HEY CHARGER!

You like a good two-sets-down comeback yarn? How about the Valiant Charger? I mean, has there been an Aussie car that has experienced such a stratospheric rise from some kind of obscurity to absolute collectability?

Sure, all chrome-bumper Aussies have experienced a big jolt in price and collectability lately. But not all of them started as promisingly as the Charger before taking the big dive. And even before the effects of Covid and the collapse of local

 Bathurst-trophy hunting and conjures up the Pacer in the late 60s. But even from there, it’s one helluva leap to arrive at a shortened VH Valiant sedan with two less doors, six inches out of the wheelbase and more than 13 inches lopped from the overall length. Then, throw in the engine hardware which, for the Bathurst versions, involved sending a whole car to Weber in Italy so the engineers there could fine-tune the triple side-drafts, and it’s pretty clear that