The Valiant was a staple in the Plymouth lineup from 1960 to 1976. Its quirky appearance was gone by 1963, and the last redesign of 1967 brought solid sales results. In 1970, the Duster fastback debuted for the youth movement, but a ton of basic 4-door sedans like this one were sold. While it has a Slant-Six engine, not much else may be original about this former grocery getter. Located in Pittsboro, North Carolina, this 4-speed custom is available here on craigslist for $7,500 OBO. Thumbs up to Tony Primo for the tip!
When this black sedan (original color?) was built, the Valiant was likely in third place in compact car sales, behind the Ford Maverick and Chevy Nova. More than 50,000 of these 4-doors were assembled with 225 cubic inch sixes or 318 CI V8s. But a 4-speed wasn’t a common transmission choice, even if offered. The A833 in this car may have less than 2,800 miles, as that’s the number associated with the overall automobile, perhaps since its transformation.
The VIN identifies this as a Slant-Six car, but the front bumper (from a ’68 Barracuda), the interior (totally customized), and likely more are among the changes made by the seller. The said party has owned the car since 2020 and has been working on it all along, but too many projects are getting in the way of devoting more time to it. Newer to the car are the clutch, flywheel, suspension bits, air shocks, rear brakes, and the addition of front disc brakes.
Even with the I-6 power, performance upgrades include a Hurst shifter, Howard’s camshaft, Holley carburetor, headers, and a front spoiler. The little car even has air conditioning. The shifter linkage needs some adjustment, but otherwise the car seems perfectly roadworthy. The floorboards were installed before the interior was redone. A bit of rust remains unchecked in the trunk. If you like departures from the original, would this 4-speed Valiant warm your heart?
Deathproof 2 vibes
My only question on viewing this Valiant is…..WHY?
I guess the answer is, “Why not?” I had a ’62 Chevy II with a 6, Threw some carbs at it, a cam and some headers, ditched the 3 speed and added a close ratio 4 speed. It surprised many a 289 Mustang owner,
It would be much more appealing as original than this abomination.
Agreed, 4 door, gutless 6 banger. Junk it.
It’s not going to appeal to everyone, but the addition of AC and the mechanical upgrades will make for a better driving experience than stock. Vinyl dye will mute the interior if someone objects to the choice of color and most of the other stylistic choices are inexpensive to change and nearly as easy. I’m not sure about the price, someone will have to see it in person, drive it and try to work out a deal, but a stock 6 cylinder 4 door valiant isn’t going to highly sought after.
Steve R
Correct me if I”m wrong, but I’ve
seen 4-speeds in Valiants that came factory issue. I nearly bought an old GTE (General Telephone) company car that did
indeed have that type of tranny in
it. It was a ’75 Valiant base sedan and man, did that car look
weird with that stick shift on the floor. My wife and I really liked the car, but the fellow selling it wanted too much money for it.
It had been a former Rent A Wreck rental car before being offered for sale by the gentleman
who owned that business. $1,000 for an 8 year old car with a stick shift? Was he nuts? Maybe, depending on who you talk to. Bear in mind that it was
1984, and you could pick ’em up
at the auto auction in Tremont,
Illinois all day long for $250. Went over there looking for one,
but my friend Carl Ayers, didn’t
have any on his lot. Even into the
’90s, I’ve seen factory installed 4-
speeds in Plymouth Volares and
Dodge Aspens. So yeah, it seems
that if you wanted a 4- speed in a
Valiant, your friendly Plymouth
dealer could make it happen for
you. And you can’t forget about
the early Dodge/Plymouth mini.
vans that could be had with either
4.or 5 speeds in them. As for this
car, I’d lose the rake and put it back to stock height all ’round.
Add some rear door handles and
dog dish hubcaps, and call it done– unless I wanted to go batsh*t crazy and trick out the slant 6 the way I saw them do it on Power Nation. Aside from that, it checks all the boxes for me.
Yep….most of these were the 4sp OD that Mopar put in behind the slant 6 for gas milage and not performance…..pulled many a 4sp OD from Val and Darts…as well as vans…..
Lovely looking car. I had a neighbour when I was a boy who owned one like this. I didn’t get to see the interior, so I don’t know whether it had a manual shifting gearbox or an automatic, nor did I get to see the engine.
I love the nerf bar in the front. Gives it a kinda bulldog underbite. And that slant six will run forever. Not everything about this build appeals to me, but it looks like it was all done carefully & methodically.
This is what Dennis Weaver needed in the movie Duel.
Having seen the movie, I remember the car being a 1970-71 Valiant.
Not necessarily how I would have imagined it, but it has a cheeky sort of vibe to it. A light weight Valiant with a hotted up six could be cool. Work on the suspension and swap in a 5-speed and you might really be on to something.
Doubt that 1 little A/C vent in interior cools off the insides, if compressor works . Why O why did he not paint the rear end cover red to match the brake drums ?
This particular A833 is an overdriven unit, notice the 3-4 lever is inverted. This overdrive gearbox, very common in the 70’s and early 80’s was offered on many Chrysler Corp vehicles back then, and yes, behind thousands of slant six power plants. Chrysler sold them to GM and they put them in pickups GM called it MY6 and 440 depending on if it was iron case or aluminum case, New Process, (Chrysler Corp) built the transmission both ways.
I think it is interesting that he shaved, all the outside door handles off. The addition of engine mods, would bump up to just under 200 hp, enough to have a lot of fun with !!! Dual exhaust and front disc brakes, plus+ plus+