oz not having a dog in the fight with the E55 was not only criminal but from a marketing and sales point of view stupidity.
The E55 ‘I could have been a contender!’ Charger despite being nose heavy was impressive and would have a horse power advantage over forthcoming Holden Torana V8 and the Falcon GTHO Phase 4 powered by the 351 Cleveland 4V which is the only V8 design I know where restricting the exhaust ports between head and exhaust manifold is a performance and power increasing upgrade.
The production RT Charger V8 may have sorted handling, there was nothing stopping engineers modifying the firewall to move the V8 as far back as possible as RT’s were limited production homologation specials.
The Charger itself basically kept Chrysler Oz going through the early 70’s, without it may exited the same time as BMC/BLMC/Leyland Australia especially since the parent company had no viable products that would work down under.
40% of total local Chrysler production is a massive number for a niche product, that was more a less an after thought, not sure if the concept was a sportier model or a cheap sedan alternative.
I can only imagine how Australian executives felt who may come to the realisation that they’re desperately sort of development funds getting a preview of the new US F body Aspen/Volare around 1975.
An Australian version of the new Aspen/Volare would be inferior to their current car in every way except perhaps HVAC.
Then again a local 265 powered F body coupe would be quicker the US 360 V8 or even have twice the horsepower of the slant 6 US car.
However by 1978 both Australian and US products were styling wise both outside and interior extremely dated compared to the Holden Commodore and XD Falcon despite being mechanically near equals with the Ford and Holden having 50’s engine tech (The Ford had a new crossflow head but still reluctant to rev anywhere near 4000 RPM) and despite being non crossflow the local Chrysler 6 had the advantage due to state of the art late 60’s OHV geometry.
I reckon both Chrysler products needed an XD Falcon external sheetmetal restyle bearing in mind theres a lot of 60’s Falcon internal structure in the XD.
The chief exterior stylist of the Charger was American Bob Hubbach.
Source _ Hey Charger, by Gavin Farmer and Gary Bridger.
I would recommend this book, a lot of fascinating detailed information, takes Tony Davis’s excellent work to a new level..
Gary Bridger passed away recently, yes he really knew his Valiants including the New Zealand models which as usual are slightly different.
Charger as produced was shaped by US stylist Bob Hubbach with Oz styling head Brian Smyth. Clay in middle was Smyth’s first attempt before the team from US came over to work things further. Rendering along the top by Hubbach is the most curious anticipating Gremlin out of Hornet treatment.
If you want a great article on the development of the Charger, you can’t do much better than Gavin Farmer’s in Collectible Automobile, August 2001.
(edit: snap Jonco!)
While I do love the end result and cringe at the idea of a car called Charger being a Two box shooting brake, the top drawings do look pretty cool.
Where did you find this image?
They did install the hemi in the more modern French designed Centura which became a real rocketship with a hemi yup front but the body could not handle the torque of the 265 so only 215s and 245s were used, I had a KC 245 4 speed and it was a very fast car and comfortable over long distances but for most people they were scary to drive and werent popular.
Car designers often work internationally, especially among the Detroit 3. It was designed in Chrysler Australia’s studio. On the other hand the 1972 XA Falcon was designed in Detroit by an Australian team no doubt working with US staff over there. The sedan and wagon versions at least – the iconic hardtop coupe was done back in Broadmeadows because the new design studio was available then with proper facilities.
Before the ‘Supercar Scare’ the race cars were pure factory production and I don’t think a modified firewall would have been allowed. I don’t think any of the manufacturers would have taken a risk on that with vehicles that had to be sold to consumers either.
The Valiant was certainly deficient in the HVAC stakes, never having flow-through ventilation.
Here are some models of what they intended to release in 1980 – a re-skin of the existing car.
Side view of the same
What looks like an earlier version that carries over the doors
Forgot to copy in the event failure to post, any chance to recover my post?
Ignore my last comment as post appeared, Also it looks nothing like a Austin Allegro!
AMC Matador coupe/Pacer and Ford Pinto/Mustang 2 are far more Austin Allegro looking than the Oz Charger.
I think the front end most certainly has a lot in common with the Allegro. The similarities are quite obvious and undeniable.
+1
I don’t think it’s a bad thing, the front end styling is far from the worst thing about the Allegro
Agreed. Much maligned though this car is, it’s actually not a bad shape that could have been a junior Rover sitting underneath the S2 P6.
The 340 770SE may be something of legend and notable for its “what could have been” stillbirth thanks to the supercar superscare, but even as an American V8 loving gearhead, it defeats a major component to what makes the Charger so exotic, and it is the Hemi 6. Not the same 340 V8 we got in our own A bodies. And the cosmetic details of the 770SE are simply not flattering, the pseudo vinyl covered side trim pieces covering the louvers reminds me of the broughamy 73-74 Charger SEs stateside, they don’t fit the overall look and nearly ruin the natural lines of the greenhouse.
That said I do think this is one of the best looking coupes ever made. Ironically they look virtually nothing like the most iconic B body Charger bodystyles, and closer to the 66-67 fastbacks, but unlike them are well proportioned, uncluttered and truly sporty looking. The square headlights made it look as exotic as its high winding V8 killing Hemi 6 mill.
Your spot on Matt, the ones with the 265 and the square head lights are the one to have, and though I am lazy and drive automatics everyday, my choice for these would be a manual transmission, its that kind of car.
As the saying goes: “Well, aaaaactuallyyyyy…”. I don’t want to be too pedantic (just pedantic enough!), but that is not quite correct. Chrysler Australia sold vehicles under two of the mother ship’s marques: Chrysler and Dodge. It was not Chrysler Australia who chose to rebadge a Plymouth Valiant as a Chrysler Valiant; the Valiant was introduced in 1960 as its own marque in the U.S. market, and as a Valiant by Chrysler elsewhere. For 1961 it became a Plymouth model, in the U.S. market only. In all other markets it was not a Plymouth, but still a Valiant by Chrysler—Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, Sweden, Continental Europe, Japan (for real!), Australia, and everywhere else they were offered—it was not a Plymouth. The “Valiant by Chrysler” official nomenclature was badged right on the cars themselves, starting with the first Australian-assembled U.S. ’61 “R” models (introduced in Australia in ’62), and this “Valiant by Chrysler” badging was continued on at least some Australian Valiant variants up through at least the ’75-’76 VK models (though fer sher most people just said “Chrysler Valiant”).
So no, there was no plymouth name blended into Chrysler Valiant Charger 770SE. There was a mix of Chrysler (“Chrysler”, “Valiant”), and Dodge (“Charger”, “770”).
The name salad brings to mind the South African Chrysler Valiant Charger 190 Sports Coupé, which was a RHD 1971 Dodge Demon with a warmed-up 225 engine making a claimed 190 BHP.
After the Valiant by Chrysler and VIP by Chrysler Australians probably shouldn’t have been shocked at the naming of the Chrysler by Chrysler.
Some wag in one or another of the Australian Valiant-themed books or magazines (might’ve been “Hey, Charger!” magazine) quipped that it was a good job Chrysler had named that car as they did, otherwise people might’ve confused it with the Chrysler by Ford.
Im confused lol
The answer to the question is no, on the 770SE being the ultimate Australian Chrysler musclecar.
The ultimate was the 1972 Charger R/T E49, the one with the 4 speed and the 302BHP six. 0 to 100 mph in 14.1 seconds top speed 132 mph (Wheels road test Nov, 1972)
But the Charger model in all its versions was the ultimate Aussie Mopar, and for all intensive purposes it wasn’t even supposed to exist !!.
Managing Director at the time David Brown knew the long bulky 2 door hardtops were not going to appeal to younger Australians and developed this car along with Chrysler International in secret for 2 million dollars skimmed from the total of 22 million for the whole of the VH range.
and boy was he correct the Charger went on to account for almost 50% of the all Valiant sales
Without the Charger, Chrysler Australia would have been in big trouble a lot sooner than when they were in really big trouble.
The unanimous answer — Antipodean and American — to the question posed in this CC is a resounding “No, the E49 Hemi six Valiant Charger is!”
No surprise at all on this consensus existing on all sides of the world. The Hemi six being an outstanding performer and uniquely Australian, I would have expected no other response from Australia and New Zealand. I thought that a few Americans would speak up for the domestic Chrysler 340 V-8 E55 version for its rarity and unrealized potential, but it looks like Americans like their Australian Chryslers’ Australian nature to be left undiluted. I actually agree completely.
The responses from all parts of the world have been great to read. Later this year I hope to roll out some more CCs on Australian subjects not yet covered here, and it is encouraging that my not-fully-informed American perspective has not been seen as off the mark by our Aussie and Kiwi readers.
Regarding the book “Hey Charger” by Gary Bridger, I found that it has the distinction of being one of the few books that is completely unavailable in the USA from Amazon, not even from third party resellers. It appears to be also out of stock from Australian online booksellers, and even the link to the publisher in New Zealand provided in the Allpar.com review of the book (https://www.allpar.com/reviews/other/books/hey-charger.html) leads to a “404 No such page”. If anyone knows how to find a copy (Kiwibryce?) please post details here.
Gary Bridger unfortunately passed away in December. Allpar.com provides some details: https://www.allpar.com/news/2019/12/chrysler-historian-gary-bridger-46729
(Sorry I missed this with my earlier comments, but I can’t not add this…)
Looking at the rear deck lid on this beautiful fastback Valiant Charger, that would be some *crazy* lift-over to put things into (and get things out of) that trunk.
I suspect that the position of the fuel filler door has everything to do with this, but I think a major misstep from the engineers was not finding a way to put the fuel filler neck on one of the rear quarter panels.
Good point, the opening is something I never even noticed until now and was even ready to dispute it due to the “ghost seams” that are inexplicably there that follow the trunklid lines, but then, yeah, the fuel filler placement. What an odd compromise.
Ironically the door appears to be the same as the one used on US Chargers or Challengers that are side mounted, it actually looks off kilter mounted where it is on this. This body has plenty of space on the top quarter panel to mount it similarly to the 68-70 position, it’s a wonder it wasn’t executed that way, especially with the rear body being clean sheet.
Interesting, I can’t find any information on why the fuel filler was placed there, I suspect it was cost issues which were critical to this car being produced. I think it looks good placed there actually.
The sedan fuel filler was hidden behind a hinged license plate
Information from the “Hey Charger book, To save money on tooling, the engineers “short sheeted” the already tooled sedan trunk lid creating the hatch type lid, this allowed the duck tail which was an important styling feature, and also gave very strong support between the quarter panels
There was as part of the “Track Pack” option a 35 gallon fuel tank which was filled by twin fillers, one on each quarter panel, but which virtually filled the trunk completely.
Comparing a race car E49 with a cruiser E55 ?……. But then if you put a 425 cam, 6 pack carbies and extractors on the 340 match it to a 4sp box and 3.23 suregrip (turn it into a race car) 400hp and then compare to the E 49 the comparison would be equally futile. The E49 was good didnt win at Bathurst though unlike the E55 which in 2014 driven by Greg Crick won the Touring car masters against GTHO’S….
https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/threads/340-actual-horsepower.25493/