The Chrysler VC Valiant is an

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

that was produced in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Chrysler Australia Fiat Chrysler Australia, officially FCA Australia, is the official Stellantis subsidiary in that country, operating as distributor of Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Abarth, Alfa Romeo and Fiat vehicles. However, there had previously been a "Chrysler Au ...

from 1966 to 1967. It was released in March 1966, replacing the Chrysler AP6 Valiant. The VC was the fifth

Chrysler Valiant Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...

model to be produced in Australia.

Overview

The VC Valiant was longer and lower than any previous Australian Valiant model, but was essentially a facelift of the superseded AP6 model,Chrysler Valiant VC at www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au
Retrieved on 24 May 2012 with Chrysler Australia photographs of early VC's showing them bearing the model designation AP7. It featured a new grille, front bumper, bonnet and front mudguards. Sedans had new rear styling with vertical taillights. Wagons and utilities carried over the rear lights and panels from their AP6 predecessors, with wagons receiving the new rear bumper and utilities carrying over the previous models bumperettes. The VC range displayed a greater degree of differentiation between models with the Valiant, Regal and V8 each having unique exterior decoration and trim.Tony Davis, Aussie Cars, 1987, page 96 Regal and V8 models had a chrome strip situated near the lower edge of the doors and V8 models featured a vinyl roof, bucket seats and a floor mounted gear selector with full length centre console, as well as V8 badges on the rear roof pillar, bootlid, bonnet emblem and hubcaps. V8 sedans also featured three horizontal chrome bars on the rear quarter panel. Front disc brakes were introduced as an option in November 1966.Gavin Farmer, Great Ideas in Motion, 2010, pages 129-133

Model range

The VC series Valiant was offered in 4-door sedan, 5-door

station wagon A station wagon ( US, also wagon) or estate car ( UK, also estate), is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door ( ...

and 2-door

coupe utility A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...

models. * Valiant 225 sedanSales brochure for VC series 225 Slant 6 and 273 V8 Valiants (VC-M41) * Valiant 225 Safari wagon (VC-M45) * Valiant Regal sedan (VC-H41) * Valiant Regal Safari wagon (VC-H45) * Valiant 273 V8 sedan (VC-P41) * Valiant 273 V8 Safari wagon (VC-P45) * Valiant Wayfarer utility (VC-M20) File:1966 Chrysler Valiant VC Sedan (13259318845).jpg, Chrysler VC Valiant sedan File:1967 Chrysler VC Valiant (5279034145).jpg, Chrysler VC Valiant sedan File:1966 Chrysler Valiant (VC) Safari station wagon (2015-06-08) 01.jpg, Chrysler VC Valiant Safari wagon File:1966 Chrysler Valiant (VC) Safari station wagon (2015-06-08) 02.jpg, Chrysler VC Valiant Safari wagon File:1966 Chrysler Valiant (VC) Regal sedan (16932852650).jpg, Chrysler VC Valiant Regal sedan File:1966 Chrysler Valiant (VC) Regal sedan (17094418436).jpg, Chrysler VC Valiant Regal sedan File:Chrysler VC Valiant Regal Safari.JPG, Chrysler VC Valiant Regal Safari wagon File:1966 Chrysler VC Valiant Regal Safari station wagon (6335423235).jpg, Chrysler VC Valiant Regal Safari wagon File:1966 Chrysler VC Valiant V8 sedan (15646640591).jpg, Chrysler VC Valiant V8 sedan File:1966 Chrysler VC Valiant V8 sedan (15649329995).jpg, Chrysler VC Valiant V8 sedan - note three horizontal chrome stripes on rear quarter panel to further differentiate V8 sedan from Regal File:Chrysler Valiant VC V8 (16050823929).jpg, V8 hood ornament as fitted to VC Valiant V8s File:Chrysler Valiant VC Regal V8 (16069027842).jpg, V8 badge as fitted to VC Valiant V8 sedan rear roof pillars and wagon front guards. File:Chrysler Valiant VC Regal V8 (15695410810).jpg, V8 badge as fitted to VC Valiant V8 sedan boot lids File:Chrysler Valiant VC V8 Wagon (16059215794).jpg, Chrysler VC Valiant V8 Safari wagon File:1967 Chrysler Valiant (VC) V8 station wagon (19888962914).jpg, Chrysler VC Valiant V8 Safari wagon File:Chrysler Valiant VC V8 Wagon (16059189324).jpg, V8 badge as fitted to VC Valiant V8 wagon tailgates File:Chrysler Valiant Wayfarer Utility (VC).jpg, Chrysler VC Valiant Wayfarer utility File:Chrysler Valiant VC Ute (15724160784).jpg, Chrysler VC Valiant Wayfarer utility - note rear bumperettes carried over from the previous AP6 utility File:1966 Chrysler VC Valiant Regal sedan (15462692539).jpg, 225 cubic inch slant six as fitted to VC Valiant and Regal range

Dodge 106 heavy duty utility

A variant of the Valiant Wayfarer utility was marketed as the Dodge 106 heavy duty utility. The Dodge had a 1,500 lb load capacity, as against the 1,200 lb capacity of the Wayfarer, and was visually differentiated by less chrome and exterior decoration.

Engines and transmissions

Straight-six engine The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine bala ...

was fitted to all models other than the 273 V8 sedan and wagon, which were powered by a

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and us ...

.Valiant VC Technical Specifications, www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au
Retrieved on 24 May 2012 Base models were available with either three speed manual transmission or three speed automatic transmission, whilst Regals and 273 V8s were fitted with a three speed automatic as standard.

Production and replacement

A total of 65,634 VC Valiants were built prior to its replacement by the

VE Valiant The Chrysler VE Valiant is an automobile that was produced in Australia by Chrysler Australia from 1967 to 1969. It was released in October 1967, replacing the Chrysler VC Valiant. The premium model in the range was renamed Valiant VIP due to ...

range in 1967.

Motorsport

Two VC Valiant V8 automatic sedans contested the

1966 Gallaher 500 The 1966 Gallaher 500 was an endurance motor race for production cars, held on 2 October 1966 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst, New South Wales in Australia. It was the seventh running of the Bathurst 500 raceIncludes 1960, ...

endurance race at Mount Panorama, Bathurst, finishing first and second in Class D. They placed 10th and 11th outright, beaten only by the

Morris Cooper S The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

which filled the first nine places.

Police Cars

Chrysler Australia produced 33 or 34 (actual figure is disputed) Valiant sedans with the base level trim, but equipped with the 273 V8, for use by Victoria and South Australia Police forces as high speed pursuit vehicles. These show in the production records as model code V41.Gavin Farmer, Great Ideas in Motion, The History of Chrysler in Australia 1946-1981, page 409 Regular production base model Valiants used model code M41, whilst regular production V8 with the luxury trim used model code P41. Externally they were identical to the regular six cylinder Valiant sedans, and had standard base trim level interiors instead of the luxury interior of the regular production V8s

References

{{Chrysler Valiant Cars of Australia Valiant vehicles

Valiant Valiant may refer to: People * James Valiant (1884–1917), English cricketer * The Valiant Brothers, a professional wrestling tag team of storyline brothers ** Jerry Valiant, a ring name of professional wrestler John Hill (1941-2010) ** Jimmy ...

Cars introduced in 1966 1960s cars