Sometimes simple is best. A clean and straightforward design, the 1967 Plymouth Valiant remained in production a full 10 years.
For such a clean and simple design, creating the 1967 Valiant was a relatively complicated undertaking. The $61 million program, led by styling chief Elwood Engel and studio executive Dave Cummins, was actually tasked with designing three cars in one for the Chrysler Corporation : Plymouth Valiant, Dodge Dart, and Plymouth Barracuda, all on the corporate A-body platform, and there were compromises throughout.
For example, the Valiant adopted the Dart’s doors, as they were the easiest to integrate. The station wagons were cancelled, while the Valiant hardtop coupe and convertible were moved to the Barracuda line, leaving the Plymouth with just two body styles, a four-door sedan and a two-door post coupe. For the classy tail lamp treatment, Cummins worked closely with Chrysler’s sheet metal engineers to fully integrate the lamp into the quarter panel, eliminating the need for a costly diecast end cap.
Mirroring the exterior design, the ’67 product line was simplicity itself with two body styles and two trim levels, Valiant 100 and Valiant Signet. At $2,117, The 100 was stripped to the basics, while the $2,262 Signet offered an upgraded interior and a dash more exterior chrome. Hardware choices were equally limited: Slant 6 with 170 CID and 115 hp, or 225 CID and 145 hp. A pair of 273 CID V8s were also available with 180 hp (two-barrel carb) or 235 hp (four-barrel). There were no big-block options. Bucket seats and a four-speed, floor-shifted gearbox were listed on the order form, but we doubt there were many takers. That’s not what the Valiant was about.
From its introduction on September 29, 1966, the third-generation Valiant was a solid seller for the Plymouth division, despite its limited body styles and options. Annual updates were minor until 1970 when the sporty Duster fastback version was introduced, doubling Valiant volume and outselling the Barracuda by giant margins. In 1974 the Valiant and Dart A-body shells were consolidated, and the Valiant remained in the lineup for a full 10 years, finally retiring in 1976 with the introduction of the Plymouth Volare.
Arguably the best car Chrysler Corporation ever made. Actually, I hate using the term “arguably” in that sentence. That car did more for Chrysler Corporation’s bottom line than the sum total of anything that had a Hemi in it.
… no April Fools here.
Agreed 100%, but as a then-12-year-old son of a Chrysler worker (not to mention a developing automotive enthusiast influenced by car journalists who obsessed over European designs), I felt an immediate attachment to the ’67 Signet 200 4-door, imagining it to be Chrysler’s answer to the MB 200 series. It would take a while longer for the Big Three to embrace the Euro approach, but the ’67 A-body was a great start, whether Chrysler management realized it or not.
For the price paid and the durability there was no better bargain! Watch the movie DUEL with Dennis Weaver to see how durable the Valiant was! The slant six was the little engine that could!!
Hat’s off to you for the courage to challenge orthodoxy and deliver some irreligious observation here. After unceasing “muscle” worship all over the place these days, it was a delight to see this article and the comments posted here. Thank you!
These remind me of the 49-54 Plymouths. Cars being….cars. Not flashy, but clean styling and the reliability of a Zippo lighter. They should have kept this platform with updated “skin” instead of making the Volare. I had a friend who bought a 67 Dart new and drove it for the rest of his life (2003!)
I had a four door 52 Plymouth Cambridge when I turned 16 that I bought for $400 back in ’96, traded it for a 74 Couriour. The Plymouth lived another 20 years till it was parted out. The Ford not as much.
Horribly handling cars along with the rest of the Chryslers of that time period. It think there was more rubber than steel in the front suspensions, it was like driving a sponge down the road.
I would say styling was comparable to the Falcon and Chevy II in compact cars. The slant 6 proved to be one of the most successful engines ever made by a US manufacturer – almost bullet proof.
The Valiant was one of the best cars to come from Chrysler. Cheap to buy,cheap to run, and rock solid reliable. Equipped with a slant six, they’d run forever.
What a contrast in design from the bizarro-looking original Valiant!
Thankfully Engel was there to catch a falling Exner. (To be fair, Exner was in and out due to sickness when the 1960 lines were….um, created.”
Probably better cars than the Volare (oh, oh) that replaced them.
Definitely better cars than the Volare that replaced them. I had number of friends that owned Valiants, I had personal use of a Volare wagon belonging to the county Breathalyzer program that employed me. I’d have happily given up that piece of crap for a five year old Valiant.
The 1967-76 Valiants were unquestionably the best compact cars ever built by Chrysler Corporation, and among the finest compacts ever built by any car company. I am grateful that Chrysler’s original plan to call their successor the “Valiant Volare” was scrapped, since history has shown the Volare was one of the worst compacts ever built by any car company
PLYMOUTH won top honors in the Mobilegas Economy Run with the Slant Six in ’60, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’64, ’66 and ’67. Second place in ’65 and ’68, the final year of the run. Bob Cahill of the ’56 Plymouth speed record fame was in charge of the fuel economy engineering team. How it was all done is quite amazing, many schemes and techniques were explored. Mr. Cahill personally wrote a three part article about how they did it in the 10/95, 11/95 and 1/96 issues of “High Performance Mopar” magazine…
Makes me want to buy one right now! 😉
I bought my 1st car in 1966. A white 60 Valiant . $40. The only metal on the poor thing that wasn’t dented and abused was the trunk lid. But it was all mine. I was proud as hell. I probably paid too much for it, but it beat walking.
When the Valiant called it a day Plymouth introduced the Scamp which I still own to compete with the Dodge Dart. Mine is a 1973 . Funny how all of you forgot. Yes it’s got the 225 slant 6. Good day.
Actually both the Valiant & the Scamp were built at the same time, once the Scamp was introduced. MCG even did a recent article on it.
Sad that the cars that really paid for so much of a manufacturers success were so often unsung. Muscle cars and the full-size models with their higher profit margins dominated marketing and consciousness but Fairlanes, Mavericks, Tempos, Darts, Valiants, Rebels, Hornets, Nova’s & Malibu’s…. They were all strategic to fleshing out the line so to speak. And all so overlooked in history.
How badly Chrysler (or whatever brand Stellantis North America wants to put on it) needs a car like this now – simple without being necessarily strippo, cheap to buy and own, and reputation-buildingly reliable.
I drove a ’69 Valiant with the 225 across the US and back a year later without incident. It was a hand me down from my parents. That car was ultra reliable and had the coldest A/C. Not very sporty, but a good car, nonetheless.
My elderly neighbor had a 68, and after multiple minor fender benders he surrendered his license at age 98 in the late 70’s. I wanted that gently used but banged up gem but my father said absolutely not as I was about 15 then. That would have been a perfect first car for me, instead ended up buying a 65 Ford Fairlane which was a gem as well.
If this is the best car Chrysler could make, it’s no wonder that Chrysler has been practically or actually broke so many times.
“Your best bet is to just order plain black coffee. This restaurant might accidentally poison you if you order anything more complicated.”
Chrysler: Shooting Itself In The Foot Since 1924
Of course, the Valiant was the better choice for 1967 because it focused on “boringly good reliability” rather than any gimmicks, comfort dispensers or innovation. The Slant-Six is famously “indestructible” and simple to repair with basic tools like the hachet and duct tape in yo’ toolbox.
While your Corvair was seen as the “sporty” (rollover) risk and your ’67 Saab was an “eccentrc” (pillbug) import, any ’67 PLYMOUTH Valiant was the “workaday” car that simply refused to quit…
My experience with new Plymouths in this period wasn’t good. The parts that went wrong with those Plymouths were parts from the same barrel as Valiant. The air conditioning and paisley upholstery in our Gran Coupe didn’t give a lick of trouble.
That is bad luck and unusual for any 1967 Plymouth purchased new, especially with the “5 year/50,000 mile warranty” and your freindly neighborhood ChryPly dealer 5 star certified service back then. Best guess- ballast resistor, headlight switch, fuel pump or brake booster failure, or all three…
The 1971 Gran Coupe replaced a mechanically identical 1970 Fury III that Chrysler couldn’t fix under warranty, period. The zone manager arranged a trade to get us out of the Fury III. Aside from the various no starts on the Gran Coupe, we gave up on ever having a working horn.
I watched a 1971 Duster (Butterscotch, slant six TF) from new until it was rusted out scrap in 1978. (Yes, it was garaged and driven by an adult. PhD in chemistry.)
“Better than a Corvair or a SAAB” is the lowest and most pathetic standard possible.
Horribly handling cars along with the rest of the Chryslers from this time period. I think there was more rubber in the front suspension than steel and cast iron. It was like driving a sponge down the road.