Chrysler Valiant Charger
Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R / T
The Chrysler Valiant Charger was a muscle car that was introduced in 1971 by Chrysler Australia. It was a two-door Coupé with a shortened wheelbase, which is based on the Valiant sedan. It was introduced as a series VH and then built as a VJ, VK and CL series until the end of production in 1978.
As VH Charger the car in Australia was particularly popular and well in New Zealand, where it was assembled from parts supplied by Australia, he was high on the desire scale the purchaser. From the car magazine Wheels 1971 he was elected Car of the Year.
The wild character of the Charger, however, was the VJ Charger lost something and disappeared entirely in 1975 introduced VK series. During its seven years of production, it was powered by different versions of basically two different engines. One was the built in Australia Chrysler Hemi 6, the other is imported from the United States V8 Chrysler LA series.
VH series
The model range of the VH Valiant Charger was introduced in 1971 and consisted of the Charger, the Charger XL, Charger 770 and the Charger R / T. The R/T- version (in English: Road / Track, dt: road and rail racing version ) continued the image of its predecessor VG Valiant Pacer and soon became the new platform for Chrysler's continued involvement in the Australian Touring Car Championship. The model range was very wide-ranging consideration of the diversity of customer requirements:
Charger - 3.5 liter engine with 140 bhp R6 (103 kW ), three- speed manual transmission, Price AU $ 2,795, -
Charger XL - 4.0 liter engine with 160 bhp R6 (118 kW ), three- speed manual transmission, Price AU $ 3,195, -
Charger R / T - 4.3 -liter engine with 218 bhp R6 (160 kW ), three- speed manual transmission, Price AU $ 3,395, -
Charger 770-4.3 -liter engine with 218 bhp R6 (160 kW), three-stage automatic, Price AU $ 3,625, -
The R / T and the 770 both had the six-cylinder in-line engine in the high-performance version with 4343 cc and double carburetors, while the E37 option had this machine with triple Weber carburetors current flat. Only for the R / T, there was the even more tuned option E38, which formed the basis for Chrysler's participation in touring car racing. This option gave the Charger R / T is a power of 280 bhp (206 kW), driving the price of AU $ 3975, -.
From 1972, there was the option for the E49 Charger R / T, which owned the six-cylinder in-line engine in the version with 4948 cc and a four-speed manual transmission. This machine delivered a remarkable torque on the seven -bearing crankshaft, which allowed an unprecedented level of six-cylinder power delivery, which until 1975 Porsche 911 Turbo ( 300) was exceeded.
Charger 770 SE - In August 1972, Chrysler brought out an exclusive model based on the Charger 770. The Charger 770 SE (English: Special Edition, dt: Special model ) had the option E55 with a V8 engine with 5571 cc displacement and four -barrel carburetor, which was originally introduced according to many motoring journalists from Chrysler for a then discontinued trial of the homologation of a race touring car. Rather than deliver this engine as part of an option for the Charger R / T Chrysler decided to bring the motor for the Charger 770 with einläufigem exhaust pipe and only in connection with the TorqueFlite -727 automatic transmission. In addition to this unique engine of the Charger had to offer 770 SE are other typical amenities available, such as white / black vinyl equipment, a dash of metal and only three available finishes: Vintage Red (red), Lime Light (green) and Sunfire (yellow metallic). According to Chrysler records a total of 125 VH Charger 770 SE were built, two of which were not painted in the standard colors listed above.
VJ series
The VH series was replaced by the VJ series in March 1973. The VJ had a modified bulkhead, a different grille, new headlights and rear fender. New 7 " headlights replaced the old rectangular lights. In the new model range of the Charger R / T was not responsible, since the end of the 1972 season Chrysler withdrew from the Australian touring car racing. The main elements of the E37 option but were transferred to the VJ series, now available as an option E48.
- Option E48 - R6 engine with 4343 cc and three Weber twin carburettors, four-speed manual
- Option E55 - V8 engine with 5572 cc displacement, 275 bhp (202 kW) and 48 mm valves
- Option E57 - V8 engine with 5899 cc and 255 bhp (188 kW) ( introduced in 1974 instead of the E55 option)
VJ Charger 770 ( with option E55 )
Equipped with the E55 option VJ Valiant Charger was not called Charger 770 SE more. This meant that the VJ Valiant Charger 770 E55 in contrast to his predecessor in various colors and trim levels were available - as well as some Charger XL with option E55 - and then only at their 14 " x 7" - five-hole alloy rims DragMag and the 340- 4BBL emblems could be seen on the front fenders.
The VJ series had instead of the contact ignition of the VH series with an electronic ignition has to offer. This improved the cold start characteristics significantly and made an ignition every 10,000 km superfluous.
Even the Carter Themoquad carburetor came in this series are used, even if not from the beginning and in all models. Some cars still had the AVS carburetor the previous series. It is unclear when the change took place; there are earlier built car with Carter carburetors and later built with AVS carburetors. One assumes an increase in performance by the Carter carburetor is because the flow was increased in the carburetor.
During the term of the option E55 there were other engine variants, eg with modified cylinder heads. According Workshop Manual had earlier models of the VJ series heads with the intake valve diameter 51.3 mm. Later this diameter was reduced to 47.8 mm. Again, it is not clear when the change took place exactly, and there are earlier models with a small valve diameter and later models with larger valve diameter.
Apparently the majority of the VJ Valiant Charger E55 was built in the second half of 1973. As the stocks of 5.6 liter V8 went out in late 1974, Chrysler had the option expire E55 and built from now on the weaker 5.9 -liter V8 ( from the luxury sedan Chrysler by Chrysler) in the Valiant Charger 770 a.
VJ Charger Sportsman (option A23) - In August 1974, a Charger Sportsman out as a limited edition model, which was based on the Charger XL. It came exactly 500 Charger Sportsman who painted all two-color ( Vintage Red and White) and were provided with a black / white interior in a special fabric quality. These cars had the normal 4.3 liter R6 engine with four- speed manual transmission.
VK series
The slightly revised VK Charger came in October 1975 in only two variants out:
Charger XL - 3.5 liter R6 engine with three-speed manual transmission; 4.0 l or 4.3 l -R6 -R6 on request
Charger 770-4.0 l -R6 engine with three-speed manual transmission; 4,3 l -R6, 5.2 -liter V8 or 5.9 -liter V8 on request
With the introduction of the VK series, the E48 option fell away, leaving only the normal 4.3 liter R6- Engine remained.
The Charger was now offered as a Chrysler Charger and Chrysler Valiant Charger not more than, the Chrysler emblem replaced the Valiant emblems front and back. Other changes in the VK series were the white grille, tail lights and other decorations on the other C-pillars with extensive black GRP panels with XL or 770 emblems. Inside the function of the wiper and washer was put on the turn signal lever and there was Boca Raton - fabrics for the seat inserts of the Charger 770
In June 1976, the ADR 27A a revised emissions standards for all cars offered on the Australian market came into force. Thus, the 3.5 -liter R6 and the 5.9 -liter V8 had to be scrapped.
VK Charger White Knight Special ( option A50 ) - As of July 1976 Chrysler brought a limited edition model of the Charger XL out, which basically just cosmetic changes inside and outside, as well as a front spoiler included. Half of the 200 cars was painted in Arctic White and the other half in Amarante Red bumper and grille were painted in body color. This car had a 4.3 liter R6 engine with manual or automatic transmission depending on the customer. The interior was decorated in white vinyl with red ornaments.
Series CL
The CL Charger was introduced in October 1976 and eventually turned out to be the last Charger from Australia. This series had a new front and should really be called the VL series. Chrysler however chose the name CL because this better fit to the name Chrysler, which is now on all Chrysler models that have been offered in Australia, showed up.
The Charger XL fell off ( with the exception of the police versions), so that only the CL Charger 770 for public sale was left.
CL Charger Drifter ( options A34 and A49 ) - Relatively late in the production term of the CL Charger offered Chrysler Drifter option that existed in four paint colors, namely Spinnaker White ( A34 ), Impact Orange ( A49 ), Sundance Yellow ( A49 ) and Harvest Gold ( A49 ). Basically, this was only a cosmetic option that was based on the equipment details of the van Chrysler Drifter. These wagons were available with engines of 4.3 l (R6 ) or 5.2 liter (V8 ) Engine capacity, but only with four-speed manual transmission.
The production of the Chrysler Charger was set on 16 August 1978.
Motorsport
The Valiant Charger was officially used in Australia in the 1971 and 1972 competitions, the focus was on the 500 mile touring car race Bathurst. Chrysler Australia undertook the racing driver Leo Geoghegan for assistance in the development of the Charger as a touring car. 1972 ended a VH Valiant Charger R / T E49 with the driver Doug Chivas the Hardie - Feredo -500 race at Bathurst in third place.
Due to the political stir that in 1972, the " Supercars for the road " excited, 1973, the rules for touring car racing were changed so that the manufacturers had to produce no street versions of their racing cars more. These changes lead to first Chrysler and later Ford got out of the Australian touring car racing.
In New Zealand, where the rules for the touring cars were less open, the Charger 1971 turned to 1979 to be nearly unbeatable at the famous B & H 500 mile race (later 1000 km race ) at Pukekohe Park Raceway. The most successful driver in New Zealand were Leo Leonard and Jim Little.