Ford versus Holden. Holden versus Ford. You’d swear that those two manufacturers were the only thing going in the land down under. But Chrysler had made some inroads as well. In a similar story to how the Ford Falcon came about, the Valiant originally started off as an Australian-tweaked version of the American Plymouth Valiant/Dodge Dart A-body. From introduction in 1962 until 1970, the Aussie versions mimicked the Americans for the most part, with the only noticeable changes being right-hand-drive and minor details like lights and trim. In 1971, however, Chrysler Australia whipped up their own version, the VH platform, and it was a looker. But if you wanted a runner, there was only one version of the VH platform you needed to get your hands on: the Charger R/T E49.
What did that code get you? First off, the Charger body, which was a neat coupe. For practical purposes, it’s roughly the size of a Ford Maverick or 1969 Falcon by comparison…not too big, not too small. But whereas you could get the 318, 340 or 360 in the rest of the Valiant range, the Charger E49 got one engine…and it was a six-cylinder. Specifically, it was the 265ci “Hemi-6” mill, a 302 horsepower number that held the Australian acceleration record for 27 years. It didn’t do so well when raced at Mount Panorama due to it’s lower top speed compared to the Holdens and Fords, but on a tighter track, the E49 would absolutely decimate. Naturally, timing for the E49 was awful…just as things were beginning to get good, the Supercar Scare hit and all of the major manufacturers cowed after government officials first freaked out, then started making threats. The VH body would continue with minor facelifts through to the end of Chrysler Australia, but it’s the screamers with the unmistakeable six-cylinder howl that everybody wants.
(Well, not everyone. There is a 340 Six Pack powered one I know of…)
I would really love to have that hemi-six here in the USA. I’m a huge fan of the straight 6. I have a ’66 OHC 230 Pontiac, and a 292 Chevy hanging from the front yard shade tree right now, would love to add a hemi-six to the equation. Note the stand up config,as opposed to ‘our’ slant six’s of the same time period.
I am told by my friends in OZ that they have these available but very expensive through aftermarket. Those 70 or so versions with 340 were thrown together to use up the old 340’s in stock in OZ not used in the first year
The Aussie Valiant Charger is on my bucket list of Mopars to own.
kinda misleading (a bit) – you could get Chargers with everything from a 215 , 245 or 265 bread and butter hemi 6, 318, 340 or 360 V8’s too. Yes, E49’s had the 6 pak but there were E38’s, E55’s and other variants too. In the same way, all those engines were available in pretty well all other Valiants too (maybe not so much the 6 pak but I remember seeing a Valiant ute with one in back in the day..