The Chrysler Valiant (RV1) is an

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

which was produced in Australia from January 1962 to March 1962 by

Chrysler Australia Stellantis (Australia and New Zealand) Pty Ltd (formerly FCA Australia), is the official Stellantis subsidiary in Australia and New Zealand, operating as distributor of Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Leapmotor vehicles. Ho ...

. It was the first Australian

Chrysler Valiant The Chrysler Valiant was a full-size car which was sold by Chrysler Australia between 1962 and 1981. Initially a rebadged locally assembled Plymouth Valiant from the United States, from the second generation launched in 1963, the Valiant was fu ...

model. The Valiant RV1 (or Valiant R Series)''Chrysler Valiant R Series'', www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au
Retrieved on 18 January 2015 was launched in Australia in January 1962.Elisabeth Tuckey and Ewan Kennedy, Chrysler Valiant, 1996, page 7 Completely knocked down (CKD) packs were imported from

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

in Canada, bodies were painted at

Mile End Mile End is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is east of Charing Cross. Situated on the part of the London-to-Colchester road ...

facility and final assembly was undertaken at Tonsley Park.Gavin Farmer, Great Ideas in Motion, 2010, page 107 The Australian model comprised a combination of US Valiant V100 base model and V200 deluxe model components.Gavin Farmer, Great Ideas in Motion, 2010, page 106

Model range

The Valiant RV1 was produced in two models: * Valiant RV1-2 manual sedan * Valiant RV1-4 automatic sedan The RV1 was offered only in 4 door sedan form. The RV1 was marketed by Chrysler Australia as the "Valiant by Chrysler" rather than as the Chrysler Valiant.

Engines and transmissions

The RV1 was offered only with a capacity

inline-six engine A straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine bala ...

, with a choice of three-speed

manual transmission A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canadian English, Canada, British English, the United Kingdom and American English, the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed ...

or optional three-speed ''TorqueFlight''

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (AT) or automatic gearbox is a multi-speed transmission (mechanics), transmission used in motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving conditions. The 1904 ...

. The engine was called the Slant Six, due to it being inclined to the right at an angle of 30 degrees. This apparently allowed for a lower bonnet line and also allow for the long intake manifold arms which were also a feature. The manual transmission was a 3 speed floor shift, with a "curvy" style gearstick that wrapped abound the edge of the bench seat, and sat next to the drivers leg. It wasn't until the introduction of the S Series Valiant ( SV1) that the shifter moved to the steering column. The automatic Chrysler Torqueflite transmission had an excellent reputation for service and smoothness. Gears were selected via pushbuttons which sat to the edge of the cars dash gauges.R&S Valiant Club NSW www.1962valiantclub.com

Production and replacement

1,008 RV1s were produced by Chrysler Australia prior to its replacement by the Chrysler Valiant (SV1) in March 1962. 672 of these were RV1-2 manual sedans and 336 were RV1-4 automatic sedans.

Gallery

File:1962 Chrysler Valiant (RV1) sedan (2015-07-15) 02.jpg, Rear view File:1962 Chrysler RV1 Valiant sedan (15028489444).jpg, Interior

References

{{Chrysler Valiant Cars of Australia Valiant vehicles Valiant (RV1) Cars introduced in 1962 1960s cars Cars discontinued in 1962