Between 1963 and 1966, the Signet was the sporty version of the Plymouth Valiant. That was during the second generation of the compact that helped Plymouth shore up some difficult sales years (you may recall the full-size automobiles received a miscalculated downsizing in 1962 through 1964). The 1966 Signet was only offered as a 2-door hardtop or convertible, which the latter covers the seller’s rough-looking Valiant. On the plus side, the car — which resides in Pound Ridge, New York – has a rebuilt Slant-Six engine. This running project is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $2,000 OBO.
The Signet was intended to be a sporty car, competing with the likes of the Chevy Corvair Monza and Ford Falcon Futura. As such, your Signet could be ordered with goodies like bucket seats and (later in the run) a small-block V8 engine. Starting in 1967, the Signet nameplate was also added to sedans, then would disappear after the 1969 model year. 1966 sales numbers for the Valiant in general were lukewarm at 138,000 units. Of those, just 13,000 were Signet hardtops and 2,500 drop-tops like this one, making it a rarer find today.
Besides being an unusual find after 59 years, this Valiant sports a refreshed and tweaked 225 cubic inch Slant-Six. Those engines were bullet-proof and carried Chrysler products for many years. One part of the redo was to add valve stem seats designed to accommodate unleaded gasoline. This Plymouth has an automatic transmission which isn’t as much fun as the 3-speed manual would have been. The seller indicates the car has at least 100,000 miles spread across more than three owners.
We’re told this is a solid car, but it’s apparently been sitting outside for quite a while, and you can find evidence of rust in many places. The interior looks well-used as well. The convertible may or may not have come with the optional power accessory to raise and lower the torn and tattered canvas top. The seller says everything is there to make a restoration happen, but he/she ran out of time to do it himself. Our thanks to Bruce M for this Mopar tip!
Hope this car came with removable, rubber, “rain plugs”…
There is an awful lot of rust on the mating surfaces for the intake and exhaust manifolds as well as the ports. It’s been sitting exposed to the elements for a really long time, that type of corrosion doesn’t happen overnight. Even though $2,000 isn’t expensive by todays standards, 14 weeks in the market suggests there is little to no interest in this car, especially when you factor the in that it’s only 45 miles north of Manhattan.
Steve R
“Evidence of rust”? Is there any documentation of this? Hard pass.
My Dad bought one in the 80s ,Red ,did a respray it was clean ,we all drove it around couple years then sold ,made a couple bucks.
Wow, I thought I was experiencing a flashback for a minute there.
About 10 years ago I was in upstate New York, across the river from Hudson NY, and came across a nearly identical convertible Valiant in a similar state. When I saw this listing was in NY, I thought it must be the same car.
But it’s the nearly identical bit that missed. That car had, I kid you not, a purple velvet interior.
This would be a fun car to have all cleaned up and ready for fun. It’s going to take some money. Certainly a candidate for the v8, stick, and buckets. It would be a great alternative to mustang
My sister bought a red/red ‘64 Signet convertible in about ‘66. It was a cute little thing. It was great in the summer. Spring and Fall it grew mushrooms on the rear floor. Winter it sported a pair of mini ice rinks. She drove it several years, and when it finally moved on her reflective response was, “I wanted a convertible, and I had one”. Nuff said
I still want someone to turn one of these into a Barracuda convertible. Change the grill, taillights, a few emblems, and see how many arguments you could start at Cars and Coffee. Won’t be me, though, I already did my time in a ’64 Valiant.