Prince Valiant

On October 29,1959, Chrysler Corporation entered the compact car sweepstakes with Valiant, intended as a corporate competitor to Ford's Falcon and Chevy's Corvair. The Big Three automakers thus served notice that American Motors and Studebaker would not have this new market segment to themselves.

In contrast to the rather bland styling of Falcon and Corvair, and AMC and Studebaker's use of old tooling, Chrysler offered a distinctive car styled by Virgil Exner, reminiscent of his 1950s Ghia-built d'Elegance in both front and rear aspects. Powered by the new slant six engine, Valiant used Chrysler's hallmark pushbutton control transmission or, if a manual gearbox was fitted, a nifty floor shift. An industry first was the use of an alternator for better low-speed charging of the battery. In addition to the four-door sedan, a four-door wagon was offered. Bodies, as nearly all 1960 Mopars, were unitary and dipped for rust protection.

For 1961, Valiant got a new grille and a Plymouth badge - the car had been just "Valiant," though sold by Plymouth dealers. 1961 also brought a smart two-door hardtop. Sales, though, were less than half of Falcon's and somewhat behind Corvair. With the addition of intermediate-size cars by Ford and Chevy in 1962, Valiant fell even farther behind. When Exner styling was replaced for 1963 with the rectangular runes of Elwood Engel, however, sales improved, more so in 1964 and '65, by which time the distinctive "fishbowl-tail" Barracuda had been added as Plymouth's ponycar contender.

The 'Cuda took on a personality of its own in 1967, by which time a convertible and notchback hardtop coupe had joined the catalog. By 1969, Barracuda was a muscle car, available with engines as large as 383 cubic inches (from 1970, a 440 was available). The turning point in Valiant's life, though was the introduction of the semi-fastback Duster coupe in 1970, which promptly captured 80 percent of production. The Duster remained the best-selling Valiant nearly to the end of production in 1976, when it was succeeded by the fairly forgetable Volare. Valiant had spawned an Australian offshoot, powered by the small block 273-cubic-inch V8, which had become a US option in 1964. Dodge dealers, too, wanted a Valiant, so a Lancer version was spun off for them in 1961 and '62.

The homogenized post-1962 Valiants sold better than the early Exner-designed models, proving, perhaps, that blander is better. For a distinctive collector car, though, you could be well served by a 1960-62 Valiant, if you can find one.

The 1960 Valiant that tops this page is in the eclectic Virtual Salvage section of Sunman Classic Ford Supply in Seminole, Oklahoma. If you need a project car or parts, of FoMoCo or other make, contact them or check their inventory on line.

Beaulieu's Fortieth

Autojumble, that is. Inspired by Hershey but not a clone of it, Autojumble was conceived and christened by Michael Ware, now the retired director of Britain's National Motor Museum, in 1967. Held on the grounds of the Museum at Beaulieu, Hampshire, Autojumble opens for a weekend each September. This year's event was the fortieth.

Smaller in size than Hershey, Autojumble offers convenient food and drink and amenities like free storage for one's purchases and delivery of them to your car at the end of the day. The majority of Autojumble wares are parts, like engines, lenses, even a radiator for your Fournier cyclecar. There's a section devoted to motorcycles, and plenty of accessories like lighting and picnic accoutrements. There are plentious cars, too, both life size (e.g. Bristol 401, Delage, and Stanley Steamer) and miniature (Chrysler Thunderbolt, Morgan trike, Bugatti and friends, even a few Tonkas).

There's a section called Automart, near the Museum building. Roughly analagous to Hershey's Car Corral, it was offering such delicacies as a rare Healey Sportsmobile, a delectable James Young fabric bodied Sunbeam, a Lanchester 14, and a newly-discovered Scimitar SSI. This caravan (camper) is a one-off, built in 1947 by aeronautical engineer William Leach, and a barn-fresh Morris Minor was a big hit. The Lada Niva was a Russian-built Fiat. If you couldn't afford an SS100 Jaguar, you could build a reasonable replica.

A Bonhams auction has become a regular fixture of the weekend. Auctioneer James Knight coaxed winning bids for such treasures as a Renault Vivasix landaulette (£5,500) and an "Adenauer" Mercedes 300d (£7,000). A 1966 Humber Hawk went to the top estimate (£600) while a somewhat poorer sister car set a new Bonhams record at just £10. A rare Triang Rolls-Royce pedal car (£2,200)had belonged to the Lines family, owners of Triang, and a life-sized flying lady sent its new owner into ecstacy (£1,600). My favorite was a nicely restored 1933 BSA 10 hp saloon, which went for just £5,000. All prices are exclusive of the 15 percent buyer's premium.

In recent times, Beaulieu Autojumble has staged a special event just outside the Autojumble area. This year, custom car impressario Andy Saunders and crew worked flat out through the weekend to create the world's lowest car. Starting from a Fiat 126, by 5 PM Sunday they had chopped, sectioned and channeled it, creating a car just 22 inches high and named, appropriately, Flat Out.

On Saturday, the organizers honored their long-time Autojumble vendors. Elder statesman among them was Cornish Calcott collector Ernie Warmington, first to enter the 1967 event and a vendor every year since 1969. Ernie will be back for the fortieth anniversary Autojumble, to be held 8-9 September 2007. You should go, too.

Hark, the Herald

Not long after Jill and I were married, it became apparent she should have a car of her own. I usually drove the Rover, and while we also had a Chevy pickup she preferred something smaller, a car that could "turn on a sixpence," like a Triumph Herald.

The Herald had been introduced by Standard-Triumph in 1959 to replace the Standard Ten (which had been sold under the Triumph name in the United States). While the Ten had a unitary body, the Herald was given a cruciform chassis in order to simplify the sourcing of body panels from outside suppliers. It used a version of the Ten's engine, and came in four body styles, sedan, convertible, coupe and estate wagon. The estate version came later, in 1961. Only the sedan and convertible were regularly sold in the United States.

As it happened, we found a 1966 Herald convertible not far from home, at a modest price (from which the seller was happy to bargain). Jill quickly cleaned it up and enjoyed it, particularly in summer months. Our son Nick was fascinated with it, always eager to help me work on it. It could indeed turn on a sixpence, or a dime - much more nimble than our neighbor's Cadillac, if a bit intimidated by eighteen-wheelers.

Mechanically it was very similar to the Triumph Spitfire - in fact the Spitfire was derived from the Herald, not vice versa. In order to tighten up the steering, I was able to buy a Spitfire steering rack from a junkyard and bolt it right in.

The chassis frame that was the Herald's virtue was also its fault. Made of light gauge, box-section steel, it was prone to rust. After about four years I began to run out of places to weld reinforcements on the frame. We sold it for a modest profit, and I'm sure the next owner, if he could weld, had fun, too.

Triumph's greatest triumphs in the US were sports cars; the sedans and estate cars never seemed to catch on. Triumph sedans were popular in Britain until the late 1970s, but the day of the British sedan in the US had already passed.

She Got a Nose Job

And a tail tuck. Studebaker introduced the 1959 Lark, its first "compact" model, as THE NEW DIMENSION IN MOTORING. Inspired by American Motors' success in reviving the 1955 Rambler as the Rambler American, Studebaker sought to crib a maneuver from AMC's playbook. But Studebaker had to do more than dust off old dies, since all previous Studies were considerably more than "compact." Anticipating the 1962 hit song "She Got a Nose Job" (recorded by Jeanne Hayes, Mike Russo and the Dellwoods for Big Top Records), Studebaker took the old sedan tub, developed for 1953, and gave it a nose- and tail job, then added the panoramic windshield greenhouse first seen in 1955.

It was pretty effective. Although the wheelbase shrank by just eight inches, overall length of sedans and wagons was lopped by a whopping 25 inches. To my eyes, the amputation improved the proportions of the car markedly. Particularly attractive was the hardtop coupe, as was the convertible, Studie's first since 1952, introduced the next year. Metal stamping economies were apparent inside, too: the Lark's instrument panel used the tooling developed for 1956. For 1962 and '63 the Lark gained a Mercedes-inspired grille, perhaps influenced by Studebaker's US distribution arrangement for the German automaker. For '64 there was another nose job, and another new tail treatment and roof line.

By 1965, every American automaker needed a vinyl roof and bucket seats, and Studebaker wouldn't be left behind. By that time, though, production had long since moved to Canada. Studebaker's engine foundry had remained in Indiana, so Chevrolet powerplants were purchased. Oddly, the 1965 brochure used an outdated illustration for Studebaker's own V8 (calling it "brand new Thunderbolt V8 engine (283 cu. in. displacement...) instead of the small block Chevy actually in the car.

It wasn't enough. Although Studebaker's sales, which had languished around 13th place in the mid 1950s, surged to tenth for 1959, the introduction of compact cars, the Ford Falcon, Chevrolet Corvair and Chrysler Corporation's Valiant, by the Big Three for 1960, sent Stude's sales skidding again. The last Studebaker, a 1966 Cruiser four-door sedan, was built on March 16, 1966. It had been a long road, in the end a dead-end street, but Studebaker had certainly got its money out of those 1953 body dies.