This top-of-the-line 1962 Plymouth Valiant Signet 200 two-door hardtop is one interesting-looking car. It’s a love-it or hate-it design and the styling was toned down from the earlier cars. This example can be found here on eBay in Quakertown, Pennsylvania and there are two bids totaling $5,100. There is no reserve so the winner is taking this car home or, better yet, driving this car home!
The first-generation Valiant was available for the model years 1960 – 1962 and it was a polarizing design, to say the least. Being gangly, awkward, and fairly homely myself, I like these cars. The year that a task force was put together by Chrysler to come up with a smaller car came, oddly, just before the most-excess, tallest-tail-fins era: 1958. Chrysler has a history of being involved with European and Japanese automakers in times when they’ve needed a smaller vehicle in their lineup, but it’s nice that they finally came up with one on their own. The Valiant would live on under the Duster name and would be sold until 1976 in the US.
This particular Valiant is a Signet 200, is their top-trim level for the year and it looks great. The seller does show us a little rust area but if that’s the worst of it, it shouldn’t be too hard to fix that. Unfortunately, the car was painted yellow by previous owners and they say that there are many flaws in the paint.
They say that this car was owned by two sisters from the Philadelphia area but nobody knows who painted it yellow. That’s unfortunate as it wouldn’t be inexpensive to bring it back to the original color. Or, a person could just live with it as a yellow car, worse things have happened, as we all know. There isn’t a photo from the driver’s door which is unfortunate because that’s where the push-buttons for the transmission would be. The interior looks great other than that indentation in the glove box door, I hope that isn’t from someone’s knee.
The engine is red, very, very red. And, shiny. Red and shiny. Or parts of it are. It looks nice and clean and it should be a 100-hp 170 slant-six. The car runs and drives very well according to the seller. Are there any first-generation Plymouth Valiant fans out there?
The early slant six engines were painted red for the 225 and blue for the 170
This is what happens when a car is designed by a committee.
I remember as a kid in the early 70’s on a street in San Antonio. I was only 6-7 years old at the time. Funny how that burned an image in my young brain. I think at that time it established what I didn’t like in automotive design. Today as I’m looking at it objectively I’m trying to determine if it became an acquired taste like spinach or broccoli. Unfortunately I would have to stay at the dinner table until i finished my greens on this one:)
Didn’t like it then, don’t like it now. No offense to those who do!
Two bids totaling $5,100? No, there is one $5,000 bid and one $5,100 bid, so there are two bids totaling $10,100.
My sister used to have one of these … it was “high tech” with its push button auto transmission selector on the dash …
Mechanically wise I think it was a better and more sturdy car than a lot of its rivals at the time. As said above, the looks were love it or hate it.
Bought one of these when I was 17 – I paid $40 for it. It had a 3 speed on the floor. It was how I learned to shift.
Ugly, but fun.
Two cars that even the blind can identify by the sound of the starter: the VW and 1960s Chrysler products. The slant six is an engine that with minimal maintenance will just keep turning over.
This may be just the car to get you thru the next few months…
Chrysler used a direct drive starter on these until 1962. The reduction gear starter did not whine until the 1963 cars arrived.
While the Corvair had a style heard round the world, the Valiant was simply one of the best cars made anywhere at the time. I get it that you have to be seen in what you buy, but the success of the Falcon over the Valiant is one of the big reasons that American cars stopped being considered good cars.
My wife learned to drive in a 61or 62 baby blue Valiant with a 3 speed on the floor and really put that slant six through its paces. Always liked these for some reason and still do. Very nice car and would love to own it.
You would be the only one at the local car show, that’s for sure! These are almost never seen anymore, especially the two-door hardtop.
It is a shame about that rust. Great looking car, I would like to see the underside.
I like the first generation Valiant’s a lot, I guess for the same reason I like Basset Hounds a lot. They ain’t your average dog.
I believe it was in 1960 or 59 the first time I saw one of these, it might have been a Dodge Lancer. A school teacher bought a bright red one. I thought it was the weirdest looking car I had ever seen. His was a 4 door.
God bless America
I wanted to buy one for my first car in January of 69. My dad wanted me to buy a 60 Biscayne because it belonged to a friend of a friend, even though it burned more oil then gas
You know how some movies are so bad, they’re good? (“Plan 9 from Outer Space” comes to mind). This car is so ugly that it is really cool!
It’s astounding to see one this solid! I’ve been told by a restorer of one that they tended to rust while you watched. And as for ugly, well, eye of the beholder: The only thing I hated was the fake spare-tire cover, and once that was gone it was all good. So the only things I don’t like about this one are the automatic and the fact that She Who Must Be Obeyed has decreed an embargo on any more cars in this family.
Seriously, two of the most fun cars I’ve ever driven were a ’62 Plymouth loaner when my Volvo was in the shop, and a Valiant stick-shift station wagon. Both of those cars had the same kind of rambunctious, ramshackle charm I love about Volvos. Assuming I survive The Plague, I might have one yet …
The first yer for the compact Dodge Lancer was 1962. As I recall all 6 cylinder engines for 1961 and 62 were painted red. The oil breather cap on this engine is painted red which is not correct as it should be painted black. What ashame that this car was painted yellow as the original Rose Mist color would really stand out today.
Remember building a model car kit of this when I was a kid.
What would be cool would be to comeup with a fuel injection set up to see how much fuel economy you could get out of one of these engines.. Buyer beware the heads of these 1960’s engines do not have hardened valve seats for today’s unleaded fuel.
Not styled by committee. Styled by Virgil Exner
Well. We all start somewhere. Clearly, Virgil’s younger student years.
I had a V200 2 door. I really liked it, but it seemed like a held over design from the ’50s well into the ’60s.
Did this model come with anything larger than a /6?
/6 only until the 64 model year.
Although the hardcore hot-roddrs would disagree, for most uses one of those fine Slant Sixes is a big plenty. A mechanic friend bought the later Dodge Dart equivalent as his family car, and ordered it with the options 4-barrel carb. His fellow sporty-car buddies made fun of him until we all made a run up to Palmer AK, a nice 50 miles from Anchorage, and he ran off from almost all of us. With his wife and two kids in the car, so he wasn’t thrashing it hard.
I really like this kinda cranky Exner design; in fact, I’m one of the oddballs who thought 1962 was the best year for ALL Chrysler cars, especially Plymouth. The mass of American car-buyers did not agree, which did not improve my opinion of our native smarts.