Chrysler Valiant Charger

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Main article: Chrysler Valiant
The 1972 SE E55 340 V8 - Note: the stripes are non standard. Valiant Charger
The 1972 SE E55 340 V8 - Note: the stripes are non standard. Valiant Charger

The Valiant Charger was a short wheelbase Valiant coupe produced by Chrysler Australia from 1971, introduced with the VH model, through the 1973 VJ, VK up to CL range released in 1976 (770 model only). The best sales were in New Zealand, where they were also assembled, where the combination of the powerful engine, light body and short wheelbase were suited to New Zealand's winding and mountainous roads.

The Valiant Charger VH model won the 1971 Australian Wheels Car of the Year Award.

Some Chargers were raced in the Bathurst 500, let down by inadequate brakes. In New Zealand, however, they proved to be virtually unbeatable from 1971-1979 at the famous B&H 500 mile (later 1000km) series at Pukekohe Park Raceway. The most successful drivers were Leo Leonard and Jim Little, who still races his Valiants (mostly pre-65 class).

Engines were:

Contents

[edit] VH Chargers

The primary Valiant performance Chargers were in the VH range they were known as the R/T Chargers, there were:

    • Charger R/T E37 (Three speed, Street version of the 6 pack engine).
    • Charger R/T E38 (Three speed close ratio, Factory production racing car - 280 bhp (210 kW) Small and big tank track pack options)
    • Charger R/T E48 (4 speed, Street version of the 6 pack engine).
    • Charger R/T E49 (4 speed close ratio, Factory production racing car - 302 bhp (225 kW) Small and big tank track pack options)

The luxury model was the Charger 770, which came with either the 318 cui V8 2 BBL or the 265HP (High Performance - 218 bhp (163 kW) - 2 BBL).

A late entry in the VH range was the Charger 770 SE which featured the 275 bhp (205 kW) imported 340 V8.

    • The Charger SE E55 was marketed as a luxury cruiser and could only be purchased with an automatic transmission (Chrysler LA engine).

An interesting spin on the Valiant Charger came from South Africa - here there was also a Charger with a high performance six cylinder engine, but it was based on the American Dodge Dart Demon, with a 190 bhp (140 kW) slant six engine.

This power plant used a more radical cam, Carter BBD, and a free flow exhaust system

[edit] VJ Chargers

In May 1973 the VH range was superseded by the VJ range, the new VJ model featured a minor face lift with 7" round headlights replacing the previous rectangle lights. The new model also saw the end of the R/T range with Chrysler pulling out of support for motor sport. The performance Chargers in the VJ range were:

    • Charger E48
    • Charger E49
    • Charger 770 E55

[edit] Performance options

  • VH Charger R/T and available on VJ - lower ratio differential; six-inch (152 mm) rims; front anti-roll bar; a tachometer and an oil pressure gauge.
    • "Six-pack" 265 ci engine with three two-barrel Weber carburetors
    • E38 - Three speed, higher compression ratio, different gear ratios, and 280 bhp (210 kW)
    • E49 - four-speed manual gearbox, 302 bhp (225 kW). Fully blueprinted engine ready to race.
    • Charger SE and 770 E55 275 BHP V8 340 ci.

[edit] VJ E55 Chargers

These cars no longer were the special "SE" versions, but were just an ordinary engine option for a 770 Charger. This saw some very basic ones which could leave the factory with nothing except the bare minimum, which included the 14x7 lightweight 5 slot mags, tyres for those wheels and an automatic transmission console. From the outside the only distinguishing mark that could be seen is the 340 4BBL badge on the guards.

There were a few improvements to the motor in this model, as opposed to the previous model. The introduction of "Electronic Ignition" replaced the use of points ignition. This greatly improved the car for normal use making cold starts easier, and no longer requiring the ignition to be tuned every 10,000 km or so.

The Carter Thermoquad was used in this series as well, however not from the start, or at least not all the cars left the factory with one. Some still had the previous models AVS carburettor. When the carburettor was implemented is unknown, with some examples having the Thermoquad and later builds still keeping the AVS. This is an improvement to the engines performance as the flow in the carburettor was increased from 625cfm to 800cfm for the Thermoquad.

During this model, the motors also had a change in the Cylinder Heads. According to the service manuals, early models maintained heads with 2.02" inlet valves, whereas later heads had a decrease in inlet valve size which saw a reduction to 1.88", again, when this was implemented is not truly known and some early build cars have the smaller valves whereas some later builds have the larger valves.

[edit] VK Chargers

The mildly revised VK Series Charger was released in October 1976 in Charger XL and Charger 770 variants. [1] The Charger was now marketed as the Chrysler Charger rather than as the Chrysler Valiant Charger. [2]

[edit] CL Chargers

Introduced in 1977, the CL was the last model Charger made. Production ceased on 16/8/1978 with the final Chargers being a limited run Drifter

[edit] References

  1. ^ Elisabeth Tuckey and Ewan Kennedy, Chrysler Valiant, 1996, Pages 140-141
  2. ^ Tony Davis, Aussie Cars, 1987, Page 143

[edit] External links