The Valiant debuted in 1960 as Plymouth’s first compact. And its styling was – well – unorthodox when compared to the growing field of competition. The car was redesigned in 1963, and second-generation sales were more to Plymouth’s liking. This 1966 edition in the form of a 2-door sedan has been in a garage in Palmdale, California, for at least 10 years. And it’s available here on craigslist for $5,000 OBO. Bravo to Rocco B. for this mid-1960s tip!
In the last year of the second-gen Valiants, the 1966 editions had more of a squared-off look in the front, which included a split grille and revised fore and aft fenders. This was in advance of the next redesign in 1967, which brought the Valiant its best sales period before being retired in 1976. Standard power was provided by Chrysler’s venerable Slant-Six engine, though we don’t know if the one in the seller’s car displaces 170 or 225 cubic inches. An automatic transmission is part of this car’s package, with a column shifter (the push buttons were dropped in 1965).
This example appears to be original with 56,000 miles. The paint is likely from the factory, as the original selling dealer’s emblem is below the trunk lid. No mention is made of any rust, and the photos provided don’t show any. The interior looks like vintage ’66, too, and may only need to be cleaned up since the car hasn’t left the garage since around 2015-16.
We’re told this econobox ran when it was parked. So that probably means the entire fuel delivery system will need to be thoroughly cleaned out. The Slant-Sixes were bullet-proof, and we hope the one in this Plymouth is one, too. It still sports its California plates, which we guess will come along with the sale. With a little work, this might be an inexpensive way to get into Cars & Coffee – as long as a lack of flash is a-okay!
With the price of used cars as high as they are these days, I wouldn’t hesitate to daily drive this car. It would keep up with traffic, get decent gas milage, and be fairly comfortable.
Sure, there isn’t much “content”, but how much of that fluff do you really need?
I 100 percent agree with Rex. A slant 6 3 speed on the column is bullet proof. This looks solid, I don’t need all kinds of extra “fluff” in a vehicle to get me back and forth from work. Ok, show of hands, how many of us here threw a boom box on the front seat of our cheap, beater, first cars? I did. My AM radio worked just fine, but I decided it wasn’t worth the effort to replace it, next car, throw the boom box onto the passenger seat and I was golden.
I’d drive this back and forth to work in the summer months for sure. ( I wouldn’t drive this in the salt and snow). This could be a fun car to get into the hobby.
Best of all, it’ll always get you there and back again. If this had an automatic I’d take a swing at it.
And the other advantage is that this car won’t spy on you or send driving style data to your insurance company.
This is a bank job getaway car that can’t be traced. ;-)
Appears to be a clutch pedal in the last picture shown here. Would much rather have that than the automatic
yes it has 3 pedals and if this as basic as it appears, it also has the 170 slant six.
While Ford installs facial recognition software in trucks…..
And a lot of cars nowadays have “subscriptions” to various features. Not this Valiant!
The 66 Valiant was My first car in 1980. It’s worth every penny. Unfortunately im in the northeast. Otherwise id be all over it. Any readers out there live near Palmdale?
Valiant was it’s own make by Chrysler it’s introductory year in 1960.
It became a Plymouth model in `61.
All `60 Valiants were 4 doors.
In `61 V100 2 door sedans and V200 2 door hardtops were added to the line up.
The 170/6 was standard through `69, replaced in `70 by the 198/6.
The 225/6 became optional mid year `61.
The 273 V8 became optional mid year `64.
The 318 V8 became optional in `68.
Pretty sketch ad. What’s all the oil underneath from, why the JC Whitney third brake light, and I think rolled over odo based on pedals, steering wheel, other touch points….gotta love CL. I love these cars but this ain’t the one for me.
Yep….nice car but yep just taken care of….the seats have been recovered so it has not always been garage kept.
Clearly it was a very valuable ride in its day, as evidenced by the security system key lock on the driver’s front fender.
God, I miss when you could buy these things for $500 (or less)….now, all you kids get off my lawn!
In about 1974 or ’75 my sister needed cheap wheels for college. My buddy had a twin to this car in “phone company tan” that had actually been a phone company vehicle. It didn’t have an engine or transmission, but I had them sitting in the garage. So we assembled a car for her from all the parts we had laying around. She drove it all through college with the only mishap being when a semi decided to make a lane change when she was there. So the driver’s door had circular lug nut scraping of the paint.
Well, the steering wheel is upside down, so there’s something going on with the steering coupler. Was the front end suspension damaged to where it couldn’t be driven and that’s why it was parked and never driven again? Any car parked for 10 years will require a lot of work on the fuel system and drive train with flushes and fluid replacements and probably opening up the crankcase and transmission to clean them out and the radiator would be suspect as well, so a full flush and pressure check would have to be performed – and that’s just to get it back to where it can be started – to ferret out what other problems there may be, and then driven to make sure it’s roadworthy, which it very well may not be at this point. Otherwise, it appears to be in good shape, that a good exterior scrubbing, wax job, and full interior shampoo would probably fix. A nice little jewel if it can affordably be brought back to being a usable car again.
Eh, it’s a slant-6 and a 3-speed. After sitting in a cave for 300-years, it’d probably start right up and run perfectly. :).
If this car was close and I could go look at it, I guarantee it would have a new home.
Neat.
Years ago I rescued the Dodge version of this…the poor lil Dart was sitting in the parking lot of a retirement home my in-law was in. Covered with dust, sitting on four flat bias ply tires. Paid like $200 for it; pumped up the tires, put a little gas in it along with a fresh battery, drove it home (listening the the tires go thump thump thump on the spots the tires had been resting on). Great car/great engine, traded it for my ‘65 Barracuda that I still own…
seems fair. at least it’s been in a garage for all time it’s been sitting. looks solid. can’t kill a slant six. good mpg that’s for sure..
Back in the day my ’66 V-100 had different tone-on-tone insert pattern for the seats, not fabric and not imitation tuck/roll. But these seats will be more comfortable. As compacts of the time went for handling/comfort/performance/economy Plymouth had the the other two of the Big 3 beat hands down, comparing base models such as this one. Paint and interior will look great with some detailing. Wish it was closer, I’d try to relive a half-century ago . . .
I would grab it bit I live on the other side of the USA
Great looking little Valiant. Nice, basic, simple transportation. Looks really clean both inside and out minus the dust. I think it would certainly be worthwhile to giving it life again and would make a great dependable car to drive.
lot of fluid on the ground under that car but at least its basic and you open the hood and know what you are looking at. I think the odometer has rolled but it’s mostly clean $5k i think is $2k more than its worth in current condition.