Valiant REGAL SAFARI
THE VE VALIANT WAS AN AWARD-WINNING SERIES IN THE SIXTIES AND STILL A GREAT DRIVE TODAY.
Chrysler Australia will be remembered for a number of things, among them its ability to stand out a little from the crowd. Its VE series Valiants of the late sixties were proof of that, with simple almost austere lines that made them instantly recognisable. Those straight edges and glasshouse looks still work.
Meanwhile the company had turned the straight six engine into an art form. Modern
Motor magazine, back in the day ran a side-by-side test of the Holden 186, Ford 200 and Valiant 225 – all with autos. The
Val literally ran away with the performance honours.
As a package, Wheels magazine thought enough of the car to give it the treasured Car of the Year gong for 1967. Editor Bill Tuckey’s wrap-up said, in part, “The VE is Chrysler’s moment of truth in metal. It represents the day the smallest of the big three decided it was time to stop shadow-sparring and went in for some infighting.”
The car you see here is a late build for the VE series – 1969 – and comes with a desirable mechanical package: the ‘hi-performance’ version of the 225 (3.7lt) straight six claiming 160hp, tied to the three-speed Torquef lite auto. Apart from the apparently compulsory accessory venetian blinds on the rear glass, it presents as a dead-stock car. That, particularly in wagon form, is a rare thing.
Owner George Politis explains he spent a considerable amount of time hunting down what he wanted. “I was looking for about two to three years for a sixties Australian classic and I thought, well, my dad had an almost identical car that he bought from Heidelberg Chrysler, Melbourne.
“He bought that new for about $3000 and
“HE UNFURLED THE CAR COVER THEN MY DAD STARTED TEARING UP”
had it for about 25 years until he found a subframe had rusted and he got rid of it.
“I thought I might as well look for something that I learned to drive in and that means something to me. I kept finding modified cars but wanted something original. I found one in Brisbane that was a one-owner deceased estate that was originally sold in Ringwood, Melbourne. And the guy had retired to a dairy farm just west of Brisbane. When he died, his three kids got their mechanic to go over the car and get a Queensland roadworthy and put it online. I f lew my dad and my brother up and we spent three days driving back.
“My dad thought I’d gone mad and he said, ‘You haven’t given this guy money, have you?’ And I said, ‘Well, generally when you buy a car you have to hand over some money.’ On the plane he was worrying about who’s paying for the plane tickets and then the cab ride there – “I bet you this guy’s taking us the long way round! What happens if the car’s not there, what happens if it’s a rust bucket? ’ He was just Mr Negative all the way there.
“We got there and it was under a cover, he unfurled the car cover and then my dad started tearing up. All the way back (it was a three-day drive), ‘Geez this is a nice car, how reliable is this? And geez it’s a big country.’ He’d never been interstate. He loves it now.
“I reckon wagons are rare, so when you do see one, they get your attention. They’re really really practical. I remember my dad, he used to have a little furniture store in Sydney Road in
“IT’S EASY TO DRIVE AND ALMOST EVERY DRIVER ON THE ROAD TREATS YOU LIKE AN ELDERLY CITIZEN”
Brunswick and he’d have a student desk, a three piece lounge suite, a couple of mattresses and a bedhead, all packed up in the back of the Valiant to do his own deliveries.
“Whenever we went to the beach or on holidays, you’d just swing the back door open and stuff everything down the back, it was easy.”
So, any buying advice, George? “If you end up buying a car from interstate, it involves taking a leap of faith. This guy was very forthcoming with loads and loads of photos from every angle, plus a roadworthy certificate meant it had at least some mechanical checks. When we roadworthied it here (Vic), we found a thumb-size patch of rust in a front wheel arch, so I had that repaired in metal – it cost a couple of hundred bucks. But that was it. I suppose the advice is to persist and just keep looking. You know the old stor y, if you find a good body, that’s far cheaper than finding a wrecked body and a good motor, because the mechanicals are easy to fix.”
What’s it like to live with? “It’s easy to drive and almost every driver on the road treats you like an elderly citizen.
They treat you with respect, they allow you to merge, they’re not impatient with you. They’re not trying to drive over the top of you.
“You get people, all sorts of ages and socio economic status, giving you the thumbs-up and having a chat to you at the petrol station. Even when I drive it to my work – I’ve got a dental practice – a lot of my patients think it’s really cool that their dentist drives a classic car like that from time to time.
“It’s wonderful.”