1970 Chrysler Valiant VF Pacer 225ci high compression Slant S from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

A flawed classic Australian muscle car

Faults:

The list goes on, but here are a few...

The radiator overheated as I drove the Valiant home on the day that I bought it!!!

The floor wells rusted out to the point where you could clearly see the road!!!

The car's bodywork was mostly rusted out.

The front end was replaced.

The starter motor was replaced.

Kept blowing head gaskets.

Miserable fuel economy (17mpg) on any given day.

Was missing the dicky little VDO strip tachometer that was mounted on the dashboard.

Was missing its original set of mag wheels.

General Comments:

This was my first ever car.

The car was very quick in a straight line and could blow away just about any V8-engined Australian car from the traffic lights.

It took awhile to get used to the floor-mounted three speed gearbox, but once one got the hang of it, the gearbox was a delight to use.

The cabin was very roomy and the "tombstone" front bucket seats extremely comfortable, but the seats could conceal a thundering Kenworth approaching on the car's offside!!!

When the car was written off in a serious accident in 1991, the other car involved was un-driveable, but the tow truck driver was able to start the Valiant and drive it onto the tow truck!!!

This is one car I will never forget as the VF Pacer is now very rarely seen on Australian roads anymore, if at all.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 28th June, 2002

27th Oct 2002, 18:41

The Valiant R/T E49 Charger is truly one of Australia's greatest production car achievements. They managed to extract over 300 horsepower out of a six cylinder in 1972. The car could accelerate from 0 to 100 in basically six seconds flat; hence easily beating the XY GT-HO Phase 3 on the quarter mile. Also the Charger was the first car in OZ to use Weber carburetters. I think that Aussie so called muscle car enthusiasts should lose the myth that you need a V8 to get REAL performance. The Charger proved everybody wrong 30 years ago... Johnno the Mopar Man