1976 Chrysler Valiant VK Regal from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

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.

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.

The Valiant is a very nice car and is extremely comfortable. It may have been made in Australia, but was based on the Plymouth Valiant in America. The Valiant came from the U.S. originally, so it is an American design adapted for the right-hand drive market. Australia has never had its own car entirely because Ford, Chrysler and General Motors are American owned and operated.

Ummm... the VK Valiant is in no way based on the US Plymouth Valiants. Chrysler Australia had completely went its own way back in 1971 when the VH range of Valiants (the model that the VK evolved from) were introduced to the Australian market and Chrysler Australia had spent AU$22 million to effect this. Admittedly Chrysler Australia had taken on the task of developing the 6-cylinder Hemi motor from an experimental US Chrysler truck motor which had been abandoned in the design stage back in 1966 but the work put into the Hemi by Chrysler Australia ensured that the end product was a uniquely Australian motor.

Place a 1976 VK Valiant and a 1976 Plymouth Valiant side by side and you will notice that the two bear no resemblance whatsoever to each other, both bodily and mechanically. The 1976 (last year of production) Plymouth Valiants look similar to the Australian VE Valiants of 1967-69 and still retained the Slant-Six whereas Chrysler Australia had ceased using the Slant-Six in 1970 with the advent of the VG Valiants (the last of the US-influenced Australian Valiants). Indeed US Chrysler continued using the Slant-Six until 1983 in the Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volare by which time the last Australian Valiants had come and gone.

The VK Valiant is still based on the American 'A' body, using the same floor pan and suspension arrangement. VH-CM Australian Valiants do have different sheet metal from their American cousins. I own both a 360 V8 Regal sedan and a 265 Hemi 6 Regal station wagon. They are great cars. There is nothing on the market today that is comparable.

The VK Chrysler Regal Wagon is the most reliable, hardest working thing you will ever drive!!! My Father owns one, drives it every day, done more than a million k's on ti wtihout a service, it doesn't blow smoke, it keeps going and going, it doesn't use a lot of fuel for the style of car and the engine, trans and interior is bullet proof... the whole thing is a beautiful package, that has no doubt seen better days, but the more you go hard on the engines the better they go up to the challenge and they are a pleasure to drive because you can just hop in and go no trubs, and no... the VK Valiant is 100% aussie.. i have the Plymouth Designs and the Aussie Vals designs... so different that a VE commodore has closer plan to a VK lol... But it is a worthwhiel thing to buy... or get a reco'd shell and, but a 4.0 hemi in it... will just run and run to your hearts content. Just have to make sure the ol' girl is rust free and ya set for life. :) WORLDS BEST/STRONGEST CAR!!! 1976 VK VALIANT REGAL WAGON!!!

I have owned 18 cars since 1978. Of those cars, which includes various Euro, Japanese and Australian models, there is only one car which I truly regret selling - my 1976 VK Valiant Ranger 245 sedan.

I bought the Val as a 2nd car in 1984. Initially I drove it exclusively. Unfortunately I had to sell it for the simple reason that we moved house and suddenly my wife need to use the car also. She was 5'2" (62 inches) tall, and couldn't see over the bonnet (hood) of the VK. So I sold it and bought a Toyota Corolla, and have regretted it ever since.

At the time I was a cab driver, and drove the comparable Holden and Ford equivalents every day. The Valiant was in a different league to its contemporaries, being much smoother, comfortable and refined. It wasn't the greatest handling car of the time, but it didn't have to be. That wasn't what a Valiant was about. It was the ultimate Australian made long distance cruiser. I loved it.