The late 1950s were the proving ground for U.S.-built compact automobiles that would take traction in the 1960s. Plymouth’s entry was the Valiant, whose first generation was in production from 1960 to 62. The cars had unibody construction, but they also had “love it or leave it” looks in terms of Virgil Exner’s styling. The seller has a 1962 Valiant Signet 200, which was the top-of-the-line model, and it was restored by a previous owner about 25 years ago. Located with a dealer in San Bruno, California, this Slant-Six hardtop is available here on eBay for $14,000. A tip of the fedora goes to “Curvette” for another cool tip!
When the Valiant debuted, it carried no Plymouth badging, though Plymouth dealers sold the car. That changed in 1961, and the Valiant was officially a Plymouth for the next 15 years (1976). Dodge added their version of the auto in 1961-62, named the Lancer, but switched to the Dart nameplate with the redesign in 1963. First-generation Valiant sales were lukewarm compared to the Ford Falcon and Chevy Corvair and Nova. Demand perked up by more than 40% in 1963 when the styling of the cars became more mainstream.
The sportiest and most well-appointed of the 1962 Valiants was the Signet 200, a 2-door hardtop. More than 8,000 copies were made, including the seller’s nice example. The vehicle was restored in the early 2000s, and some liberties were taken to improve the quality of life in the passenger compartment. The interior is nicer than what I believe Plymouth offered, and vintage air conditioning was added along with an aftermarket sound system. Power windows were also included, something that no Valiant ever had from the factory.
Under the hood lies a 225 cubic inch “Slant-Six”, which was optional over the base 170. The car has Chrysler’s TorqueFlite automatic transmission, which should be push-button operated. The body, paint, and most everything else appear to be shipshape, and the sale will net the next owner a stash of extra parts, which are mostly trim pieces. While they may be a bit unorthodox to look at, the Valiant was always a solid and reliable product.
The 1962’s were not Exner’s work.They were forced apon him by the new boss Newberg thinking GM was downsizing all their cars and those under Exner had designed these and he was forced to use them.But..Exner is who took the fall for the cars he did not design.Corporate politics need a fall guy..Exner fell…
Newberg was the fall guy for the size; it actually came from the engineering-led nature of the corporation. The engineers got as much space into a smaller package. If they’d gotten the styling right, they might’ve pulled it off.
It’s too bad they chose to update the interior. It really hurts the car’s value as an antique. The upholstery, power windows and sound system are terribly out of place.
When they first came out my nine year old me didn’t care for them. Now I like the sporty Euro styling. As for the comfort updates it’s fine with me. This is an also ran first generation compact and something I would like to cruise in. I would also look in to performance improvements. 14k strikes me as a bit on the high side.
I have to say if it was mine, I would love to have the interior upgraded. It shows off good like that. All original aside, when I was a kid we laughed at anyone who drove these! I wouldn’t say no to this one!
I totally agree., I love it overall but would not have made those changes.
My Dad had a 1961 Plymouth Valiant white 4 door push button automatic i don’t remember which 6 cylinder it was. I know it was clean looking. The 2dr i like on the outside not too much inside. These cars were based models to move families around. This is too fancy interior the dash and guages are dead on like my Dad had. Ok.. the AC is a plus we won’t mine having that back then. Otherwise its a very neat and clean looking Plymouth and I wish the seller good luck. 🇺🇸🐻
We had a 2 door sedan base 170CID 61 Lancer with “typewriter drive” – it was indestructible – to put it mildly. While I hated the styling (at the time) now I LOVE ❤️ it. It’s from odd to cool in my eyes.
Of the big 3’s offerings (and heck throw the Lark and American in there too) it was the best engineered and designed of the bunch – by a country mile.
I remember these when I was a kid and I thought they were ugly. I still do.
Medium blue is my favorite color on a car, but it does nothing for this hideous Mopar.
I worked with a fellow at a service station, yes service station. Anyway he really loved these cars, now this was early 70’s and these cars were approaching 10 years old in the rust belt. So he would pick up a new to him Valiant and patch it up with old license plates. Then his neighbors kids got to paint them with latex based paint to make them all one color. He would tape off the windows and lights and drive the wheels off. Was probably 20 miles round trip from where he lived to work. Here is what made me smile, he never put new oil in the car. We had some regulars that changed oil before it was really time. He would catch that, add a new filter and the Valiant went on. That was until the unibody gave up and he would shop for another. Tough cars , I dove it a couple of times and it would go A to B no problem.
This car was appropriately decked out for California ressidents, a mere “200” just wouldn’t cut it. As the author states, Valiants were never this nice. Back then, people had specific purposes for cars and dictated what they would buy. Valiant buyers had one thing they were looking for, fuel economy. Valiant consistently won the Mobil gas runs, and glitz, a/c, bucket seats, loud colors, just weren’t what they wanted. One must remember, the Valiants main competition was the Falcon, Rambler American, ( also a leader in gas runs), Corvair, and Lark, all worthy of sales. Now this dealer, is using “old person” wide whitewall prop to lure any old timer in, but no oldies left and I’d put some nice mags. It’s going to appeal to younger folks BECAUSE it’s so unusually styled, the tires detract from its coolness. Lose the whites, it’s a really nice car.
Howard, I agree with you about the white wall tires. (narrow white stripe would be ok) BUT, finding good looking wheels with this bolt pattern (5 on 4″ ) is going to be very tough. (not to mention expensive) You may have to special order wheel/ bolt pattern adapters. (5 on 4″ to 5 on 4.5″) And then be very careful to order correct off-set wheels.
At first glance I thought, too bad it wasn’t a coupe, then I realized it didn’t have four doors. Even two doors didn’t make this Valiant any less stodgy looking. There’s something Studebaker like in the proportions. I disagree about the interior upgrades. If you’re going to drive this thing at least be comfortable as you’re being laughed at driving down the road.
You are right, even though the style of the interior upgrades is subjective and somewhat dated, they are designed to make the driving experience more comfortable. This car has limited appeal on its best days, the modifications don’t hurt its value, because it’s not a collector car, just a vintage car that has survived.
Recently there have been a lot of YouTube videos of major auctions highlighting cars that sold for less than $5,000 and $10,000, this is something that would show up in one of those, in stock or modified condition.
Steve R
Just my opinion but I think this may be the ugliest Mopar ever built. Amazing they could make a car so ugly when they made such nice cars in the late sixties and early seventies. Love Mopars but not these. Only good thing about these cars is the indestructible slant six engine.
John
If you think this 1962 Valiant is ugly, you need to see a picture of a 1962 Dodge Dart. This Valiant looks beautiful compared to that confused 1962 Dart. Some Dodge designer was on an acid trip back then…
I just looked at a 62 Dart. You are right, it is ugly. Guess ugly ran in the family at that time.
As a youngin , these looked awful ! Now that i am in my sixties , the styling still looks ugly , actually fugly describes it better
That the styling is still garnering extreme diversification here six decades later indicates that one doesn’t break new ground in design without severe polarization. In my book, as a retired designer, this was ground breaking then and still is today, my way of saying that I liked it then and still do.
Someone who’s good at PhotoShopping (hint, hint) might try shaving the fore and aft side fins off, blending the fenders below them into the bodywork above. Now THAT would result in something truly space age. The center body section just screams for such an exercise.
As for this car’s present state? Leave the WSWs and live with the seemingly offensive interior additions and drive something which will rarely find peers at C&C.
I disagree with your modification idea. I think a 2″ top chop would really make a huge difference. HEY SCOTTY, FEEL LIKE PLAYING WITH TWO OPPOSING IDEAS?
niche car. not real popular in the marketplace especially now the interior has been modified
Funny how tastes run. This is about the only Mopar I would consider owning. But then, to me, performance means it starts when you turn the key. I would also prefer 2 more doors. Yeah, I’m one of those guys.
I’ve got a really nice four door in beige with a kind of purple interior, all original with a rebuilt trans, suspension, and brake system. Runs beautifully, just like my Mom’s 61 coupe did. Except Mom’s had a cool floor-mounted 3-speed and mine is a pushbutton Torque flight. I figure mine’s worth about half of what this guy is asking…
After my grandmother passed away, I drove her 1962 Dodge Lancer GT to community college daily in the mid-1970’s. It was a sharp car — white with a red accent below the windows, and red vinyl bucket seats. On one particularly cold morning, I had to let the car warm up for 20 minutes before I was able to push the button to put the car in reverse. I also remember it being very sluggish on acceleration to the point where you’re physically trying to coax the car to go faster. Rust was a big problem too, which ultimately led my dad to sell the car.
I can see George Jetson stepping out of one of these
This is actually a nice little car to run around in! I think the updates that they did to the interior work well and makes the driver and occupants comfortable. Yes, it started out as a “basic” piece of transportation, even in the upper models but that doesn’t mean that it had to stay that way. I saw a comment that said that they thought it was the ugliest car Mopar built, bit I’d offer another Mopar car that was uglier – the 1959 Imperials, particularly the 2-door models. They looked puffy on the fenders, and the headlights were not designed well, Exner design notwithstanding. Better than the Lincoln, but not better than a Caddy. There isn’t much collector value on the market for these anyway, so why not make it comfortable? If it was original, it probably wouldn’t pull any more value than this modified one…
It’s astonishing to me that they sold more than 50 units of this body style. Eye of the beholder, yes; but the beholder must have needed some Henry Bemis glasses to love this thing enough to pay for one!!
We bought one of these used. It was maroon. My mom liked the push button shift, easy maneuvering and the green tinted dash lights. Unfortunately the Cleveland winters were not friendly to these cars as it disintegrated in a few years.
This is a smaller version of the MOPAR,can’t remember which,that had slanted headlights and bigger,and just as ugly body.Alway hated them.Only the oddballs in the hood had them
I love it and the color is beautiful. I’d deep six those luxury add-ons, people today have gotten soft, and enjoy it in all it’s original splendor.
I disagree with your modification idea. I think a 2″ top chop would really make a huge difference. HEY SCOTTY, FEEL LIKE PLAYING WITH TWO OPPOSING IDEAS?
My dad bought a light blue62 four-door and yes, it was basic transportation, but it was a great car and while the engine itself might be bulletproof the idiot that came up with a plastic gear on the end of the distributor should’ve been hung out to dry. I don’t remember how many of those little plastic gears Dad replaced in the time we owned the car, but it was several. They seemed to fail at the most unexpected times, which was very aggravating..
My dad bought a light blue62 four-door and yes, it was basic transportation, but it was a great car and while the engine itself might be bulletproof the idiot that came up with a plastic gear on the end of the distributor should’ve been hung out to dry. I don’t remember how many of those little plastic gears Dad replaced in the time we owned the car, but it was several. They seemed to fail at the most unexpected times, which was very aggravating..