A VF Coupe with slant six degrees of separation
When you go back in time, it never ceases to amaze me the ironies and coincidences that often unfold along the way.
David Segal experienced that when researching this VF Valiant Hardtop, after first taking ownership of the Chrysler classic. But more of that later.
Back in the day, when one of the ‘Big Three’ local carmakers launched their new family hack, it was a big deal.
There was much hoopla and expensive advertising campaigns, blacked-out showroom windows and invite-only, dealer functions.
So when the VF Series Valiant was revealed in March 1969 with the obligatory ad blitz, some may have thought it a little underwhelming because, at a glance, the VF was merely a facelift of its predecessor.
Cosmetic changes to the VF saw the mounting of the parking lights above the headlights, a new convex, one-piece grille and not much more.
However, under the skin there were significant changes over previous Vals. From the VF onwards a far greater emphasis was placed on the Australian engineering of the car to suit local conditions.
Improvements to safety, the seat comfort and additional soundproofing were ushered in, along with several new models.
Enter the sporty Bathurst-bound Valiant Pacer, plush Regal 770, the luxurious Chrysler VIP and, for the first time, a stylish two-door hardtop body which became available from September 1969.
The hardtop featured local VF Valiant hardware from the A-pillar forward, fusing it with the rear of the US fourth-generation Dodge Dart. It was available in four specification variants, the base model Valiant, a Regal, Regal 770 and Pacer sedan.
VF Series buyers had a choice of a 3.7-litre slant six with a standard 145 horsepower, or in High Performance guise 160 neddies. Exclusive to the new Pacer, was the High Compression slant six belting out 175hp. Also available was a 318ci 5.2-litre V8 with a standard 210 horsepower, or in the Regal 770 model a Fireball V8 with 230 horses.
Buyers could opt for a three-speed manual or a three-speed Torqueflite auto.
In all, 52,933 VF models, including 3721 VIPs, were built.
David Segal, classic car researcher, writer and consultant, is the owner of this Crystal Turquoise Valiant Regal Hardtop and we had a chat to see what was what, starting with why he chose the Valiant?
It turns out David’s father was a Valiant man and had a string of them as company cars, so the seed was sown early on. But it was the arrival of a Valiant hardtop that captivated the young Segal.
“I was out the front of our house, about 10 or 11 years old,” says David, “when this lemon yellow two-door 1969 Chrysler Valiant VF Regal Hardtop with a black vinyl roof, turned into the neighbor’s driveway. It was, at the time, the coolest car I’d ever seen and it even had the extended ‘Mexicana’ roof, which today is rarer than hen’s teeth.
“Scroll forward 50+ years and I decided I needed a VF Valiant Hardtop of my own, as a bit of a tribute to my late dad and, I guess, recapturing some youthful memories.
“What I wanted was a a Regal 770 with the Buffalo Trim and a V8 with the auto shifter on the floor, nestled in the famous coffin-shaped console, and with front bucket seats.
“But I couldn’t find one that seemed ‘right’ and instead, this Crystal Turquoise hardtop with a parchment vinyl roof and parchment interior kept popping up, and I loved the colour combination.
“I was overseas at the time on a holiday with my wife, Lisa, so when I got home, I contacted the owner only to discover that the hardtop was sitting in the small village of Mandurama, NSW, not far from Bathurst.”
Having bitten the bullet and purchased the car, fundamentally sight unseen, and got it transported to Victoria, he then unearthed an amazing connection with the car.
“Though I am semi-retired these days, I spend my time as a classic-car consultant and writer and researching vehicle histories for Donington Auctions.
“So naturally I wanted to research the history of the car and, looking at some original registration papers, the name on them was ‘Ethel Borger’. I thought, ‘I know that surname,’ but couldn’t immediately think why.
“Eventually, I remembered my friend Michelle’s maiden name was Borger (she played water polo on the same team as my wife Lisa) and being very active on Facebook, she has someone called Ethel commenting all the time on her posts. I guessed that was Michelle’s mother, put two and two together, and asked Michelle whether the family had owned a Crystal Turquoise VF Valiant Regal hardtop.
“Sure enough she confirmed they had, and it quickly became apparent that I’d bought the Borger family car they had owned for 50 years, and that Michelle had learned to drive in!”
Now living in America, Michelle remembers, as a little girl, going to the dealership with her mum and dad to pick the car up when it was brand new, and there’s even a family black-and-white photo of her standing in front of the new hardtop with her brother Neville.
She told us of other treasured memories. “To us it was just the family car, but it was a big deal when we got it, and it was the same week I started in primary school. A brand-new car for a farming family meant good times ahead. Little did we know it would stick around for nearly 50 years and it went everywhere: weddings, birthdays, funerals. It was part of the family.
“I remember going to pick it up and the dealer was near the showgrounds – Google says it’s a Bob Jane T-Marts now and I also remember the Rushworth policeman had one in exactly the same colour.
“As Mum worked nights, Dad used to pack us up in the middle of the night during summer and head to the farm and change over the irrigation water. That long back seat was perfect for two sleeping kids.
“Holidays always involved a caravan in tow, and because of the farm it was often Mum and the kids. One time we picked up a caravan in Shepparton, and for some reason the guys asked Mum to reverse it the full length of their shed. She got in, kids on board, big wing mirrors attached – and reversed it straight as a die. Everyone watched, amazed. Mum rocked driving that thing”
“I also remember getting stung by a bee coming home from Shepparton one hot day, with the windows fully wound down. That’s when I found out I was allergic to them.
Another memory that sticks with Michelle is going out for a drive just to watch the odometer tick over to 000,000 for the first time. With the Batman theme playing in her head she also begged her folks to chop the roof off and make it a convertible.
“I guess David is grateful Dad ignored me,” said Michelle.
Michelle also learned to drive in the VF Hardtop claiming it was a bit of a tank with heavy steering and a loose wheel, and impossible to parallel park.
“I drove it for a while after getting my license,” Michelle said, “but eventually got my own car as Mum wanted hers (the hardtop) back.
During its lifetime the VF also attracted its share of birdlife, with Ian collecting a magpie at 70mph and Ethel cleaning up a cockatoo the day before Michelle’s wedding, where the Valiant was driven to.
Michelle was stunned when she heard David had acquired the Borger family Hardtop. “I was at home when I got a Facebook ping from David ‘Did I know an IM and EF Borger of Rushworth who owned a Valiant?’
“Did I know them? Absolutely – Mum and Dad. Our family car. Then it dawned on me that he was telling me he’d bought it! Instantly I got on to Mum and my brother to tell them.
“I don’t think it fully registered with him that Mum had only sold it a couple of years ago – having been in the family for 50 years. I think he assumed it had passed through a few more hands.
Because of this coincidence David feels a closer connection to the Valiant and has felt the need to do more to it.
“This coincidence has driven me to do more with the project than I might have done otherwise,” says David, “because it now has that special connection. My wife Lisa and I attended Michelle’s wedding and naturally her parents were there, and they’d driven to the ceremony in this very same Valiant hardtop!”
After 50 years of ownership, the hardtop had been bought as part of a ‘job lot’ of cars by a well-known Chrysler enthusiast, who gave it a bit of a birthday, swapped out the ‘jellybean’ mags for steel wheels and hubcaps, refreshed the vinyl roof and gave it a rear venetian.
It was then purchased by the guy in New South Wales who David ultimately bought it from, making this fundamentally a three-owner car.
“I had a mate of a mate look at it before I bought it, and it had some known issues, but seemed fairly sound. Arguably, I could’ve gone to look at it myself and it might have changed things, but to be fair to the guy I bought it from, he said several times that ‘it’s a 55-year-old car’ and therein lay the clue to its condition.
“It presented okay but, really, everything was just worn out,” David explained.
“A very good friend of mine, Tony Quinn, who has restored many cars over the years, was between personal projects at the time and happy to have a play with it and help sort it out.
“What we thought initially might be a 10-day recommission turned in to a 12-month refurbishment.
“Tony has been amazing. He has done all the actual repair work, while I have done the leg work, running around finding various parts from Chrysler people, collecting bits and pieces here and there, and, of course, paying for everything.”
Many people will know Tony Quinn from his years at Shannons, checking out the mechanical and bodywork of virtually every car that went through the auctions, a role he’s performing today at Donington Auctions.
So what has been done to this storied Valiant?
David says a huge amount. “Everything was 55 years old and worn out.
“We discovered the whole underside of the car was caked in a mixture of gravel and mud. It turns out that Michelle’s father worked at the local quarry, so every day the car went back-and-forth from the quarry. Once we cleaned all that off, we could see its true condition.
“The radiator was stuffed. The heater wasn’t connected, the wipers didn’t work, nor did some of the electrics and the wiring was a mess, so Tony tidied up all that stuff and replaced a lot of the wiring, so everything is now reconnected and working.
“It now also has LED globes in the indicators, and in the parkers which sit on top of the front guards and operate as Daylight Running Lights. It has LED headlights as well.
“The driver’s door had dropped so we installed a new hinge, the vent windows were seized solid with dirt, the door locks were completely stuffed and it’s impossible to get the parts, so we put in central locking, which is easier and much more secure anyway.
“The engine was pretty good; it was a replacement engine anyway but the carby needed a complete rebuild. It also had aftermarket extractors, but we found an original manifold and installed a new exhaust system.
“The gear linkage was so worn you couldn’t figure out where reverse or drive was, so Tony tightened all that up and both reattached and painted the little indicator that sits in the window on top of the steering column, to tell you which gear you are in.
“We were recommended a guy by the name of Stewart Beggs who calls himself H-Plate windscreens and is a guru at windscreen replacements on old cars. Stewart sourced an original-style windscreen, new seals and trims, and got stuck in, cleaning up the aperture, rustproofing it, and then putting it all back together. It was a major exercise.
“It then went to Scott Memery and his team at Pedders Suspension in Mornington, and they did an amazing job rebuilding all the suspension and brakes and doing the wheel bearings. We also lowered it by an inch to give it a tougher stance.
“A guy there called Chris turned out to be a VF Hardtop owner himself, so he really took the project under his wing!”
Tyre guru Russell Stuckey of Stuckey Tyres, a long-time industry associate of David’s, also sourced a set of Michelin tyres in the right size, with thin white walls for the right period look.
“There were so many elements that needed attention. The fuel gauge would flicker when it reached a quarter tank. It took us a full year to track down someone who makes new ones, so once we put one in the problem was solved.” David describes the VF as a genuine survivor.
“It has been refreshed in all the important mechanical areas to be usable, and it presents nicely, without being a Concours car.
“It turns out that at one stage it had a backyard repaint by a friend who took three years to do it, and it’s not the best job but it’s another piece of its history.”
After all the hard graft and with it finally on the road and useable, David is enjoying the Mornington Peninsula and other Melbourne surrounds attending many shows and car events. Then he’ll see how he feels after that, and whether this storied Valiant is a ‘keeper’.
“I’ve owned it around 14 months now and only driven it handful of times but, surprisingly, it doesn’t drive too badly. In fact, it doesn’t drive as badly as you think it’s going to,” as he breaks in to laughter.
That’s the best way to describe it.
While completing the Valiant’s refurbishment David has recently eyed another project and with only a certain amount of garage room, could be convinced to part with it. He can be contacted through the magazine via our email uniquecars@primecreative.com.au
ARCHIVED HISTORY
A brief timeline of our featured 1969 Chrysler Valiant VF Regal Hardtop, Victorian Registered KLV-319.
A three-owner car best described as a largely original survivor.
Bought brand new from Harrison’s Garage in Shepparton (Victoria) on 6 February 1970, the Borger family of Rushworth (Victoria) owned this 1969 Chrysler Valiant VF Regal Hardtop for 50 years.
Factory-finished in the rare colour of Crystal Turquoise with a Parchment vinyl roof and matching interior, this Valiant two-door was used as a daily driver and for domestic duties that included teaching the children how to drive.
Work during its five decades of ownership included regular maintenance and repairs, a refresh of the paintwork, and in September 1990, a replacement 225ci slant six engine was fitted by HM Engines in Mulgrave (Melbourne, Victoria).
In February 2020 – exactly 50 years to the month since it was bought new – the VF Hardtop changed hands for the first time, with Ian and Ethel’s grandson, the last family member to drive it the day it was sold.
After its purchase the second owner gave it a new vinyl roof, swapping out the Borger’s ‘jellybean’ mags for a set of hubcapped steel wheels, and added a rear window venetian.
After just six months, it went to its third owner, this time in NSW, who travelled less than 500 miles during four years of ownership. Then it was acquired by David Segal in August 2024.
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