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
Not every collector car has to be a muscle car. SMH
This is beautiful.
Beautiful has nothing to do with value. Many on this site are predicting the collapse of the collector/classic car market. If it ever comes, cars like this, without a strong following will lead the way down. You can see this happening with many cars from the early-1960’s and older, particularly 4 doors and orphan brands.
You may not like my opinion about this cars value, but you never bothered to state an argument as to why it should sell for this price.
Steve R
Hey Steve, you said it yourself, we don’t know what these cars eventually sell for. I agree, at 5 figures, it out paces the very people that would want this and I bet many times, these sell for half the asking price. It’s been available for 2 weeks, so people aren’t jumping over each other to get it. It’s true, many folks today that may have an interest in older cars, aren’t buying this because of what it is to us, it’s just an “old car”, but a useable car, and as much as it pains me to say, $7500ish is doable.
“Plenty of options for potential buyers to choose from”.
Exactly. Perfect example, look at the New Yorker above this Valiant….similar body style, nice condition, well appointed, not as low miles but low at 78k, and half the price. Not even a choice IMHO unless, as Steve says, you’re obsessed with the Valiant. Prices need to be realistic.
I have to agree. The most I’d be willing to pay for such a car would be between $5k and $10k. I don’t know what the “competition” would be for such a car.
So true,just looking around the local Phoenix market there are way better deals for 15 k on a collector car.
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.
I will try again to clarify. It was a coupe and I was seventeen. The triple green color combo was fun and impressed my future wife!
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
Valiant Brougham was a midyear thing, and the launch materials in the spring promos show the parchment-color interior and describe it as the only color on offer with green and red showing up in the ’75 brochure. Apparently the green gut came out before the ’74 model run was over.
I had the 2 door version, but a 75, in this exact color combination. (Unfortunately it had the 225 smothered by the 1975 smog equipment.) It was a sweet looking car. And that upholstery! How plush! If this is car’s condition is as nice as it looks, it’s definitely worth the ask. This is luxury in a small package.
Back in the ’70s my Mom had almost this exact car… down to the hubcaps… except hers had the 225. Bread and butter car of the era. I had had my license for about 6 months when this came into the family fleet, so I wound up driving it quite a bit. Not a big hit with a 16 year old, but it was wheels. I put the first dent in it. It was a better car than the Volare that replaced it after a few years. I’m sure these have a following, but I wouldn’t classify this as a “collector” car, but more of a “special interest” car. As such, I think $15k is pushing it… but I suppose if one really wants one…. GLWS.
My first new car was a ’74 Valiant Brougham four door in this deep Sherwood Green Metallic, but with Parchment top and Parchment velour interior, with high back bucket seats and “jump seat/armrest to maintain being a 6 passenger vehicle like the one shown. Drove it 6 years and 72,000 miles, and it looked better than the day I bought it at the dealer [lousy dealer prep at purchase]. Color wheel caps were some sort of early vinyl caps. I added color matched Mopar racing mirrors. Three known issues: torque-flight automatic failed at 2 years/24K miles, ballast resistor would overheat necessitating keeping at least one spare in the trunk [we also had a ’74 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham], and windshield would leak water onto the plush carpeting. If I had been able to COPA special order my car I would still have it today. It was a great car for the time, almost 20 mpg on the highway with a 318 V8 [and the AC turned off]. This one is a time capsule and has survived amazingly! Buy it, and drive it directly to Mopar Nationals at Carlisle this summer!
These hold a lot of sentimentality with me as my grandparents bought one new in 74′ from Mayflower Chrysler / Plymouth in Plymouth MA. Have a lot of great memories spending summer vacations with them as a kid and driving around that historic town. My grandparent’s model was not of this trim level but it was still a very nice car with the great old slant 6 powerplant. Did have some of the usual Chrysler quality issues back from the time. The glovebox would fill up with water if it rained heavy. This is in beautiful looking condition but even with my feelings toward them I’d never be paying $15k for one.