My dad had customers with both Lancers and Valients ... and they were _FINE,_ reliable cars. Since I have that good memory of them, I think they're NICE.
I was a car-nut 10 year old when these appeared. Lancers and Valiants, to me, were and are great looking cars and very different from those of other manufacturers at that time. I guess that beauty, as always, is in the eye of the beholder.
I have to agree. I was very young when these were new but as soon as I saw the thumbnail I knew right away that it was a Chrysler product, and not a bad looking one. I will admit that I thought it was a Valiant at first glance. You could park a late model Chrysler in my driveway and I wouldn't be able to tell you who built it without looking at the emblems. That last picture Adam showed of the wagon with a newer car in the background, I have no idea what that is, and I couldn't even tell you what country it came from. It's very hard to tell different models apart anymore, and what happened to car color options? It seems like the only choices are white, silver, and black these days...almost like they are intentionally making them all look alike.
Push button drive at 11:40... Brings back such fun sweet memories. My parents moved to the New Jersey suburbs in 1963 and our neighbors next door had a Valiant that looked very much like the Lancer... We used to get in that car and push all the buttons and pretend to drive everywhere... A sweet memory of how safe and strong we felt in that car... How much fun we had... Unmeasurable. I'd love one!
I'm 70 too. When I was six, the woman next door bought a 1960 Valiant. I thought it was great looking. She took me for a ride in it. I liked them ever since. People affectionately call those cars the Road Toads. They are some of the favorite Mopars.
This is the car my parents took me home in and owned until 1965 when the transmission gave up. I remember the car as a toddler and I loved it. It looked like my toy spaceships.
I love cars and their story. I'm brazilian, and watching your vids helps me a lot to improve my English! Thank you for your nice work man, and have a nice holidays!
Thanks, for Comments….. Interestingly, other Countries *& Viewpoints are INTERESTING! …..wish I could Visit your Country, though at 77 Years “young” & just relocated to HELENA, MT : for life’s end, etc. (Also, our two,children live here also)…….ps: my Maternal Grandparents had one of these VALIANTS …..IN 1961[[?]].
It wasn't just the "tower of power", it was the "leaning tower of power"! When I was very young in the early 60's, Lancers and Valiants were standard issue in our driveway. My favorite was a 63 Valiant, much improved over the earlier Lancers.
'cept, the Carter ball and ball carb was an abomination of a design, the tops warped evey time you tightened the top down, no webbing in the sides of the body. other than that I got a great run out of my 65 model, that autobox was the best ever made.
I don't think Chrysler ever designed a bad engine, even the ones that weren't famous for setting the drag strips and nascar on fire were pulling taxi cabs to 300,000 + miles.
I personally saw how tough them slant 6’s were. A friend sadly pasted away now had 1 in a Dodge ram Tk. He open that Tk wide open sound like running 10,000 rpm’s & burn them tires off. Everyone watching & waiting for the pistons start flying out. Never did. When he sold it Tk still ran fine didn’t smoke or nothing. 1 very tough engine. He was tough on vehicles they wasn’t a body panel 1 that didn’t have a dent in it. Pulled in 1 day I was looked at it. That hood ornament ram somebody had put a band aid on it. I just about hit the ground a laughing.
Grandma had a "62. Black with a red interior. Even as a kid I thought thought that car was fugly. But she loved it, and drove it until she couldn't drive anymore. Memories...
Rode to junior high and high school, daily, in one of these. Classmate of mine's mom owned it, drove lots of us neighbor kids to and from school. I always remember the 'ticking' of the engine. Hers had the automatic trans, radio, heater. That was it. Rides to school on cold mornings meant it would die at every stop light (carburetor icing) until it warmed up enough. She'd go through a hilarious routine of 'turning everything off' as in radio, heater, lights, etc., before she'd attempt to restart. Then, back on again after she'd got it restarted, which sometimes meant waiting through another 'red light' signal cycle. Fun times !!!!
Carburetor icing was a huge problem on the slant six in cold damp weather, as was vapor lock in hot weather. But other than that, they were great engines.
@@gm12551 Probably less than a minute, because by the time we got to school (about a 4-mile run) the heater was finally beginning to warm up the interior of the car, and the defroster was starting to clear the fogged-up windshield.
My grandfather had the Plymouth Valiant version of this car. I loved that thing when I was a kid. It was also the start of my affection for the venerable slant 6. Thanks for featuring this cool little car!
I love these and the Plymouth Variant. The slant 6 is one of my favorite engines. I wish I could find in this shape. Thanks for the video and all of your videos!
I drove a 61 or 62 Valiant for a couple days 40+ years ago. It felt amazingly tight and solid. I thought the Valiant and Lancer looked unusual but sleek. Looking back, I don't understand the appeal of the Falcon (one Ford guy in David Halberstam's "The Reckoning," attributed the Falcon to R. McNamara's personality--"He wore these little granny glasses and he got this little granny car) nor the Comet, which I thought was a really homely car. Chrysler certainly did make some goofy looking cars in the early 60s--I happen to like the Valiant and Lancer in Adam's video. Great video, Adam. Thank you.
I, too, read Halberstam's book in the late 80's. A bit depressing that the hubris that almost killed the US auto industry back then has returned with a vengeance.
This car is so strange looking but it has grown on me over the years. Recently saw a nicely restored black Lancer with red interior on the street and it really stood out. To put things into perspective, think how frumpy compact cars like the Rambler looked in the late '50s and then this car appeared just a few years later. It must have looked ultra-modern back then.
Virgil Exner did a good job IMO, maybe it was not as a successful the Falcon and Nova, but I think it has aged well, it is distinctive looking. As a kid I didn't like them, but now I do.
@@martentrudeau6948all of these Exner designs were for full size cars. Take AI and have it stretch these platforms, and they are much more pleasing to the eye. Chrysler executives acted on a false hunch that Ford & GM were downsizing all their cars, and ordered the design team to downsize the Chryco line up. Exner frowned on this as he said it would make his cars look ugly. It was done anyway by the design team while Exner was recovering from a heart attack. After the sales flop, he was used as a scape goat, and fired. Although, Chryco brass was already eyeing his replacement Elwood Engle who they stole away from Ford. He would design the fuselage cars and the muscle cars of the late 60's and 70's which are timeless classics.
You have probably read that Chrysler Australia released them in 1960 and they sold out in week's.Had to order another large shipment from USA.The reason being they looked so different from the Bland offering's from GMH and other's at that time.
I think the Lancer was more attractive than the Valiant- the front end reminds me of a simplified Imperial front end from 61-63. The sides and rear... Yeah, they're wild. The interiors do look very nice and quite tasteful for the period. I think these cars were a great size and I can understand why someone would seek them out as an alternative to a period full size model... Today though, I think I'd rather stick with a big boat.
When Adam said that there were 2.5 different engines, I thought he was going to mention the "Hyper-Pak", a dealer installed package that included and aluminum long ram intake manifold and a 4 barrel carb. I can't remember if it included any exhaust mods or camshaft changes, but it definitely increased the power! They are rather scarce today, but impressive to look at! I had forgotten about the aluminum block version.
These cars also had the same advanced "Torsion-Aire" suspension GEOMETRY. It was more than just the torsion bars, it was anti-dive, anti-aquat, anti-roll suspension geometry with a little bit of rear steering engineered in. They were fun to drive.
I'm a Ford guy but decades ago I had both a Valiant and a Lancer. Both of them could run circles around a Falcon and didn't have fanbelt problems like The Corvair. Of course the following year brought the GM B-O-P cars. Thanks.
Remember that the 1960 Valiant technically wasn't a Plymouth, so either franchise could sell them. After the Valiant joined Plymouth officially for 1961, Dodge dealers expected some type of compact to sell. You're right about keeping dealer networks happy.
I never thought they were ugly. My grandma had a Valiant. That thing was bullet proof. Slant six was a great engine. It seems to me some of the GM "senior compacts" had reliability issues if I recall.
In 1969 I needed a car as I headed off to UCSB to start my college career. A buddy of mine had parents who worked at Jet propulsion lab, and they knew a scientist who had a fire engine red ‘62 Plymouth Valiant Signet 2-door with 82k on the clock for sale. When I went to see it, it was absolutely showroom, with the 225 Slant Six, three on the tree, and a very upmarket aftermarket A/C unit that blew ice cold. Though I was blown away by its condition, I thought it was the weirdest car I’d ever seen. I was aware of them certainly but buying one was another matter. He only wanted $450, so I bought it. What a terrific automobile. Never any problems with engine, clutch or accessories. No squeaks or rattles, ever. The aftermarket A/C never overtaxed the factory radiator . Drove it up to 150k and the only thing that ended my ownership was being rear ended at a stoplight, totalling it. I loved that car , drove it everywhere …but it always seemed odd to me and was a bit of a chick repellent ! Great engineered car , however!
The Valiant and Lancer WAGONS weren't too bad. The coupes look weirdest. I can't wait until you do a video on the 1961 Dodge Polara and Dart. Strange styling as well.
I learned to drive on a 60 Dodge Dart Seneca Wagon with the Slant Six and three on the tree. I always thought it was an ugly car, but I loved driving it and have always had a soft spot in my heart for station wagons.
12:00 ... I noticed that too, but I also wondered how did you put it into park? There's no P button. The Edsel had a Park button, but it had problems with the shifting motor not being able to pull the shifter out of park. I wonder what they did here.
I've driven a few of the 1st series Valiants. They were solidly built, had nimble handling, and powerful enough to be a fun roadway companions. The power steering option gave pinky finger light steering. The '62 manual steering got an even slower ratio steering box than earlier years. I much prefer these with power steering.
Well, we all have our guilty pleasures, Adam. Despite an understanding of why others find the Lancer ugly, I can't agree, even if some details are beyond understanding, and it projects a very ungainly appearance from some angles. My Dad had scores of auto sales catalogs that indulgent car dealers had allowed him to take home as a child during the depression, and he was super excited about the classic touches that Virgil Exner applied to his 1960 Valiant "company car". Attuned to Dad's taste, and well aware that he really liked the Valiant's performance and handling, Eleven-year-old me fell for the '61 Lancer in a big way. I simply preferred the Lancer's emulation of the 1960 Pontiac/ '61 Imperial grilles over the Valiant's ersatz radiator. In fact, I briefly owned a 1961 Lancer 770 two-door post during the mid-1990s. Equipped with the smaller 170 cid Slant 6 and Torqueflite, it was a very enjoyable ride. As a matter of fact, Road and Track had tested it in period, and gave it a good review, finding it a nimble performer with more than adequate handling and ride qualities. They called it "just about the limit" of size for a roomy family car, but agreed that the styling was "love it or leave it." I've always thought that removal of the character line along the bottom third of the doors, along with the check mark on the front door, and rounding off the canted fins would have ameliorated the excess. I'm still in love when I see one of these "toads" at a car show.
We had forest fires here and I was cutting firegaurd and came upon a 65’ Valiant that was sitting in the forest for decades. I compacted it with my D6.
You do know that the Comet wasn’t a Mercury until 1962. It was going to be an Edsel until the elimination of the Edsel in 1960. It was just a Comet until 62. 🎉
I remember these, along with Dodge Darts and Plymouth Valliant's being very common in my youth. Many people my age had them as hand me down first cars in the late 1960's. People used them up, beat them down and wore them out. I haven't seen one in years.
G'day from Australia. The Chrysler "Valiant" and Ford "Falcon" were very popular here, as was the market leader, Holden "GM". These were all made here. What Americans called compact cars were our family-size cars. We never got the huge models and called them "Yank Tanks". Ford family-size cars were all called "Falcon" until the end of Ford Australia and the same for the "Valiant". I own a 2009 Ford Falcon.
I think the Lancer is better looking than the Valiant of the same era (which admittedly is not saying much). Regarding your mention of the size of cars increasing, I've always found it fascinating that the first Chevelles were essentially the same size as the full size 55 Chevrolets. That was only 9 years. Interesting thoughts and presentation as always - thank you.
What i like about this vehicle, and others like it of the time, is the thin roof pillars providing good visibility...i cannot believe that today with current engineering knowledge and materials not readily available in the 60s, car makers cannot again give us good visibility with thinner roof pillars and meet safety standards
Now, THAT’s a Lancer! Not that thing that they call a Lancer today that looks like all the others. I learned to drive a stick in our ‘61 when I was young. The slant 6 would overheat before we could finish a 50 mile trip, but it was fun to drive. 👍
I'm 61 and I didn't know until a few years ago, but in 1960, The Comet was not the Mercury Comet, but just the Comet and was available at Lincoln Mercury dealers. It was actually meant to be an Edsel Comet, but since Edsel was killed they didn't immediately know what to do with it. It wasn't officially rebadged as a Mercury until 1962. Another thing I never knew until a few years ago, is that I always thought that Plymouth was a higher-level car than Dodge. I guess I always assumed that Chrysler structured their dealers like Ford and GM where higher level brands were sold together. This was pretty obvious with Lincoln Mercury, but you never saw a Cadillac Chevrolet dealer or Cadillac Pontiac for that matter. If Cadillac was paired up with another car brand it was always Oldsmobile or Buick.
@@josephgaviotaYour saying you beleive the 1960 Falcon is the same size to a Chevrolet Impala or Chrysler 300? Seriously. You might park one next to Fusion....
My uncle was a driver for an owner of forestry company in Finland. He sometimes gave us a ride in his work car, swoopy Valiant light metallic blue, with a cat eye taillights. Later he drove squarish Valiant that had a vertical taillights.
@ - American cars are very popular in Finland. Most of them are mid sized Dodge, and Plymouths with a 6. V8s are somewhat rare when I was living there. That was over 40 years ago.
It's clear that Exner had completely lost the plot by the later 1950's. The 1957 Forward Look cars were gorgeous, then made worse every year after. All the early 1960's cars were "challenging" in appearance. Exner's post-Chrysler efforts were also pretty gawd awful.
I absolutely love these early 60s Mopars! Valiant Lancer, Dart, all of them. The Senior Compacts from GM were also beautiful cars. And I'm not a big fan of Fords, but I like the Falcon and Comet too. I wish I could afford any one of them. The early 60s was a great time for American cars
I believe i heard that the design was originally intended for a full-size model, and as the trend was for "compact" cars, they squashed it down, and this us what you got. The pronounced horizontal ledges front and rear were Exner's replacement for tail fins. There was also some turmoil at Chrysler at the time, and the dislike of these models was a good excuse to retire him.
I strongly believe that most of this content is scoured from old back issues of Collectible Automobile. Therefore, little time required for research. Old history professor here.
Good video. My question for Adam is when are you going to cover the 62 Chevy II? My father had one of the first which he ordered from the factory a Roman Red with red interior 300 4 door with Powerglide and factory AM radio. My 2 older brothers drove it in high school and then I drove it thru high school and the first few years of college. With the straight 6 they were nice compact cars with clean lines and very roomy inside. It had a decent sized trunk and handled well.
We had one in white with turquoise trim and interior with the six cylinder and three on the tree, the engine and drive line were A one but the front suspension was so crappy that my dad resorted to using recap tires on it.
My dad had a 62, when we were very young. In Western Pennsylvania, it rotted away fairly quickly ( just like most Chryslers of that time) He told me that one night the dimmer switch blew through the rusted floors, and the car became a toy for my brother and I, as well as a storage shed...I just remember how damn ugly it was
I don't think I'd call the Lancer "Dodge's Ugliest Car." Those were not very good years for Dodge and Plymouth styling overall, but I think the Valiant/Lancer were good attempts at something different. In any case, they were decent cars. And I've always suspected that every family in American has owned at least one Slant Six. (Mine was a Duster.) 😁
Adam, May I valiantly propose an alternate title for this opus? Dodge Lancer: The Ugliest Car in Which the Beautiful, Gorgeous and Fabulous Slant Six was Installed . 😛 I hope subscribers don't confuse the early 1960s Mercury Meteor medium-priced compact with the Meteors sold at Mercury dealerships in Canada. 😉
An Ugly Duckling sued Dodge for the Lancer and the Valiant taking it's place!! I guess the Designers said "We need something... Hideous" and the rest was History!!
one of my favorites of that era, the 225 beat the heck out of the puny falcon or comet 6, the styling was jetsons space age and it was roomy...not to mention the bullet proof transmission. a fair deal for the money.
A self propelled Lawnmower would beat the Falcon six. Learned to drive on a '60 Falcon with 2 speed automatic. Painfully slow pulling on to the highway and up a grade, with passengers even worse.
I had a used, 1962 base Dodge Dart sedan in that same rose beige as the featured Lancer GT hardtop. Believe me, Lancer was not the ugliest car that Dodge dealers had to sell in 1962. The 62 Dart had the same overall styling theme as the Lancer, but with a buck tooth grille and cockeyed head and tail lights.
Love those. Full size MOPARS of that vintage especially Dodge and Plymouth were hideous. The Valiants and Lancer/Dart were space efficient, reliable, and met the needs of that manufacturer to field a relevant “compact”.
This just popped up in my reccomended for some reason; im not a car person per se, but was immediately surprised at the title because i think this car looks incredibly cool! I'd love to own this
I dunno, I kinda like it and the Valiant of the same era! Especially with the "toilet bowl" on the back! This was also the last De Soto (not in the US).
It definitely wouldn't be my first pick, but damn I do appreciate and respect those of you who say they are beautiful and would have them. The world would be so much less fun without them after all
My mom bought a 1961, Valient around 1962 and drove it until 1968. It had a decent ride quality for a small car, certainly better than the Corvair or Falcon. We took trips in it, cruising at 70 mph for hours, getting 21 mpg with the standard slant-six and three speed manual trany. t also handled quite well by the standards of US made cars of that time, which isn't saying much. Most of that was just its light weight and quick manual steering, compared to the road hogs which were the normal vehicle then. We never had any major failures or repair expenses. As a college student, I would have been glad to have it, but she traded it in on a new Buick Skylark 2-door in 1968. She ran the Buick for nearly 40 years until, in an aging state, she missed her brake pedal and ran it literally though the wall of the local police station while trying to park in front. We fixed it and sold it to some local hot rod guy through the repair shop, replacing it with a Toyota Corolla LX, the best car she ever owned.
I believe it was in Junior High, that a buddy and I bought a '61 together... He kept it at his house... And the two of us would drive the neighborhood, alternating turns in the drivers seat... Of course, we were only 14 or 15 years old, with no drivers license 😂 😆 😎 🤗 ... He kept the car... It was only $60- total cost... So, $30- each, to make us feel great !!! Was well worth it !!! Ha ha ha !!! The good old days !!!
A teacher in my elementary school had one of these. It had a large v8 swapped into it. It got your attention:-)) I find now that the uglier they are the more I like them. 😄😄
Call me crazy but honestly I think it’s a work of art.
It's nicer than any jellybean car of today.
Me too. I didn't think so before but I agree now.
Oh hell yeah. The design works better viewed in person. The rear end is sexy. Love the wagon version!
I agree!
It’s a work of something…
My dad had customers with both Lancers and Valients ... and they were _FINE,_ reliable cars.
Since I have that good memory of them, I think they're NICE.
They were EXCellent cars that drove really well. Way more of a car than a Falcon ever was.
I'm not blind right?
This thing looks awesome
It’s beautiful. Gorgeous, lovely, stunning
@kevinbrowndc I couldn't agree more. I just love these Lancers and Valiants.
It does look real nice in white.
@@cdes68 I like that white 2 door.
I was a car-nut 10 year old when these appeared. Lancers and Valiants, to me, were and are great looking cars and very different from those of other manufacturers at that time. I guess that beauty, as always, is in the eye of the beholder.
Yes they were good cars with the then new slant six. I really like the style of the '63-'67 Valiants.
Yes, look at 90's Skylark if you want to see ugly. This is like an upscale Barracuda.
That ugly car smokes every current model produced today.
At least it stands out.
I'm tired of the Cylon insect theme out there in Designerland.
It's serviceable
I have to agree. I was very young when these were new but as soon as I saw the thumbnail I knew right away that it was a Chrysler product, and not a bad looking one. I will admit that I thought it was a Valiant at first glance. You could park a late model Chrysler in my driveway and I wouldn't be able to tell you who built it without looking at the emblems. That last picture Adam showed of the wagon with a newer car in the background, I have no idea what that is, and I couldn't even tell you what country it came from. It's very hard to tell different models apart anymore, and what happened to car color options? It seems like the only choices are white, silver, and black these days...almost like they are intentionally making them all look alike.
Push button drive at 11:40... Brings back such fun sweet memories. My parents moved to the New Jersey suburbs in 1963 and our neighbors next door had a Valiant that looked very much like the Lancer... We used to get in that car and push all the buttons and pretend to drive everywhere... A sweet memory of how safe and strong we felt in that car... How much fun we had... Unmeasurable. I'd love one!
I would so drive that thing today.
I'd drop a 383 in it with a 4-speed. Talk about a sleeper!
That IS NOT an ugly car !
I'm 70yrs old and liked them when they were new !
ME TOO !!!
I'm 70 too. When I was six, the woman next door bought a 1960 Valiant. I thought it was great looking. She took me for a ride in it. I liked them ever since. People affectionately call those cars the Road Toads. They are some of the favorite Mopars.
This is the car my parents took me home in and owned until 1965 when the transmission gave up. I remember the car as a toddler and I loved it. It looked like my toy spaceships.
Same here! But it was a tictac green base model 2dr. Valiant. Bought new - Dad drove the wheels off of it.
I went through two transmissions. Loved the pushbuttons and the car. It had power steering that you could turn with your little finger.
I love cars and their story. I'm brazilian, and watching your vids helps me a lot to improve my English!
Thank you for your nice work man, and have a nice holidays!
Thanks, for Comments….. Interestingly, other Countries *& Viewpoints are INTERESTING! …..wish I could Visit your Country, though at 77 Years “young” & just relocated to HELENA, MT : for life’s end, etc. (Also, our two,children live here also)…….ps: my Maternal Grandparents had one of these VALIANTS …..IN 1961[[?]].
It wasn't just the "tower of power", it was the "leaning tower of power"! When I was very young in the early 60's, Lancers and Valiants were standard issue in our driveway. My favorite was a 63 Valiant, much improved over the earlier Lancers.
Right!!!
Yep - a riff on the leaning tower of Pisa.
Might be homely, but the Slant6 is one of the finest engines ever built.
Leaning tower of power! Vastly underated!
'cept, the Carter ball and ball carb was an abomination of a design, the tops warped evey time you tightened the top down, no webbing in the sides of the body. other than that I got a great run out of my 65 model, that autobox was the best ever made.
@adoreslaurel what is the Carter ball? Serious question!
I don't think Chrysler ever designed a bad engine, even the ones that weren't famous for setting the drag strips and nascar on fire were pulling taxi cabs to 300,000 + miles.
I personally saw how tough them slant 6’s were. A friend sadly pasted away now had 1 in a Dodge ram Tk. He open that Tk wide open sound like running 10,000 rpm’s & burn them tires off. Everyone watching & waiting for the pistons start flying out. Never did. When he sold it Tk still ran fine didn’t smoke or nothing. 1 very tough engine. He was tough on vehicles they wasn’t a body panel 1 that didn’t have a dent in it. Pulled in 1 day I was looked at it. That hood ornament ram somebody had put a band aid on it. I just about hit the ground a laughing.
Remember the ads, Lancer is the answer to a compact car.
Grandma had a "62. Black with a red interior. Even as a kid I thought thought that car was fugly. But she loved it, and drove it until she couldn't drive anymore. Memories...
Rode to junior high and high school, daily, in one of these. Classmate of mine's mom owned it, drove lots of us neighbor kids to and from school. I always remember the 'ticking' of the engine. Hers had the automatic trans, radio, heater. That was it. Rides to school on cold mornings meant it would die at every stop light (carburetor icing) until it warmed up enough. She'd go through a hilarious routine of 'turning everything off' as in radio, heater, lights, etc., before she'd attempt to restart. Then, back on again after she'd got it restarted, which sometimes meant waiting through another 'red light' signal cycle. Fun times !!!!
Carburetor icing was a huge problem on the slant six in cold damp weather, as was vapor lock in hot weather. But other than that, they were great engines.
I wonder how long she warmed it up
@@gm12551 Probably less than a minute, because by the time we got to school (about a 4-mile run) the heater was finally beginning to warm up the interior of the car, and the defroster was starting to clear the fogged-up windshield.
@@gm12551 On clear, sunny, warm days, it ran perfectly.
My 1st car was a 1961 Lancer 4 door with the 225 slant 6. Thanks for the memories.
A car that will be remembered not for being a masterpiece but for being so unique and quirky.
... and _very_ reliable.
@@josephgaviota When the bible was written they probably mentioned Lancer and reliability side by side...
@@dustin_4501 /Bible/
I think about 2000 years separate the Bible from the Lancer.
YES masterpiece. More like a unique quirky masterpiece.
Love the styling, but then I drove one until 1975.
My grandfather had the Plymouth Valiant version of this car. I loved that thing when I was a kid. It was also the start of my affection for the venerable slant 6. Thanks for featuring this cool little car!
I love these and the Plymouth Variant. The slant 6 is one of my favorite engines. I wish I could find in this shape. Thanks for the video and all of your videos!
I drove a 61 or 62 Valiant for a couple days 40+ years ago. It felt amazingly tight and solid. I thought the Valiant and Lancer looked unusual but sleek. Looking back, I don't understand the appeal of the Falcon (one Ford guy in David Halberstam's "The Reckoning," attributed the Falcon to R. McNamara's personality--"He wore these little granny glasses and he got this little granny car) nor the Comet, which I thought was a really homely car. Chrysler certainly did make some goofy looking cars in the early 60s--I happen to like the Valiant and Lancer in Adam's video. Great video, Adam. Thank you.
Falcons were just flimsy, poor handling tin cans next to these tight, solid cars.
I, too, read Halberstam's book in the late 80's. A bit depressing that the hubris that almost killed the US auto industry back then has returned with a vengeance.
This car is so strange looking but it has grown on me over the years. Recently saw a nicely restored black Lancer with red interior on the street and it really stood out. To put things into perspective, think how frumpy compact cars like the Rambler looked in the late '50s and then this car appeared just a few years later. It must have looked ultra-modern back then.
It looked just as ultra-ugly when it came out as it does today.
Virgil Exner did a good job IMO, maybe it was not as a successful the Falcon and Nova, but I think it has aged well, it is distinctive looking. As a kid I didn't like them, but now I do.
Funny how tasts change as we age@@martentrudeau6948
@@martentrudeau6948all of these Exner designs were for full size cars. Take AI and have it stretch these platforms, and they are much more pleasing to the eye.
Chrysler executives acted on a false hunch that Ford & GM were downsizing all their cars, and ordered the design team to downsize the Chryco line up. Exner frowned on this as he said it would make his cars look ugly.
It was done anyway by the design team while Exner was recovering from a heart attack. After the sales flop, he was used as a scape goat, and fired. Although, Chryco brass was already eyeing his replacement Elwood Engle who they stole away from Ford. He would design the fuselage cars and the muscle cars of the late 60's and 70's which are timeless classics.
I always loved those cars as a child growing up seeing them.
was a very good car great slant six engine good ride
This was my first car! Loved it!!! Especially the push button shifting!
I hated these cars when I was younger, but they have really grown on me over the years. I’d be happy to have a Lancer or a Valiant in the garage now.
I never liked them, but his photos make them look better to me.
You have probably read that Chrysler Australia released them in 1960 and they sold out in week's.Had to order another large shipment from USA.The reason being they looked so different from the Bland offering's from GMH and other's at that time.
I think the Lancer was more attractive than the Valiant- the front end reminds me of a simplified Imperial front end from 61-63. The sides and rear... Yeah, they're wild. The interiors do look very nice and quite tasteful for the period. I think these cars were a great size and I can understand why someone would seek them out as an alternative to a period full size model... Today though, I think I'd rather stick with a big boat.
Visibility is fantastic.
Having one of these as a daily driver, it was almost cartoon-like to walk out to it every morning.. It made it a bit more endearing.
Thank you Adam, for your videos. I love them!
That “61” Lancer is an absolutely stunningly, gorgeous vehicle! ❤️
When Adam said that there were 2.5 different engines, I thought he was going to mention the "Hyper-Pak", a dealer installed package that included and aluminum long ram intake manifold and a 4 barrel carb. I can't remember if it included any exhaust mods or camshaft changes, but it definitely increased the power! They are rather scarce today, but impressive to look at! I had forgotten about the aluminum block version.
These cars also had the same advanced "Torsion-Aire" suspension GEOMETRY. It was more than just the torsion bars, it was anti-dive, anti-aquat, anti-roll suspension geometry with a little bit of rear steering engineered in. They were fun to drive.
I'm a Ford guy but decades ago I had both a Valiant and a Lancer. Both of them could run circles around a Falcon and didn't have fanbelt problems like The Corvair. Of course the following year brought the GM B-O-P cars.
Thanks.
Yeah, my Lancer outperformed the '60 falcon I had before it in every way.
Big time!
In 1961, Chevrolet introduced the Chevy II as a 1962 model.
Remember that the 1960 Valiant technically wasn't a Plymouth, so either franchise could sell them. After the Valiant joined Plymouth officially for 1961, Dodge dealers expected some type of compact to sell. You're right about keeping dealer networks happy.
I never thought they were ugly. My grandma had a Valiant. That thing was bullet proof. Slant six was a great engine. It seems to me some of the GM "senior compacts" had reliability issues if I recall.
In 1969 I needed a car as I headed off to UCSB to start my college career. A buddy of mine had parents who worked at Jet propulsion lab, and they knew a scientist who had a fire engine red ‘62 Plymouth Valiant Signet 2-door with 82k on the clock for sale. When I went to see it, it was absolutely showroom, with the 225 Slant Six, three on the tree, and a very upmarket aftermarket A/C unit that blew ice cold. Though I was blown away by its condition, I thought it was the weirdest car I’d ever seen. I was aware of them certainly but buying one was another matter. He only wanted $450, so I bought it. What a terrific automobile. Never any problems with engine, clutch or accessories. No squeaks or rattles, ever. The aftermarket A/C never overtaxed the factory radiator . Drove it up to 150k and the only thing that ended my ownership was being rear ended at a stoplight, totalling it. I loved that car , drove it everywhere …but it always seemed odd to me and was a bit of a chick repellent ! Great engineered car , however!
The Valiant and Lancer WAGONS weren't too bad. The coupes look weirdest. I can't wait until you do a video on the 1961 Dodge Polara and Dart. Strange styling as well.
You forgot the 1959-1966 Studebaker Lark introduced in fall 1958
I learned to drive on a 60 Dodge Dart Seneca Wagon with the Slant Six and three on the tree. I always thought it was an ugly car, but I loved driving it and have always had a soft spot in my heart for station wagons.
If Citroën, Peugeot or Renault had tried to design an American style car, they would look like a Valiant or Lancer.
Don't forget... the push button transmission!
'Typewriter tranny'.
Edsel offered one with buttons on the steering wheel hub.
12:00 ... I noticed that too, but I also wondered how did you put it into park? There's no P button. The Edsel had a Park button, but it had problems with the shifting motor not being able to pull the shifter out of park. I wonder what they did here.
I've driven a few of the 1st series Valiants. They were solidly built, had nimble handling, and powerful enough to be a fun roadway companions. The power steering option gave pinky finger light steering. The '62 manual steering got an even slower ratio steering box than earlier years. I much prefer these with power steering.
Yes! They drove so nice!
I owned a beautiful 1962 Valiant, and loved everything about it.
Adam; I love your historical stories and I love this car !
Well, we all have our guilty pleasures, Adam. Despite an understanding of why others find the Lancer ugly, I can't agree, even if some details are beyond understanding, and it projects a very ungainly appearance from some angles. My Dad had scores of auto sales catalogs that indulgent car dealers had allowed him to take home as a child during the depression, and he was super excited about the classic touches that Virgil Exner applied to his 1960 Valiant "company car". Attuned to Dad's taste, and well aware that he really liked the Valiant's performance and handling, Eleven-year-old me fell for the '61 Lancer in a big way. I simply preferred the Lancer's emulation of the 1960 Pontiac/ '61 Imperial grilles over the Valiant's ersatz radiator. In fact, I briefly owned a 1961 Lancer 770 two-door post during the mid-1990s. Equipped with the smaller 170 cid Slant 6 and Torqueflite, it was a very enjoyable ride. As a matter of fact, Road and Track had tested it in period, and gave it a good review, finding it a nimble performer with more than adequate handling and ride qualities. They called it "just about the limit" of size for a roomy family car, but agreed that the styling was "love it or leave it." I've always thought that removal of the character line along the bottom third of the doors, along with the check mark on the front door, and rounding off the canted fins would have ameliorated the excess. I'm still in love when I see one of these "toads" at a car show.
We had forest fires here and I was cutting firegaurd and came upon a 65’ Valiant that was sitting in the forest for decades. I compacted it with my D6.
You do know that the Comet wasn’t a Mercury until 1962. It was going to be an Edsel until the elimination of the Edsel in 1960. It was just a Comet until 62. 🎉
I strongly believe that most of this content is scoured from old back issues of Collectible Automobile.
I remember these, along with Dodge Darts and Plymouth Valliant's being very common in my youth. Many people my age had them as hand me down first cars in the late 1960's. People used them up, beat them down and wore them out. I haven't seen one in years.
Adam it was the "leaning tower of power"! From my understanding the Aluminum block Slant 6 was fairly rare.
G'day from Australia. The Chrysler "Valiant" and Ford "Falcon" were very popular here, as was the market leader, Holden "GM". These were all made here. What Americans called compact cars were our family-size cars. We never got the huge models and called them "Yank Tanks". Ford family-size cars were all called "Falcon" until the end of Ford Australia and the same for the "Valiant". I own a 2009 Ford Falcon.
I think the Lancer is better looking than the Valiant of the same era (which admittedly is not saying much). Regarding your mention of the size of cars increasing, I've always found it fascinating that the first Chevelles were essentially the same size as the full size 55 Chevrolets. That was only 9 years. Interesting thoughts and presentation as always - thank you.
What i like about this vehicle, and others like it of the time, is the thin roof pillars providing good visibility...i cannot believe that today with current engineering knowledge and materials not readily available in the 60s, car makers cannot again give us good visibility with thinner roof pillars and meet safety standards
Today's roofs have heavily regulated crush ratings!
U rite on,new cars are clostrophobic to drive
Especially w huge elephant ear rear view mirrors to block u side view as well. Hard to avoid things u cant see
Just when I thought a wagon might somewhat temper the hideous design language, you flashed a picture of it.
Now, THAT’s a Lancer! Not that thing that they call a Lancer today that looks like all the others.
I learned to drive a stick in our ‘61 when I was young. The slant 6 would overheat before we could finish a 50 mile trip, but it was fun to drive. 👍
The styling is much better than the bread loaf look consumer transportation modules better known as the SUV.
No high C-pillar!
I'm 61 and I didn't know until a few years ago, but in 1960, The Comet was not the Mercury Comet, but just the Comet and was available at Lincoln Mercury dealers. It was actually meant to be an Edsel Comet, but since Edsel was killed they didn't immediately know what to do with it. It wasn't officially rebadged as a Mercury until 1962.
Another thing I never knew until a few years ago, is that I always thought that Plymouth was a higher-level car than Dodge. I guess I always assumed that Chrysler structured their dealers like Ford and GM where higher level brands were sold together. This was pretty obvious with Lincoln Mercury, but you never saw a Cadillac Chevrolet dealer or Cadillac Pontiac for that matter. If Cadillac was paired up with another car brand it was always Oldsmobile or Buick.
Yes - look at the taillights - Edsel items but at an angle.
Wow! I’ve never seen this body style. You can’t really say it’s dated, because it looks 60s, 70s and even a bit ‘80s all at once!
Virgil Exner - Nothing Boring......Ever!!!
My mother owned a 62 Dodge Lancer and I learned to drive in this car. Great memories!
Intergalactic transport device 😊
225 slant 6 was also used in manufacture of plenty of farm tractors and sprayers
They're still in use today on commercial machines. Very hard to kill them. Virtually indestructible 😏🫡
Chrysler was looking to make something “unmistakable” but ended up simply with a mistake.
1:50 That "compact" Falcon today would be a FULL SIZED car.
In what country? Certainly not the US. That thing is tiny
@@jamesengland7461 1) Don't be a self-liker.
2) Yes, the "compact cars" of the '60s are like full-size cars of today.
@@josephgaviotaYour saying you beleive the 1960 Falcon is the same size to a Chevrolet Impala or Chrysler 300? Seriously. You might park one next to Fusion....
I had a 1962 Lancer GT and would like to have it back!
As a kid I built more models of this car than anything else. I love this car. If I came across a good one at a fair price I would buy it any time.
My grandfather had a 60 Valiant. I thought it was pretty solid when compared to the Falcon or Corvair.
My uncle was a driver for an owner of forestry company in Finland. He sometimes gave us a ride in his work car, swoopy Valiant light metallic blue, with a cat eye taillights. Later he drove squarish Valiant that had a vertical taillights.
- in the 60s and 70's seeing Dart or Valiant police cars in Sweden was quite common. svammelsurium.blogg.se/2009/november/mer-valiantnostalgi.html
Back in the 90's when I owned a string of vintage Mopar A-bodies, there was a strong Finnish contingent in the Slant 6 Owners Club!
@ - American cars are very popular in Finland. Most of them are mid sized Dodge, and Plymouths with a 6. V8s are somewhat rare when I was living there. That was over 40 years ago.
Looks better than the Valiant!
It's clear that Exner had completely lost the plot by the later 1950's. The 1957 Forward Look cars were gorgeous, then made worse every year after. All the early 1960's cars were "challenging" in appearance. Exner's post-Chrysler efforts were also pretty gawd awful.
I absolutely love these early 60s Mopars! Valiant Lancer, Dart, all of them. The Senior Compacts from GM were also beautiful cars. And I'm not a big fan of Fords, but I like the Falcon and Comet too. I wish I could afford any one of them. The early 60s was a great time for American cars
First car I owned, well used of course. Slant 6, with 3 on the tree, car was bullet proof !!! Even for a 15 year old !!! 😅😅😅
Ah, Virgil Exner - the Forward Look and, well, this... We all have our good days and bad days....
Yes...my opinion, this was a good day.
I believe i heard that the design was originally intended for a full-size model, and as the trend was for "compact" cars, they squashed it down, and this us what you got. The pronounced horizontal ledges front and rear were Exner's replacement for tail fins. There was also some turmoil at Chrysler at the time, and the dislike of these models was a good excuse to retire him.
The Lancer shown was WAY nicer looking than the Valiant.
for some reason I miss these cars, every inch styled for styles sake . Had two Falcons but these seem a bit of fun. not boring in the least.
"for some reason I miss these cars" For good reason, they're UGLY!
How do you put out so many videos? This is insane but I love them.
I strongly believe that most of this content is scoured from old back issues of Collectible Automobile. Therefore, little time required for research. Old history professor here.
@@charlescarter1529 As a long-time subscriber to CA, I agree, but his presentation is always very well-done and appreciated.
Good video. My question for Adam is when are you going to cover the 62 Chevy II? My father had one of the first which he ordered from the factory a Roman Red with red interior 300 4 door with Powerglide and factory AM radio. My 2 older brothers drove it in high school and then I drove it thru high school and the first few years of college. With the straight 6 they were nice compact cars with clean lines and very roomy inside. It had a decent sized trunk and handled well.
We had one in white with turquoise trim and interior with the six cylinder and three on the tree, the engine and drive line were A one but the front suspension was so crappy that my dad resorted to using recap tires on it.
My dad had a 62, when we were very young. In Western Pennsylvania, it rotted away fairly quickly ( just like most Chryslers of that time) He told me that one night the dimmer switch blew through the rusted floors, and the car became a toy for my brother and I, as well as a storage shed...I just remember how damn ugly it was
Love this body style now!
Exner hit it out of the park in 57, and it went downhill style wise to comically bad, like this one.
I love it. Never seen it before - and I was around in 1960!!!
It's not for everyone but I love them, any body style especially the wagons. Exner is among one of the great designers in my book.
As a kid, I remember these having aluminum keys, and I thought those were SO LIGHT, I couldn't believe it!
I don't think I'd call the Lancer "Dodge's Ugliest Car." Those were not very good years for Dodge and Plymouth styling overall, but I think the Valiant/Lancer were good attempts at something different. In any case, they were decent cars. And I've always suspected that every family in American has owned at least one Slant Six. (Mine was a Duster.) 😁
Adam, May I valiantly propose an alternate title for this opus? Dodge Lancer: The Ugliest Car in Which the Beautiful, Gorgeous and Fabulous Slant Six was Installed . 😛 I hope subscribers don't confuse the early 1960s Mercury Meteor medium-priced compact with the Meteors sold at Mercury dealerships in Canada. 😉
😂
An Ugly Duckling sued Dodge for the Lancer and the Valiant taking it's place!! I guess the Designers said "We need something... Hideous" and the rest was History!!
one of my favorites of that era, the 225 beat the heck out of the puny falcon or comet 6, the styling was jetsons space age and it was roomy...not to mention the bullet proof transmission. a fair deal for the money.
A self propelled Lawnmower would beat the Falcon six. Learned to drive on a '60 Falcon with 2 speed automatic. Painfully slow pulling on to the highway and up a grade, with passengers even worse.
The dash was shallow - close to the windshield, no seat belts, but roomy inside
The leaning tower of power was a great engine, except for replacing the points. Like working blindfolded
And always carry a spare ballast resistor!
"Homely" is kind.
It was designed by Homer Simpson.😂😂
Downright ugly would be more accurate.
Agreed😂❤
Unique 😊
I thought they were ugly when they came out. I still think they're ugly.
Homely or not I’m glad there’s folks still restoring these old jewels, and thankful you are bringing them into my living room with your vids.
One of our neighbors had one of these, Think it was a 1962 back in the early 70s, It was one of only a half a handfull I've seen in my 62 Years!
I had a used, 1962 base Dodge Dart sedan in that same rose beige as the featured Lancer GT hardtop. Believe me, Lancer was not the ugliest car that Dodge dealers had to sell in 1962. The 62 Dart had the same overall styling theme as the Lancer, but with a buck tooth grille and cockeyed head and tail lights.
Love those. Full size MOPARS of that vintage especially Dodge and Plymouth were hideous. The Valiants and Lancer/Dart were space efficient, reliable, and met the needs of that manufacturer to field a relevant “compact”.
This just popped up in my reccomended for some reason; im not a car person per se, but was immediately surprised at the title because i think this car looks incredibly cool! I'd love to own this
I dunno, I kinda like it and the Valiant of the same era! Especially with the "toilet bowl" on the back! This was also the last De Soto (not in the US).
It a sweep flight deck lid and .... Loving It!
It definitely wouldn't be my first pick, but damn I do appreciate and respect those of you who say they are beautiful and would have them.
The world would be so much less fun without them after all
Neat seeing the Aussie valiant chargers in the background of the lancer photo.
I noticed, but probably missed by most. Appeared to be at the Annual Albury Chrysler show usually held in March
My mom bought a 1961, Valient around 1962 and drove it until 1968. It had a decent ride quality for a small car, certainly better than the Corvair or Falcon. We took trips in it, cruising at 70 mph for hours, getting 21 mpg with the standard slant-six and three speed manual trany. t also handled quite well by the standards of US made cars of that time, which isn't saying much. Most of that was just its light weight and quick manual steering, compared to the road hogs which were the normal vehicle then. We never had any major failures or repair expenses. As a college student, I would have been glad to have it, but she traded it in on a new Buick Skylark 2-door in 1968. She ran the Buick for nearly 40 years until, in an aging state, she missed her brake pedal and ran it literally though the wall of the local police station while trying to park in front. We fixed it and sold it to some local hot rod guy through the repair shop, replacing it with a Toyota Corolla LX, the best car she ever owned.
I believe it was in Junior High, that a buddy and I bought a '61 together... He kept it at his house... And the two of us would drive the neighborhood, alternating turns in the drivers seat... Of course, we were only 14 or 15 years old, with no drivers license 😂 😆 😎 🤗 ... He kept the car... It was only $60- total cost... So, $30- each, to make us feel great !!! Was well worth it !!! Ha ha ha !!! The good old days !!!
A teacher in my elementary school had one of these.
It had a large v8 swapped into it.
It got your attention:-))
I find now that the uglier they are the more I like them. 😄😄