The Valiant was Plymouth’s entry into the compact car race in 1960. That was the same year that Ford rolled out the Falcon and Chevy the Corvair. Rambler and Studebaker had both gotten there the year before. The first generation Valiant (1960-62) was more ambitious in its styling and looked somewhat like a smaller version of Plymouth’s full-sized cars. This 1961 Valiant V200 was the high-end version of the auto and looks as if it was just plucked from a time machine. There can’t be that many remaining in this condition because they were basic runaround cars. Located in Ruston, California, this Valiant is available here on craigslist for the nice round sum of $15,000. Thanks, Pat L., for your sleuth work once again!
When Chrysler rolled out the Valiant for 1960, It was a car designed to be a compact, not a shrunken-down Belvedere or Fury. At first, the Plymouth name could be found no where on the car, yet it was sold at Plymouth dealers. In 1961, it became the Plymouth Valiant only to go back to just Valiant in 1962. These were crazy times for Chrysler, so the Valiant had a bit of an identity crisis at first. They finally sorted all that out and the Plymouth Valiant would end up running through 1976 (along with its Dodge twin, first the Lancer and then the Dart).
During their first three years, more than a half-million Valiant’s were produced, including about 143,000 for 1961. We can’t break the numbers down any further as to 2 or 4-door models or V100 vs. V200 trim packages. But the cars helped Plymouth stay in third place for part of the decade. The seller’s Valiant looks as though it just rolled off the showroom floor. I don’t know if the silver and gray two-tone paint was a factory option, but it presents especially well with the styling on the early Valiant. There is no mention of a repaint, so at 51,700 reported miles, it could be original by way of good maintenance and plenty of indoor downtime.
The Valiant wears a 60-year-old red, black and white interior that has survived well due to its plastic seat covers (remember those in the house on furniture you weren’t allowed to sit on?). Because this Valiant is a V200, it has the nicest trim that Plymouth offered on these cars, inside and out. Under the hood it sports the venerable 225 Slant Six engine paired with the push-button TorqueFlite automatic transmission. The seller doesn’t mention its running condition, but I’m betting there are no issues or major concern.
Perhaps the most interesting feature is the car’s rare factory air conditioning, where the blower was installed in the trunk and cold air entered the car from behind the rear seats. I’ve never heard how well this set up actually worked, because if you had any passengers in the back seat, wouldn’t they block the flow of cool air to the folks up front? Any let’s not forget the cool continental kit look that is built into the trunk lid. Of course, there is no tire under there, but it seems to work with the rest of the car’s slightly quirky styling.
The seller has fitted this car with a new set of radial tires and refreshed the lace and rubber parts around the doors and windows. The car will come with a bunch of paperwork, like the 1961 owner’s manual and Plymouth sales literature about the Valiant. We’re told the seller would entertain a trade if what you’ve got is interesting to him. NADA says one of these cars is worth a bit under $10,000, but the overall condition of this particular is bound to be worth a premium.
A while back I had said that the styling of the early Valiants was so radical that I remembered seeing one when I was about 8 years old. The car was quite polarizing for me as a kid and I remember where I first saw it like it was yesterday. I can honestly say I have never seen a V200 with the 2 tone paint. I would have to say it’s quite beautiful and I take back my first opinion as a child.
A while back I was reading about the slant 6 and I remember that some of the early 6’s had an aluminum block. Because the cylinder head is painted silver this lends me to believe this is one of those engines. I don’t care what NADA pricing says this car is worth every penny of the asking. Virgil Exner you did well!
Another one of those designs that are aging well that I’m finally catching up to lol! Love the two tone and the trunk ‘spare’, just an overall great presentation!
This is what Culpepper would have done to his car with that Mad$$$$$
I’m sure charcoal or two tone weren’t on the color list and would much rather this in any other color. Nothing is better than this red for the interior. This would make such an awesome excellent daily driver. https://www.google.com/search?q=colors+for+1961+valiant&oq=&aqs=chrome.0.35i39i362l5…5.-1j1j7&client=ms-android-google&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
According to paintref.com silver was not a color for the 1961 Valiant. The gray looks black in the images. Either way it’s a very attractive vehicle.
Listing says paint color is “custom”.
I have a `61 V200 2 door hardtop, 1 of 18,586 built.
4 door `61 V200 production was 22,230.
The 170 /6 was standard, with the 225/6 becoming optional mid `61.
The quickest way to tell the difference between the two, is the length of the upper water pump outlet hose.
It is about an inch long on the 170 /6, and about 2 inches long on the 225 /6.
There was an aluminum 225 /6 too, but both production and internal corrosion problems caused them to be discontinued early on.
Sadly my link with all the other `60-`62 Valiant production figures with model breakdown has disappeared.
Sure wish I had copy and pasted that content now…
It is a repaint BTW, as there were no two tone Valiants from the factory.
Also forget NADA.
Hagerty #1 condition value on this car is $16,000 for the 225 /6, and $14.000 for the 170 /6.
So the seller is in the right range.
The paint scheme reminds me of one that used to be offered on Omnis and Horizons about forty years ago.
I’ve seen “finds” on this site that were – in comparison to this Valiant – was nothing more than junkyard rejects for about the same asking price. I must admit this one excites me, BUT at my advanced age – – –
I’m not so sure about NO factory two-tone paint schemes; at least for ‘62. I own what appears to be an original two-tone V-200, which – if not factory – is a VERY professional job (inside the door jambs, trunk opening, etc.). And, I have seen promotional B&W photos depicting the two-tone scheme on my car. Perhaps it was a dealer option. I’d love to find the definitive answer.
Any early Valiant two-tone paint schemes must have been dealer options, as I’ve never seen any information, brochures or otherwise relating to two-tones being offered by the factory in 45+ year in the Mopar/Forward Look hobby.
I too would love a definitive answer otherwise if it exists.
Beautiful car ,
Awesome looking car. Is it just me or are those wheel covers off of a Ford Fairmont?
Those are the correct, optional full wheel covers for `61.
The standard hub caps featured 12 concave near the outer rim.
Below is a link with a photo of the standard hub caps.
All `60-`62 Valiants had 13 inch wheels.
https://www.robertsmotorparts.com/1960-to-1961-plymouth-valiant-hub-cap-2073361
I love this car. Very weird and quirky. I’ve always like the styling on the early Valiants. I like the grill too. I always think of the the early Chrysler 300s when I see one.
I’m a big fan of the slant-6. I’ve owned a few of them. Other than the location of the distributor, they were great. They had a very distinctive sound. You could hear them coming a mile away..
My Grandmother had several Valiants. I remember the push button transmission, but not the continental kit. She told me the push button transmission was for drunk people, and that it helped them get home if they drank too much (she was anti-alcohol). Kind of a weird thing to tell a kid.
I grew up around these when they were common and paid no attention whatsoever.
But this one, put simply, Wow.
Trunk-mounted A/C in 1960? Even the doudy Rambler American had the entire system up front integrated with the heater if the buyer ponied up for air conditioning. (Nash started doing that in 1954).
What powers it? I see no compressor in the engine bay.
Good question, Chester. I’ll be watching for more info.
I have no idea how original this type of A/C unit is, however, even in 1969, “factory” A/C was still not integrated into the designs of Valiants and Darts but was underdash. Barn Finds had a car recently, a 74 Valiant with the same, dealer installed, underdash unit.
Bluetooth
My first car was a ’61 V200. Oddly it was a 170 and a 3 on the floor, which you would think would only be found on the base V100. It also had Lancer wheel covers, with were similar but polished and more round centers.
The first two things I did, was to take it to Earl Schieb and have it painted silver (so this car caught my eye) and for Mom and I to sew new (Double knit!) cloth inserts on the torn seats. It was decent car, but when I found a Studebaker Hawk GT, it was an easy choice to sell the Valiant.
I’ve always wondered why Corvairs survived 20 to one for these Valiant’s and Darts? It might be 30-40 to one. Even Corvairs survived 10 or 20 to one over Falcons, but the Falcon outsold the Corvair 2-1 or 3-1
For starters, these were outsold in substantial numbers by both the Corvair and Falcon. Then, I must think that being a cheap car, all 3 were driven hard and put away wet. Finally, with Plymouth being a less popular brand, folks saw little value in keeping the majority of these cars going beyond 100,000 miles.
I was going by memory on production, but loosely speaking, for 1960, 250K Corvairs, 433K Falcons, 194K Valiants. When I was filling up my wrecking yard, I bought every old car that came along. This was in the 80’s and 90’s. Never had a Valiant, only 3 Falcons, but have around 100 Corvairs. It’s just kind of a strange phenomena to me that all the Valiants were gone by then, and so many Corvairs survived. I would like to hear anybody’s opinion.
I think there is a much stronger following for the Corvair. Even today the Corvair clubs are still strong and parts support is really good. Maybe the Valiants rusted out quickly. I have a Corvair Corsa. Love the looks and the way it drives.
Alphasud,
Your comments are quite valid, but my personal observations tend to suggest it was the styling that contributed to the Valiant not lingering in the marketplace.
Our next door neighbor, a Dr in the Navy & working at the famous US Navy hospital in Bethesda, MD, about 4 miles away. In 1961 He bought a V200 4-door, Light blue, slant six and automatic. In 1965 the family got transferred, and he ended up selling the car because the Navy would only ship 1 car, so he choose to ship their 1963 T-Bird coupe.
At that time the Valiant had [at most] 20,000 miles, and it looked great. But the styling was very outdated. His wife was not happy when the best price offered was $300.
I sold a 61 Valiant about 18 months ago and got $4000 for it and it was a Az car with absolutely no rust and about 89 K. I wish I could add pictures of it. So I think his price is way to high, The pricing they give you is not the actual value.
I am not good on a computer so how can I add pictures to my comments ?
I’ve had the same problem. Sometimes, one can click on INSERT or maybe ATTACHMENT and then select pic to be added.
However, I cannot find that on this “Comment” site.
You have to be a Member in order to post photos.
You sure got a lot of style, and detail with that car. That dashboard makes the Falcon’s look like it belongs on a kiddie car.
How to preserve a car the correct way, i am amazed.
Beautiful looking car. IMHO, it’s the best looking Valiant until the 1964-66 model years.
Given its condition and its rarity these days, I think it’s worth the $15k asking price, maybe more than that. Is this an original survivor, or is it a beautiful restoration? Either might explain the asking price. Although the first time I saw the Valiant hideous to look at, I find the car way more attractive to look at now than the 1960-61 Plymouth Belvedere.
Back in the 60’s I was in my teens and thought these were the ugliest cars around. Now in my no longer teen years it’s not bad at all. this car is very nice.
I’m a child of the 70s. I was born in 1973. I remember cars like the 1970-76 Plymouth. I’ve always loved the 1970-72 Valiant, including the Duster. I thought the 1973-74 Valiant/Duster unattractive to look at, but I love the 1975-76 Valiant.
when I was 15 a guy I knew bought one of these for his wife and a CJ5 for him self , not sure which one I liked better , this is a nice car!!
Back in 1966 I drove these cars for Aussies Taxis in Durban, South Africa , where they were called Chrysler Valiants and all were auotmatics. We thought they were great until the 19657/8 Rebels came out then nobody wanted to drive them. In later years I bought an ex taxi Valiant Rebel with 185,000 miles on the clock, resprayed it and also fittred an aircon into the boot with the cold air coming out behind the rear seat and later sold it to a traveller who did many, many more thousands of miles in it before it got totalled at an intersection in Windhoek, Namibia. Greatest of the great American cars of the day.
If only today’s American cars were this durable.
It’s in really excellent condition, but that still doesn’t help the ugly.
Wow.
At least I learned about Virgil today and now know who was responsible for so many unattractive automobiles.
I think he was losing it, but no one had the guts to tell him. He retired in 1961.
Exner was blamed for downsized fiasco of 1962. He was barely involved with that design because he was home recuperating from a heart attack. Exner was replaced by Elwood Engle who restyled the Plymouth and Dodge full size cars for 1963.
I must not be old enough yet.
These things are ugly as sin imo.
Well, when the overwhelming nickname was “Toad,” that says it all.
My first grade teacher had a white, ’60 wagon. Then she traded it in for a white, ’62 Chrysler convertible. Quite the change. Like my neighbor, who traded in a plain-Jane, white ’61 Plymouth, for a beautiful, metallic blue ’62 Catalina Safari wagon.
Its size and styling may not have pleased everyone who encountered these cars. But if nothing else, I think its size is perfect for anyone who wants something that’s comfortable enough for 4, maybe 6 adults, but neither needs, nor wants, a land yacht to have to drive.
What the heck is it with silver Mopars this week ? Silver is the worst color on an older car IMHO (and I dont like it on newer cars either) i , it really takes away from the shine of the chrome bumpers and trim. I dont know what the original color was on this car, but there were no two tones . With the red interior, it was likely red , black or white .
I don’t mind it, particularly if it has a two-tone colour combination, like this has.
Ive had 2 – 60 and a 61 both the V100 trim I would love another, especially a wagon. Bullet-proof drivetrains and straight forward mechanicals surrounded by an Exner Acid Trip inspired body!
Hmmm. Google Maps says there is no Ruston in California, but there is in Louisiana (the embedded map in the CL listing agrees). Wondering why it’s posted in the San Diego Craigslist.
A guy in my area installed a 327 365 hp with a 4 speed.it was a a killing machine
Back in the day, when a car had rust in the lower extremities to cover that fact up for a sale, we just bogged the rust and painted it over like this! I would strongly advise a PERSONAL inspection, it is a Chrysler By the way! I loved the design of these when they came out here in Australia, known as the R series! never got around to getting into Mopars, I was and still are a Ford Bloke! the RUST factors in Chryslers were a strong deterrent to me in later years! always respected their mechanicals though! this sure is a beautiful car though!
I do see two lines near the battery that would appear to lead to an A/C compressor.
If any car needs a Steve R commentary it is this one. Where you at, Steve?
Any guesses as to the number of times that the phrase “Nicest One Left?” has been used on Barn Finds in the past six months?
Whoever is closest, without going over will win a gorgeous, all original 1946 Tucker Torpedo key chain, the nicest one known to exist. Please post your entries here.
Good luck!
More times than I’d care to admit. Whether that phrase applies to every ad depends on the person looking at the ad. But I’ve seen similar cars that look nicer than in the ad.
One of the ugliest, if not the ugliest, card designs every, if you gave it to me for free won’t want it.
Give it to me. I’ll take it.
As someone who has restored many cars since the 1970s and owned a large restoration shop, I can say with some authority that this IS a restored car. It may well have started as a very nice original, but it is a restored car, not an original. Someone has spent a lot more money on this than the asking price!
As for A/C, These cars were not offered with factory A/C by Chrysler. Someone has taken a modern trunk A/C unit and added a phony “MOPAR COLD AIR” label on the plastic case. It also has a modern Sankyo style compressor up front, with modern fittings as well. [You can see the blue plastic R-134 fitting cover in the photo of the engine]. This entire unit can be bought from various aftermarket A/C companies.
Chrysler did offer a universal dealer-installed “Airtemp by Chrysler” under dash unit, but obviously this is not it. ALL Chrysler product A/C units carried the label Airtemp By Chrysler.
No one has mentioned the yellow metal tins on either side of the A/C unit in the trunk. They are aftermarket “Sand traction hoppers”, as featured in J C Whitney catalogs. These hold a couple of quarts [each] of clean, dry, sand. Below each can is a small valve and a flexible tube that passes thru the trunk floor and ends just in front of each rear tire. A button on the dash permits the driver to send grit [sand] by gravity, directly in front of the tires, for traction on icy surfaces. IIRC, the writing seen on the left can instructs the owner to remove the black metal lids off the cans and add only clean, dry, WHITE play sand, not yellow sand. It also reminds the driver to keep the lids tightly in place.
This was intended for roads that get iced over in the winter. I first saw this set-up on a 1953 Packard Patrician that spent it’s early life in the Chicago area, and the car was one of the most rusty examples to be found. I’ve seen these on a few cars in my years of repairing/restoring cars, and each car I’ve seen with the sanding system had massive amounts of rust, so this car should be checked over carefully for previous rust repairs.
Fantastic response, Bill McCoskey!
I have never seen this sand system, but I do recall a GM system offered on various models (including the Camaro) in the late 60s that proclaimed the same function but was liquid based. Buick still used it in the early 70s.
I wonder which was actually more effective.
Almost forgot to mention; This is the best looking 1961 Valiant 200 sedan I’ve seen since they were new cars. “Well done” to the restorer.
you never said anything about the asking price which I think is high.
Frank,
If you had a nice original in need of paint, assuming this car’s paint is as nice as it is in person, you would be hard pressed today to paint it for much less than what the owner is asking. I suspect the owner has AT LEAST $30k invested in the car, probably a lot more.
A guy above mentioned having a junk yard and getting many more Corvairs than Falcons or Valiants. He surmised that the Corvairs had lasted longer than those other cars. My suggestion is that at 20 years old, the Corvair’s leaky air cooled engine would give some expensive problem leading it to be junked, while the straight 6 cars would just keep getting passed to the next high school kid for $100 as they did rust, but just kept on going
I’ve had many theories about the Corvair survival. At the time we received dozens of Corvairs in the 80’s and 90’s, the Falcons and Valiants had long since already been junked, (I’m thinking 10-15 years prior), while there were still Corvairs on the road, (this is in Colorado). As a car nut, I just didn’t see any early Valiants on the road, and very few Falcons. Even today, there are many more Corvair’s for sale on Craig’s list, than any other early 60’s compact. It could be not due to superior mechanical ability, but maybe many more people considered the Corvair a unique vehicle worthy of investing the effort to keep them running? I’m speculating here of course.
I think it might be that it’s because they are “different” to the run of the mill cars on offer at the time. I know I only bought my 1960 Corvair for that very same reason. Everybody had a “normal” car but Ralph Nader’s dum bassed book “Unsafe at any Speed” convinced me to buy mine in 2002 and I never regretted doing so.
Hey guys ,
Just trying to find a bit of information about the Valiants did the 61 model come out with a sunroof or any of the models ?
No.
There was a prototype ’61/’62 Dodge With a canvas sunroof like VW Beetles offered.
But it never went into production.
I have a photo of it.
But we can no longer post photos in posts unless we pay for the BF membership.
There’s a brilliant idea David. Become a BF Member for a “Cheap as Chips” price and you can then submit photos which every BF reader can benefit from if they are interested.
I have what I believe is a 1961 valiant Plymouth and this one has a sunroof I don’t know if someone has put it after the fact as it’s a hardtop if I could post photos I could show you guys
See my comment above, Clayton.
I have a ’61 Valiant V200 2-door hardtop.
Your sunroof is aftermarket for sure.
If you are on Facebook join the Early Valiant and Barracuda Club group.
I will link to it here tomorrow from my computer.
Do any of the valiants 4 door come out with a sunroof ?
No early Valiants came with factory sunroofs. None.
Maybe in the ’70s, but I’d have to cross reference the brochures.