1975 VJ VALIANT CHARGER
LOW MILES AND HIGH SPEC MAKE THIS ONE SPECIAL
IT’S NOT often you trip over a true survivor from the seventies, but this 1975 VJ Charger seems to fit the bill.
By the time this car rolled off the production line, much of the original excitement over this special two-door series had settled down, and there was evidence the local coupe market overall was dwindling.
In fact, the whole concept of the Charger almost happened by mistake. Legend has it that the whole idea started with a question proposed by then Chrysler Australia M-D David Brown: what would a shortwheelbase coupe based on a VH look like?
Clearly it was a question that intrigued Chief Stylist Brian Smyth and his team, and they went to work with some mock-ups under the project name of Rebel. While head office back in the USA was sort of kept informed, Brown put his proverbial neck on the line by scratching up some minimal budget and having the car more or less production ready before getting approval.
Of course the car and the attendant ‘Hey Charger’ ad campaign was a big success.
While V8s were inevitably produced, it was really the top-flight sixes that were the hero cars and helped cement the make’s reputation for its ‘hemi’ line-up.
This example is an intriging car in that whoever ordered it from the dealership wasn’t afraid to put their own twist on the spec. It’s running the big 265ci (4.3lt) single-carb six, four-speed manual and a Sports Pack. The latter included the 770-spec instrument cluster and a number of styling tweaks.
The Charger claims under 29,000km on the odo, which is incredible given its age. That alone will be enough to get the attention of your average Mopar collector. It’s with Australian Muscle Car Sales and is priced at $125,000. See tradeuniquecars.com. au for a wealth of Charger stories.