1st one was a VH charger 245 auto, lime with tan interior,(I learnt to drive in my parents VH 265 auto charger) this was my very first car after getting my drivers licence,wasn't exactly the charger I was dreaming about but it got me to work and back, basic model in average condition.
2nd was a VJ 770 charger 318 auto, dual exhaust(with 4 thin hotdog mufflers)it sounded pretty good, steel sliding sunroof(hollandia/auto sun & air),7inch factory alloys,
I installed a nice stereo unit with seperate amplifier and a pair of 6x9 speakers in 1983,very tight good front end, smooth car to drive, lime with black interior, good condition.
6cyl- torque=355/2000rpm, horsepower=203hp/4800rpm, 8cyl- torque=490/2400rpm, horsepower=255hp/4400rpm,
6cyl times 0-100=9.5sec, 0-400m=17.6sec 8cyl times 0-100=8.2sec, 0-400m=16.6sec
compression ratio 6cyl=9.5:1 , 8cyl=8.8:1
weight- 6cyl=1520kg 8cyl=1570kg
fuel tank capacity=89lt
Since I was after this type
of chrysler, which is fairly rare and hard to find for a car close to 30
years old in good condition, I decided to drive out and have a look, anyway we left around 4pm
in the afternoon, by the time we got to Parkes it was 8pm at night, and by that time pretty hungry
so we found a mc donalds drivethru had a quick meal, then headed of to see the chrysler which
was about 20 minutes away in a nearby district.
My first impressions of seeing the car in the
metal were pretty good, it was in good condition and very original,
after a good inspection lying on the ground with flash light in hand checking it out for
rust, cracks, leaks etc, a 20 minute test drive, and then chatting with the owners about the car, and valiants in general we purchased the chrysler. It
also came with the original 14x5.5 inch steel rims and wheel covers. The main things I was after
was that it had a good 360v8 engine, a good rust free body, registration and originality.
3rd was a VG 4 door pacer, 245 3speed manual, good car apart from the slipping clutch, brake pedal like a rock, and loud twin exhaust, I was very eager to fix it but
didn't know much(mechanically)about cars at that time,(around the time I had this pacer,in the next suburb from mine,I used to see this really nice red vg pacer coupe with bathurst tank that I would've loved to own, it was immaculate), my pacer was red with black interior, average to good condition.
4th was a VG 4 door pacer, 245 3speed manual, blue with black perfect interior, very good body
and paint, it was unregistered and had no clutch,but other than that was in great condition,
so it had a new clutch put in it and registered, very nice car, excellent condition. bought a pacer bathurst tank,straps,filler tube and original flip top cap, had the front end done, bushes, balljoints etc, very nice car to drive,a few months later I had it parked on the street one day and some stupid #&$#*& ran into it and wrote it off. this is one of my favorite cars that I miss.
5th was a VH 770 charger, 265 auto, factory alloys, steel sliding sunroof(very nice on warm summer nights), car was involved in small accident leaving the front panels damaged, fitted a chrysler by chrysler complete front end that was available from a good friend, to get it going and looking good again, white with black interior, good cruise car, good condition.
6th was a VC sedan, 225 auto,hotwire mags, I put vg discs calipers and stub axles on, stopped nice and straight with vg set up, also put in a standard pacer diff, beige with tan interior, solid cars, good condition. (My parents first car was a 1967 VC sedan with 225 auto, beige , very similar to mine but in excellent condition).
7th was a VF VIP, 318 auto, dual exhaust, pacer 3.23 lsd with finned brake drums, no vinyl roof, at one stage before I got it, someone had fitted a pacer bathurst tank and then removed it, this 318 being an earlier model with higher compression and 3.23 gearing was fairly quick(I had heaps of fun in this one), cream with maroon interior, average to good condition.
8th was a VG VIP, 318 auto, silver with black interior, very good condition other than, before
I bought it someone changed the tinted full piece glass front doors, with quarter window version doors with clear glass, so I had a nice silver vip with a white front door on one side, a yellow front door on the other, even though I wasn't too happy about the original doors
missing, I bought the car thinking I could find a set, turns out I couldn't find any, at the very least I could've fitted the full piece tinted glass to the non original doors and then painted them silver, but try finding the full piece tinted glass, the rear doors and glass are very rare as well because they are longer to suit the longer wheelbase, back in those days there was no such thing as MoparMarket or delphi forum, the best you had then was a wanted ad in the trading post,and a handfull of val wreckers in sydney, Deloraine's at campsie or kingsgrove was where I used to get my new parts from back then in the 80's, until they both closed.
9th was a VH 770 charger, 245 4speed, was a factory 265 4speed, I got it without engine and gearbox,
so I used a spare, strong 245 and 4speed, 350 holley and small extractors and 2.92 diff,
it went real well with that setup(good torque), lime with black interior, average condition.(My parents 3rd car was a red 1972 VH XL charger 265 auto, it had a 500 holley
on it when we bought it and it went like a dog, I went to roddy the wrecker at tempe(big valiant wrecker at the time)and got a standard 2 barrel carby, put it on and the charger was heaps better).
10th was a VJ charger, the previous owner of this charger dumped the clutch really hard and snapped 2 pressure plate retaining bolts and it was undrivable, thats how I bought the car which was a bit of a gamble as I could'nt drive it, I bought it, pulled the gearbox out, put on another flywheel and got it going again, 265 4speed, 3 x 45 webers, roller rockers, brass clutch(yuk), extractors, recaro seats,
half roll cage, rt dash, quick car(slightly rude road manners), lime with black interior, average condition.
11th was a VH ute, 265 3speed manual, I fitted disc brake front end and electronic ignition, bought as a 215 3speed, points ignition, drums all round, came in handy when cleaning out the garage, white with tan interior, good condition.
12th was a VJ sedan, 265 auto, factory alloys, superblue with cream interior, vinyl roof, nice looking cruiser,good condition. (My parents 2nd car was a 1975 canary yellow VJ ranger sedan 245 auto, it was near new, nice car.)
13th was a VJ 770 e48 charger, 265 4speed, 3 x 45 webers, e49 cam, 3 inch single exhaust,
twin plate clutch, shorter tailshaft, dana 3.27 l.s.d, full roll cage, recaro's,
factory alloy's, very quick car(didn't like traffic), fastest car I've driven, red with black interior,good condition. this car has to be the rarest and most collectable car that I've owned. this is another favorite that I miss.
14th was a CH chrysler, 360 + 727torqueflite,dual exhaust, tasman 5spoke mags(like dragways), mustard with gold interior, average condition.
15th this is my current CJ chrysler, 360 + 727torqueflite, 14x7inch alloys, metallic silver with blue interior, good condition, I think this is a light weight racing version (ha,ha) it came from the factory without air conditioning, electric windows, no vinyl roof. its all original, still has the original carpet in good condition, it was a one owner car for 28 years, its a great cruiser,
The following cars were bought for spare parts and most were unregistered
KC centura 265 4speed - the 265 that was in this car wasn't the original engine, but it
was a 265, after changing the sump and oil pick up, I put the motor in the ute instead of the 215. VH ute + 265 + 3.23 diff goes pretty good.
VJ ranger sedan 265 4speed, genuine 265 4speed car from factory, this car was bought out of
a salvage yard $150, hit hard in the front, engine and gearbox were good. I bought it
mainly for the gearbox which was used in a charger later on.
CL regal sedan 265 auto, I used this engine in my vj sedan.
VJ ute town and country 318 auto,I bought this to fix up, but later realised it was full of rust, motor and some other parts were sold.
VJ charger 318 4speed, rough and rusty, kept some parts, sold some.
VJ sedan 265 3speed manual, this one had a surprise engine in it, engine no-D34 this was most likely either from a VH pacer or 2 barrel R/T.
Some Chrysler by Chrysler specifications.
APRIL 2002
The first chrysler by chrysler that was produced in this body style was the CH Chrysler in
1971 . In 1973 the CJ chrysler was released with only minor changes,the CJ carried
over into 1974.In 1975 the CK chrysler was released to the australian public. When first released, standard was
the 5.9lt 360ci engine with 3speed automatic torqueflite gearbox and 2.77 ratio borgwarner
differential,optional was the 4.3lt 265ci hemi engine with 3speed automatic borgwarner gearbox
and 2.92 ratio borgwarner differential.
Chrysler by chrysler CJ sedan- length=5m, width=1.88m, height=1.43m, wheelbase=2.92m
A bit about the purchase of my 1973 Chrysler CJ 360 sedan.
APRIL 2002
The first time I saw this particular chrysler it was on
the Mopar Market cars for sale section, with a photo attached. The car looked like it was in good condition judging by the photo, so I rang the owner so I could take a closer look at it.
Now the only
problem was the car was 350km away in the country town of Parkes N.S.W, as much as I love my
chryslers and valiants I have never driven that far just to look at a car.