When is an ex-taxi not an ex-taxi? When it's a former wedding-car. This rare ebony black VG Valiant was found by sheer luck.
At first-glance the VG’s arrival was an anticlimax judging by the very similar overall appearance to its VF predecessor. However, once you popped the bonnet it was obvious that there was way more to the VG than just new rectangular headlights. Gone was the venerable ‘Slant-6’ engine – in its place, the new highly efficient ‘Hemi-6’. If there were a Hall of Fame for Australian straight-sixes, the Hemi-6 would be right up there with Ford’s now legendary ‘Barra’.
This stunning Ebony Black VG sedan is the result of a ‘team effort’ by Central Victorian couple Shan and Eddie. Shan smiled mischievously as she explained the team thing, saying, “This lovely Valiant is my car and Eddie looks after it for me. That’s how the team works.”
Given that ‘ex-taxi’ is part of the car’s provenance we might have expected to
see a million-mile survivor on its third motor, saved from the crusher by the efforts of this pair of Mopar enthusiasts. The ‘Mopar enthusiasts’ bit is right at least, but not the rest. Shan explained how this VG avoided being driven into the ground like most taxis.
“We have found out that a taxi operator named Harry Linden originally bought the car new for North Suburban Taxis, in the Melbourne suburb of Preston,” she said. “It was ordered with the taxi-pack in Ebony Black to be used only as a wedding car. We also discovered that ownership of the Valiant had passed to Harry’s daughter Gwen later in its wedding-car working-life. She ultimately retired it to be her personal transport. Even with a holiday trip to Cairns towing a caravan under its belt, it had only 43,000 original miles on it when we bought it in 2019, and it’s still under 50,000!”
Eddie and Shan located the low-mileage classic Valiant in a Bendigo (Vic) used-car yard. As they were driving past the yard Shan suddenly called out: “Eddie, there’s a Valiant.” Although it was almost hidden behind other cars she had caught a glimpse of it. It appears to have been a love at first glimpse.
“During my days growing up on the Sunshine Coast, there really couldn’t have been a cooler car than a black Valiant,” said Shan. “So I really wanted this one as soon as I saw it.”
Things moved pretty quickly once Eddie gave it the thumbs-up after a test drive.
“It was an absolute pleasure to drive,” said Eddie. “The torque of its six-cylinder engine reminded me of my HG GTS 186S Monaro, a car I had for about three years when I was young. I still regret selling the Monaro.”
Once they got the car home Eddie jumped on the tools.
“First I gave it a full service – oil, filters, fluids and spark plugs,” he said. “Then it was a very thorough cleaning and detailing job and polishing everything that needed polishing. The car had been resprayed in the original Ebony Black before we bought it and that polished up well …”
Shan interrupted to underline the effort Eddie put in. “Eddie pulled every one of the chromed parts off and absolutely polished it all back to the lovely condition you see now,” she said.
“He painstakingly repainted all the blackout areas around the grille and headlight surrounds and the tail-lights. There were bits of Valiant all over the dining table for months. He also pulled all the painted parts off the motor and stripped them back and repainted them and got the stickers and really transformed the engine bay to the show standard you see now. That’s Eddie. He did all of that.”
According to Eddie restoring the hub caps was a challenge. “I had to carefully strip all the paint off the hub caps by hand,” he said. “It was a lot of work doing all four of them because the paint was faded and scratched. They’re not the original hubcaps. They used them on the Dodge Darts in the late-1960s I think. And then the Centuras after the Valiants. We didn’t get the story of how the car ended up with those hubcaps. It also came with the originals which had got dinged up. Getting the very heavy towbar off was probably the physically toughest part of the project. (Shan nodded her agreement.) As the towbar finally pulled free of the mountings the rear of the car lifted noticeably. The thing about doing all the work, including the tough jobs, is how satisfying the end result is.”
What comes next, folks? Eddie: “I’m a man with a Holden history but now I really appreciate the interesting Mopar stuff – a US Dodge Charger for example. Don’t know about the fuel bills though.”
Shan: “I grew up in a Ford family with a Dad who raced a Customline at an old Sunshine Coast speedway. So I’d love to get a Customline because it connects with a lot of my history with my Dad.”
VITAL STATS: 1970 CHRYSLER VALIANT VG
NUMBER MADE: 46,374 (all VG)
BODY STYLE: Steel integrated body/chassis four-door sedan
Built: Dec 1970, Adelaide. Original 215 motor, auto trans. 134th 215 Hemi built with single barrel Carter carby.
Options: A28 taxi-pack, B41 disc brakes, 55amp alternator, 55amp/h battery, HD brake linings, remote deck-lid release, door waist-rail handles.
Paint code: TAUB4000 (Ebony Black)
Interior trim code: R1 red, SOA 205 stamped in engine bay (Black paint was not officially offered as an option until 1972). SOA = Special order accepted. SOAs were available outside regular options for Govt. fleets or company cars with unusual colours or specs.
CHRYSLER VC-VG MARKET REVIEW
Chrysler was a latecomer to the battle for sales in the Australian ‘family car’ market but still produced some fine contenders.
Arriving in 1966, the VC had a handsome and distinctive shape, with plenty of power and interior space. The VE which followed brought a body that looked longer and lower and also introduced a more luxurious VIP.
The VF expanded Chrysler’s local range with two-door versions of the Valiant and upmarket Regal. It also added affordable performance with the bargain priced Pacer.
Topping off this sequence of popular Valiant products was the VG model which remained available until 1971. It brought new six-cylinder engines and an even more potent Pacer. Let’s now take a look at how they have fared in the collector market since 2015.
VC-VG Valiant (Exc. Hardtop)
Valiants from the late 1960s look set to remain terrific value for the typical enthusiast. Prices during the past decade have moved a bit, but not to the same frightening extent as some Aussie models of similar age (Monaros, XY Fairmonts to name a couple).
Looking for mechanical longevity will see buyers gravitate towards the later ‘hemi’ motors, but all of the inline Chrysler sixes are very robust. Cars in decent, usable condition begin at less than $20,000 and very few of the basic versions will top $35,000.
Buying for practicality, the wagons have loads of space even with the back seat in use and a convenient wind-down rear window. Chrysler also offered within its VC-VG series a Wayfarer utility with a load capacity of 660kg, but these can look expensive when vendors ask well above the price of a sedan.
VC-VG Regal (Exc. Hardtop)
The Regal brought luxury touches but no huge benefits to the VC-VG range.
V8-engined VC models appeal to a specialised market and can cost 50 per cent more than eight-cylinder versions of VE-VG cars. All of the latter will have Chrysler’s 5.2-litre Fireball V8 and three-speed automatic transmission, and are capable of running 0-100km/h in around 10 seconds.
V8 Regals will almost always have power steering and power front disc brakes, plus bucket seats and a heater demister. Values are about 20 per cent above the cost of a six-cylinder car but with the extra engine power and convenience items, a V8 Regal at $35-40,000 is worth consideration.
Regals were available as a sedan or station wagon and although surviving wagons are almost impossible to find they cost around the same as sedans.
VF-VG Hardtop
Chrysler’s Aussie-spec Hardtops were Dodge in everything but name; a fact that can be helpful when shopping overseas for parts to fix a rusty one.
Local Hardtops appeared with the VF series before acquiring VG sheet metal and local Hemi Six engines, but values don’t discriminate much between the two models.
Hardtop values and availability were affected during the 1980s and ’90s when perfectly viable cars had their tops sliced off to create structurally compromised convertibles. These chop tops often came without proper weather protection, so rust flourished and they were scrapped.
Survivors, especially V8-engined Regals and the very rare Regal 770, have been seen at prices above $50,000 and will generate such money in outstanding, original condition. Six-cylinder cars in average condition remain at around $30,000.
VF-VGPacer
CHRYSLER IN 1969 had no budget to challenge Ford with its GT or the Holden Monaro but did it anyway with the loud and sporty Pacer.
Estimated VF Pacer production is 4500 but just a small fraction would survive today. Even so, they cost considerably less than the later, bigger engined VG sedan or its two-door counterpart.
These have increased significantly during the past few years, with an exceptional Hardtop sold at auction in 2023 for more than $100,000.
That for now was likely the market peak, with 2BBL sedans now at around $70,000 and Hardtops slightly less.
Rarest of the VG sedans would be an E34 with Track Pack inclusions and a fuel guzzling four-barrel carburettor. These in fact used so much during the 1970 Bathurst 500 that they needed an extra fuel stop and finished behind the two-barrel cars. Still, they remain worth well in excess of $100,000.
Photography: Nathan Jacobs | Prime Creative Media