Chrysler Valiant
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"Charger" |
Until recently, the Chrysler name
had not been used commercially in Australia
since 1981. But for more than 50 years Australians
had been buying Chrysler's for almost every
purpose a vehicle could used for, from towing
the family boat to racing around circuits
and charging across the country.
Chrysler
Australia was a subsidiary of the U.S. Chrysler
corporation, a giant multinational concern
started by the remarkable Walter P. Chrysler.
Walter P. Chrysler, a former railway worker,
made his reputation working for Buick, then
took over the Maxwell Motor Company which
was heavily in debt. Soon afterwards he bought
the Chalmers company and, in 1924, launched
a completely new car called Chrysler.
This six cylinder model had a number of engineering
refinements including four-wheel hydraulic
brakes. Chrysler cars came to Australia during
the 1920's and, in 1935, 18 independent agents
formed Chrysler-Dodge-De Soto Distributors
(Australia) Pty Ltd.
The distributors used
their combined strength to purchase and market
Plymouth, Dodge and De Soto vehicles. The
company acquired a controlling interest in
T.J. Richards & Sons, a highly successful
Adelaide based body building company which
had been the main competitor for Holden's
body builders since 1922. For several years
T.J. Richards had designed and fitted bodies
to locally made Chrysler vehicles. For the
1937-38 selling season, T.J.Richards beat
Holden's to the punch by producing Australia's
first all steel sedan body.
For several years T.J.Richards had designed
and fitted bodies to locally made Chrysler
vehicles. For the 1937-38 selling season,
T.J.Richards beat Holden's to the punch
by producing Australia's first all steel
sedan body. During World War 2 Chrysler-Dodge-De
Soto Distributors manufactured munitions
and aircraft components.
Most of the skilled
workforce remained when the firm returned
to motor vehicle production in 1945. The
company was entirely owned by Australians
until June 1951 when Chrysler Corporation
bought a controlling interest and Changed
the name to Chrysler Australia Ltd. A vigorous
expansion plan followed, and inspired by
the success of Holden, Chrysler Australia
aimed at producing a range of cars and light
commercial vehicles with 90 percent local
content.
While this plan was being implemented,
the company continued assembling and partly
manufacturing a range of six cylinder and
eight cylinder Royal and Dodge Phoenix vehicles,
based on U.S. designs. Toward the end of
1958 Chrysler Corporation acquired a 30
percent interest in Simca Automobiles of
France, thus enabling Chrysler Australia
to import and assemble a range of Simca
cars.
Chrysler Australia is best known, however,
for the Valiant, which was introduced in
January 1962. The Valiant was a sensation
- and it arrived at just the right time.
In the early 1960's Chrysler's operation
had been looking shaky with its range of
big American cars continually losing ground
to the all conquering Holden(GM). Simca
sales had tapered off, and with the release
of the Ford Falcon, Chrysler's problems
became worse.
The response came in early
1961 when company officials devised a plan
to assemble a US-designed compact six-cylinder
car in Australia. To get the new model released
as soon as possible, the firm imported just
over 1000 US-built R Series Valiant sedans.
These were assembled in the Mile End plant
in Adelaide, and when they hit the showroom
floors in early 1962 the response left no
doubt that Australians were going to fall
for the new brand in a big way.
By the time the R Series went on sale (it
sold out within days) Chrysler had imported
a large number of S Series sedans and local
assembly had already begun. Chrysler assembled
10,000 Valiants in 1962, lifting its registration
figures for the year by 146 percent, but
the company still could not meet the demand.
This spectacular introduction was the start
of a twenty year story which saw Valiant's
fortunes snowball for a while and then slide
in dramatic fashion.
The 1962 Valiant was
slightly dearer than the equivalent Holden
or Falcon models, but it was bigger and
far more powerful. It immediately won a reputation
for being a superior performer and its popularity
led Chrysler into a $36 million expansion
plan to build over 50,000 units a year.
with local content increasing progressively.
Construction of the Tonsley Park manufacturing
plant began in 1963, and by May of that
year, the 'Australian Valiant' sedan was
introduced.
With high local content and
a design adapted for local conditions, this
'AP5' Valiant strengthened the brand's position.
The Australian Valiant AP5 station wagon
followed in November 1963. In March 1964
the first Valiant was completed at the new
plant, and in April it was announced that
the $36 million expansion program had been
doubled to $72 million.
In 1965 Chrysler took over Rootes Australia
and acquired that company's Melbourne, Australia,
manufacturing and assembling facilities.
In 1967 Chrysler's Lonsdale engine plant
opened and the company gained third place
in the national sales chart, with 13.5 per
cent of the new vehicle market. Local content
kept rising in leaps and bounds. It went
from 1962's minor assembly work on the R
and S Series to 65 per cent in 1965 and
an average of 95 per cent in 1967. By that
year some models had as much as 97 per cent
local content.
The mid to late 1960's were
halcyon times for Chrysler Australia because
the company could not satisfy demand despite
regular increases in production. By this
time was the eleventh largest company (of
any kind) in Australia and the second largest
exporter of cars. 1969 was Chrysler's best
year with 42,654 Valiants sold.
Net profit
was a record $7,225,931 and total Chrysler
Australia Ltd sales stood at 66,948 units.
Most people in 1969 thought that Chrysler's
great automotive success would continue into
the 1970's, but it was not to be. A series
of misfortunes, fuel crises, quality control
problems, unpopular models and blunders saw
the Valiant lose sales during the early 1970's.
The marque then slipped further and further
down the list of best sellers, despite such
trump cards as the mighty Charger sports
coupe. Many problems were sorted out and
the company became the local pioneer of
such features as electronic ignition and
computer aided fuel management. It also
produced the fastest accelerating Australian
production car ever made, the awesome E-49
Charger.
But the fightback came too late
as public confidence was down, and with reduced
sales combined with an ailing US parent company,
the funds needed to retool for new models
were no longer available. In retrospect
it seems one major mistake was that Valiant
prices were held back in the late 1960's
to meet Holden and Ford head-on.
When this
happened, people seemed to stop considering
the car 'a cut above' its opposition. By
1977 Valiant was still producing a variation
of its six year old VH model. Sales that
year slumped to 17,500 units. Nevertheless,
the company was making good progress in
the smaller-car field.
The US parent company had bought into the
vehicle division of the Japanese Mitsubishi
company and in 1971 Chrysler Australia arranged
to assemble Mitsubishi's Galant. The Galant
wore a Valiant badge and succeeded brilliantly
in Australia, giving Chrysler the share
of the small-car market it had failed to
win with the Simca and Hillman.
Chrysler
expanded once again, this time to manufacture
the Sigma, a local version of Mitsubishi's
Japanese Galant model. The factory continued
producing Valiants in ever diminishing numbers
but with higher standards of equipment and
finish. Small car sales went from strength
to strength and in 1978 Sigma became the
top selling four-cylinder vehicle on the
market. Despite this success, Chrysler Australia
Ltd ran into severe financial problems.
In the US the Chrysler Corporation had run
into even harder times and was on the brink
of being closed. Former Ford president Lee
Iacocca took charge of the US Chrysler Corporation
during the late 1970's and set in motion
some drastic measures to keep the company
afloat.
These included selling off almost
all of Chrysler's overseas interests, including
the Australian operation. Ninety-nine percent
of the equity of Chrysler Australia Ltd
was acquired by Mitsubishi, and in October
1980 the name was changed to Mitsubishi
Motors Australia Ltd. The last Valiant was
produced in August 1981.
By that time 13 model series had been released
with a total of 565,338 units built. During
1962 the original R Series had been replaced
by the S Series. This was followed by the AP5 (1963), AP6 (1965), VC (1966), VE (1967), VF (1969), VG (1970), VH (1971), VJ (1973), VK (1975), CL (1976), and finally the CM (1978). Of these the VJ was the
biggest seller, with 90,865 units built. The
least successful model was the final design,
the CM, selling only 16,005 units in three
years.
