Customs From Ugly to Quaint in Only 57 Years

When I was 14 I would hide in the floorboards rather than be seen with my grandmother in a car like this.

Now I polish it regularly.

Time wounds all heels.

 

Those slant sixes are good engines, lotsa torque for their size.

Bones

 

My neighbor had one of those ugly things back in the 70s. I wouldn't call it quaint

 

Love those Clifford setups!

 

One of Virgil Exner's last "Forward Look" designs as he retired.

I think he was mad at Chrysler and did it on purpose.

 

Wow, you CAN polish a turd!

Looking' good.

 

My grandfather had one and I always thought it would have made a neat custom, and even tried drawing what a customized Valiant might look like, but the stock body was pretty radical already, so where to start?

 

My friend , back in the day, had a convertible Valiant several years newer( not HAMB friendly) with a four speed. It ran good , I thought it must have a small v8, I was surprised when he lifted the hood and there was the little 225 with what looked like a busted motor mount. My frist experience with that engine, have liked them ever since.

Bones

 

Looks aside, the Valiant/Lancer twins were arguably far superior to the Ford and GM compacts introduced at the same time. And the styling foreshadowed the larger Plymouth and Dodge introduced with 1962 models.

You have a really nice example of a not often seen car...Congrats! I like it.

Ray

 

I don't know why, but it kind of reminds me of old Soviet luxury car

 

I sold a red 1962 Lancer more door to a buddy of mine. I think he put it up on his property in the woods by his cabin specifically to view the car while on vacation.

 

Well, I LOVE it. I'm a Ford guy but can dig other brands and have always wanted a 2 dr hardtop Valiant.
Do some Clifford Performance stuff to it & go whoop some sbc's.........

 

It's still ugly and you shouldn't polish it so much, you'll go blind

 

I'll be the first to say it; it needs a Hemi and a straight axle, gasser, gasser, gasser.

 

ftw

 

Wheres the pictures of the Valiant with a 440?

 

One of my all time favorites.

 

Not sure, but here's a Slant Six hammering a Hellcat.

 

They ran very strong with the Hyper-Pack engine combo.

 

Hyper Pack

 

Well-done.

 

We were sitting in my partner's '31 Plymouth P-A Coupe/ 392" Hemi in the R-J drive in, a 'race-choosing' place in Santa Clara.
A wiseass younger jock drove in, parked next to us in his Dad's new Chrysler 300 (not a 'letter-car') He says, "How do you like it?"
My bud says, "It looks like a big Valiant..." Laughter ensued.

 

Good friend of mine has this set-up in a 62-63 can't remember, Pretty impressive!

 

Leaning tower of power

 

The Valiant/Lancer and Studebaker Avanti are both in a category of out of this world styling, that reference nothing seen before. This makes both designs in the category where: you love them at first sight, or hate them with a passion. However, If you are technically inclined, it is in looking at the parallels of the slanted engine as a solution to reduce height, first seen in Indy roadsters, when builders laid the Venerable Offenhauser four cylinder on its side and revamped the oil pan in order to flatten the whole envelope to increase air flow. This similarity gets your attention. Because both solutions are simple and elegant. Also, the larger platform big brother cars of the era caused many a die hard Chevy fan to cringe when they roared past GM's latest, greatest and most powerful offerings; not once, but consistently. In the sixties, without a doubt Chrysler Products offered the best Jetsons look out there; and are are one of the most sculptural designs in the history of production automobiles.

 

In his 32 Essex,

 

I'd love to see a vapor trail windtunnel test on that thing...I'm sure there would be some interesting swirls...have fun with it...they were built like a brick shithouse...

 

some things are so ugly they are beautiful - you will not be shunned at any car gatherings - enjoy the attention "what is it?"