Faults:

Only the door handles broke after 8 years in use on the outside, and an indicator lever.

General Comments:

This was the best car I've ever owned; reliable, light on fuel for its size, being a 3.7L automatic slant six, giving 10-11km/l @ 120km/hr is very good in comparison to other competitors in its class.

This old lady was very well taken care of, and slept on a carpet each night. Never had any major problems with it, it had a 142kw engine with enough power, but it was very lazy at speed, doing 165km/hr tops. That was a bad one, especially when trying to overtake a truck or another vehicle! It's a pity we never had the Australian engines available in South-African models. Also the Australian models were much sportier and more attractive than South-African models, especially the Charger and Ranger models!

But overall, this was a fantastic car. I still regret selling it; after all, I inherited it from my dad. Years after that, I bought myself a 73 Regal Formula S; now this was a fast one, picking up speed and doing 190km/hr. Thereafter I bought myself a 75 Regal, also a slow one doing tops @ 165km/hr, but all of them were light on fuel.

Now today I'm in need of the station wagon I first had! This is the Safari model with the wooden grain strips on the outside (American style), but the Australian body. We had a few made in SA, my first was one of those; I have not seen any of these on the Australian/New Zealand sites. These were excellent, the best cars ever made!

- Croucamp, De Aar, South-Africa.

Faults:

Normal wear & tear only.

Ball joints have been replaced.

Front brake discs and rear drums.

I always replace the oil filter when I do an oil change.

General Comments:

This is a great car. It is reliable, comfortable, smooth and has great performance.

The 360 has great torque, teams well with the Torqueflite auto transmission and the 2.77 final drive.

The seats are very comfortable and there is plenty of interior room.

The Val handles very well, sitting on 7" wide alloy wheels with good tyres and gas dampers (shock absorbers) are fitted.

Faults:

The original radiator and water pump needed replacing due to excessive rust. It sat inoperative for 8 years before I bought her.

The accelerator pedal snapped off from the shaft. Freak accident, and a temporary accelerator 'cable' was easily attached to the shaft.

Wheel alignment and front suspension issues - design flaws.

General Comments:

The car is extremely comfortable and excellent on open roads.

The large boot size can hold an entire drum kit, and the back parcel shelf metal has holes for the 6x9" speaker option. Nice bassy resonance.

I drove her 3000km in 3 days, then 1300km in 19 hours, and she loved every bit of it. Still going strong with minimal maintenance. (Oil and Coolant)

Can handle driving for 7 hours in a day with a hole in the radiator.

The engine is simple and there's plenty of room to do work in the engine bay, should you need to.

These cars usually always have rust problems where the front and back window glass meets the metal.

Faults:

Almost everything. But if you have a backyarder who has a passion for these then it was a good thing (hobbies require attention).

Particularly in the end the change to unleaded fuel did in the valves.

Head gasket was going, rusting lots etc so had to get rid of it.

General Comments:

Absolutely a wonderful car. Nothing like a 4 litre straight six powered sofa (bench seat in the front, mate!)!

Many many memories built up in the car. I'm stupid to have ever gotten rid of it.

The cars have character and that's something that every other car I've owned since really lacks.