I have always
appreciated the
Canadian-built vehicles
made specifically for the
‘hometown’ market.
and the Valiant remained on its own,
sold through both Plymouth and Dodge
dealers. In 1963, when our Lancer was
redesigned into the Dodge Dart, and the
Plymouth Valiant was similarly updated,
new-car shoppers in Canada encoun-
tered a curious compromise.
Rolling out of Chrysler’s Windsor
Assembly plant, across the river from
Detroit, the new Valiant used a Dodge
Dart chassis with a 111-inch wheelbase,
a 5-inch-farther stretch than the U.S.-
spec Plymouth’s. Indeed, from the cowl
to the back bumper, this car was basi-
cally a Dart, while ahead of the cowl, it
used Valiant body panels, along with a
Valiant instrument panel. Canada’s car
neatly split the size and weight differ-
ences between America’s Valiant and
Dart, measuring 192.8 inches in length
and 2,555 pounds in four-door sedan
form. For 1964, a Signet 200 convert-
ible—roughly akin to a U.S. Dart GT—
joined the two-door hardtop at the top
of the Valiant line, and this proved a
one-year-only body style representing
the sportiest version, alongside the new
fastback Valiant (!) Barracuda.
That aforementioned blend of
Plymouth and Dodge styling elements
actually worked as a cohesive whole.
While the Valiant dash and hubcaps
are familiar to many, this top-of-the-line
model got unique bright trim accenting
the wheel arches and lower body. Spe-
cial Valiant-script badges and emblems
stood in for the various Plymouth or
Dodge pieces fitted to those on cars
heading south of the border.
The Roths’ new Mopar had original-
ly been sold in Edmonton, Alberta, and
its purchaser must have been a driving
enthusiast. While it didn’t have the Bar-racuda’s available 273-cu.in. V-8 making
180 or an exciting 235 horsepower, it
was more-than-adequately motivated
by the optional big-displacement Slant
Six. This well engineered 225-cu.in.
OHV engine was topped with a Carter
one-barrel BBS carburetor, and with an
8.2:1 compression ratio, made 145 hp
at 4,000 rpm and 215 lb-ft of torque at
2,400 rpm. It sent this power to the rear
wheels through the premium-priced
floor-shift four-speed manual transmis-
sion with a Hurst shift linkage. A con-
trolled, yet comfortable ride was ensured
by Chrysler’s trademark torsion bar/
control arm/ball joint front suspension,
working in tandem with the semi-elliptic
leaf spring/solid axle rear suspension.
Four-wheel drum brakes hid behind
13-inch steel wheels wearing full wheel
covers. While a transistorized AM radio
was optioned, no performance-robbing
weight had been wasted on power as-
sist systems for the worm and ball nut
steering, those brakes, or for raising and
folding the convertible roof.That white vinyl soft-top, now
patched and showing its age, had been
replaced at some point in the car’s life;
Dick and Connie surmised that may
have been around the same time this
Valiant received its carefully applied
new coat of red paint, which covered
the factory-applied turquoise hue that
later revealed itself through small chips
in the trunk. The original black vinyl in-
terior, plus the matching folded top boot,
were still present and in good shape. The
capacious engine bay and tidy inline-six
had been freshened with new blue paint
and matching plug wires. A critical eye
might fixate on some bubbling paint,
crazing plastic emblems, wear around
the gauge cluster, and areas of pitted
bright metal trim, but the car presented
nicely on the whole.
It hasn’t taken much to bring it up
to this fine-looking and -driving state;
Dick tells us his talented mechanic and
friend, the recently retired 88-year-old
Bill Mally, adjusted the formerly clunky
four-speed’s linkage to smooth out the66 Hemmings classic car october 2019 I Hemmings.com