We’ve done a very significant number of posts at CC about the quirks of the Canadian market for American cars. In relative terms, we’ve been a bit less thorough with our friends south of the border, like this fine Valiant Duster shot and posted at the Cohort by RiveraNotario.
I’m not going to be able to do a an in-depth post on all the goings of Chrysler in Mexico, so we’ll stick to the Duster. The Plymouth name went away in Mexico in 1970, the same year that the Duster appeared, hence the Valiant appellation. I’m not sure of the exact year of this one, and I don’t know if the ventilated wheels are original or not, but almost certainly it had the 225 slant six under the hood. And its front end is from the Dart. Mix and match.
There was also the legendary Super Bee version of the Duster in Mexico, which was a very hot little number.
Before we get to that, here’s the rear view of this Duster. Due to stiff local content requirements, Chrysler’s Mexican affiliate, Automex, built a very large percentage of these cars’ components and such, including the engines.
This Duster is in fine fettle; someone has been taking very good care of it.
Supposedly the Super Bee started out in 1970 with a 270 hp version of the 318 V8, with a four barrel carb and available 4-speed stick.
In 1975, that was replaced by a very warm 300 hp 360 V8. Of course these were still gross hp numbers, and was roughly comparable to the 245 hp (net) 360 available in the US in 1974. And that shrunk in the subsequent years to 220 hp.
The Super Bee with the 360 was the fastest Mexican-built car at the time. 1976 was the last year, as the new generation of Aspen/Volare-based Dart and Valiant replaced it in 1977. In a curious decision, the Mexican Dart used the Volare nose and Aspen rear end, and the Valiant used the Volare rear and Aspen nose. We’ll save those for another day.
As stated in previous posts, I never had interest in small cars. The original Valiant (USA) at least had an interesting body style! Later Valiant Brougham (often referred to as baby Imperial) was nicely done, and eventually was basis for upscale LeBaron and finally morphed into fabulous 80s RWD Fifth Avenues 🏆 which were the last of Chrysler OTT luxury vehicles Had 83 and 85 Fifth Avenues and loved them! Did Chrysler even market these beauties outside the US?
The Volare was basis for the LeBaron and Fifth Avenue, not the Valiant
I don’t think even Chrysler themselves could keep track of what was happening in Mexico
What makes you think not? These cars were configured by product planners and built in accord with the plan, not thrown together with whatever parts came to hand. Really, how is this car different to the ’63-’64 Canadian Valiants (U.S. Valiant from the cowl back; U.S. Dart from the cowl forward, and market-specific badging)?
Dodge had a Duster variant called the Dart Sport- looked just like this car. I had a 1975 model with the slant six. A good car, except it rusted away pretty quickly.
The ’73-’76 Dart Sport didn’t look quite like this car; it had four square taillights rather than the Duster’s two rectangular ones, and different trim.
Interesting to note in South Africa, the Duster was sold as the Charger and when Chrysler South Africa switched to the Aussie A-body, they didn’t got the Australian Charger.
https://www.automobile-catalog.com/model/chrysler_south_africa/valiant_charger_south_africa.html#gsc.tab=0
https://web.archive.org/web/20130525214515/https://africanmusclecars.com/index.php/valiant-plymouth/valiant-charger
That is true; see second picture here.
Also true; neither did they get the Australian Hemi-6 engine. They stayed with the Slant-6 right up through to the ’81 end.
The 1974 Duster 360 was also one of the fastest cars made in the US at the time.
I had one of those Duster 360 engines, it went a long way and is still powering my son’s 1963 Belvedere. You will see it in my upcoming series of COAL.
1975 and later had the chrome trim on tail lamps. Also, the front Dart fascia is same era.
Not sure how long the A body was sold in MEX, did it end in 1976, too?
Oops, should read that it did end in ’76.
Funny though to see a Super Bee A body, since some say the Bee means B body.
The “Bee” in “Super Bee” does not refer to the B-body platform; that’s made up.
Looks like the police package wheels from the mid to late ’70s.
These numbers are remarkable in context of the extremely poor gasoline quality in Mexico at the time. Pemex, the national oil company, was the only supplier. Their regular grade, called Nova, was more or less very dirty paint thinner with a giant dose of lead to crank the octane all the way up to a RON of 81 (approximately 78 octane on the US/Canada AKI scale). And that was in 1988; likely even worse than that in the 1970s. Mexico City’s high elevation helped a bit, but lower-than-US/Canada compression and slow/short ignition advance curves were the norm, because how else are you going to run an engine on that rotgut without massive detonation?
When Pemex’s first unleaded gasoline, “Magna Sin” (“Big Without”) came out in late 1990, in Mexico’s first go at cutting exhaust emissions, its 87 AKI (91 RON), same as US/Canada Regular, was hailed as the highest-octane gasoline ever offered in Mexico.
I suspect those ’70s horsepower numbers might have been more a product of the marketing department than the engineering department.
All that said: this blue Duster is in astoundingly fine condition!
The wing on the green one is mounted backwards
Once upon a time these were suprisingly popular in Holland. The earlier ones were built here about 50 km away from me in Rotterdam by Nekaf / former Kaiser? and also in Antwerp Belgium I think. Ford built American cars here in the 60’s in my hometown Amsterdam. ’65 – ’68 Mustang notchback with 6 cyl or V8 available with automatic or 4 speed manual for the V8. Earlier they started building the Fairlane in ’62 or 63. Also with 6 cyl and V8 optional, often with a dark red interior.
As for the Dart I heard that there were very few options for domestic built models. Paint color obviously, radio or radio delete and V8 or slant 6.
In the 70’s we got the USDM type although long ago I did see a faded green 70’s Spanish built Dart once that was sold new here if I recall the license plate correctly.
Another fine car we should have gotten .
-Nate