Junkyard Find: 1961 Plymouth Valiant
A few months ago, we saw this Lebowski-grade ’75 Gran Torino in a Denver wrecking yard, and an early Chrysler A body could be seen in the background. Here’s that car!
This car is a bit rusty and it’s a not-so-desirable four-door, so it’s a good thing that some Valiant (or Dart) owner has rescued most of the interior. It would be a shame to have useful 52-year-old parts go to The Crusher.
It’s possible that this is a ’60, but (as far as I know) the differences between the ’60 and the ’61 are mostly in the grille, which is missing. The junkyard thinks this is a ’62.
Still enough Slant Six es left in the world that you see them frequently in junkyards.
Chrysler needs to bring back the “toilet seat” trunklid!
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Hagerty and The Truth About Cars.
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What do you mean the grille is missing? It's just inside... that's not a valiant, it's a 96 Town & Country. Actually, a few blocks from my house lives a street parked Valiant in "original survivor" condition. White / blue interior. I walked by the house yesterday and it was gone! In its place sat a '50s buick under a car cover! Imagine my dismay! But, thankfully, as I drew closer I saw that the Valiant had merely been moved into the driveway and covered. Phewh!
It's a '60 for sure. Aluminum intake manifold gives a strong suggestion (it was cast iron starting in '61), though that could have been swapped with or without the engine. What could not easily have been swapped was the alternator bracket location: driver/manifold side in '60, moved to the passenger side starting in '61 -- a move that took a fairly substantial modification to the inner fender and other sheetmetal in the vicinity as well as the wiring. Another "it's a '60" clue is the full-width chrome trim at the dashboard crease. There are more, but a girl's gotta keep some secrets!