With the Plymouth Valiant and Dodge Dart soon to be retired, the cars shared a common wheelbase from 1974 through 1976. For the Valiant, that meant an increase of three inches, and we assume the change was made for Chrysler economic reasons. The Brougham edition was added to both brands to make the smaller cars appeal to a more upscale audience (remember the OPEC oil embargo of 1973?). This 1974 edition looks to be in great shape and is said to have just 40,000 miles. Located in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, this swanky Mopar is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $14,567 OBO.
We don’t know the history of this auto, but it has the feel of a one-owner car that was only driven to church on Sundays. The Deep Sherwood Metallic paint is thought to be original except on the rear quarter panels and trunk lid. That suggests that either some accident repairs were facilitated or there was some Northeast rust that was eradicated. The interior is quite fancy and in good shape, but there are no power windows or seats because those options were never extended to the Valiants and Darts.
The car has factory air conditioning, but it’s in-op at the moment. The ventilation was still mounted under the dashboard, just like it would be if you went the aftermarket route. The split bench seats are like buckets with a splitter in between. Tunes were not important to the original owner as the car was only ordered with an AM radio. Data provided by the seller indicates that about 3,200 of these Valiant Brougham 4-door sedans were assembled in 1974.
Instead of a Slant-Six, this Plymouth has a 318 cubic inch V8 with a TorqueFlite automatic transmission. We assume both are matching numbers. With a 2-barrel carburetor, this Mopar should be fairly economical to operate as long as you drive it gingerly. The seller is open to “reasonable offers” and selling the car only because of a sudden change in personal finances. A thumbs up goes to “JDC” for the tip!
At this time( I know, 3am, hey you wanted your eggs at 7am, didn’t ya?), I’d like to thank the staff for presenting vehicles we can associate with. I was a big supporter of that, and I’m not doubting the site does have people looking for big dollar exotics, but for the most of us,,,right here. Take this car, for example, a “Brougham”( whistles) ,,,see, younguns( pulling suspenders), in 1974, the rug was literally pulled out from under us. Unlike today, where $1.00/gal. is somewhat swallowable, but when gas went from .34/gal, to over a buck,,,that was big news. Suddenly, gas economy was on just about everyone’s minds, except me, and others like me. People still wanted nice economical cars, and this was about as nice as Joe Lunchpail had. Wasn’t cheap. I read, a base Valiant/Dart, went for around $3grand, one of the cheapest cars in the US. However, a car like this was over $4grand, and not many went that route. This wasn’t why people bought Valiants. Oh, every family had one, that frugal Auntie with a shred of class, bought cars like this. They served them well.
What’s great about posts like this, is these are cars you can drive and not worry too much about that ’51 Packard fender( or whatever), “useable” classics I’d like to refer them as, and if the classic car hobby is to survive, and I believe it will, it will be cars like this that people not only want to be seen in, but need a decent car that won’t kill them at a dealer. You’ll see.
Thanks again.
No matter how nice, there likely isn’t going to be a strong enough following for this sort of car at a price approaching $15k (14,567). Someone who’s going to spend that much money is doing so because they want that exact car, otherwise they’d look at similar cars in roughly the same condition that sell for a fraction of the price. That’s the problem, at some price point the competition becomes intense, with plenty of options for potential buyers to choose from.
Steve R
My favorite: The color matched hubcaps; so…green
A working man’s Imperial. As recent immigrants from the UK, my blue collar steel worker dad bought a new Valiant sedan in 1974. It served the family well and was replaced by an equally trouble free Volare in 1977 after the Valiant met an untimely demise in a crash. The ease of self maintenance and simple repairs possible by a reasonably mechanically inclined person was impressive (let alone a trained diesel mechanic like pops). These two experiences with American automobiles made my dad a diehard fan of the old Chrysler Corp. Impeccably maintained, his Plymouths rarely ever saw the dealer or any other service bay!
Today’s dealers would have nightmares at a car that once sold did not provide a monetary return in the service bay!
Ordered a new 1974 Plymouth Valiant Brougham coupe with the 318 V8 and the same triple green color combo. Wonderful car, but eventually a rust bucket that got stolen from behind our apartment in Detroit.
Eddie’s mother’s car(friend from my youth) Good memories in a Valiant Bro-Ham.Eddie’s mom let him drive it as long as he washed it after every trip and made sure all fluids and air pressures were topped up :D