10 Facts you may not have known about the VE Valiant
Most commonly reported issues with the VE Valiant
VE Valiant service part numbers
VE Valiant interior trim codes
The VE Valiant was introduced in October 1967. It replaced the VC Valiant. It was an all new design that was based on the American ‘Plymouth Valiant’ and the ‘Dodge Dart’. It even shared some of the same panels as the two models. None of the sheet-metal of the VC Valiant was carried over to the VE series.
Despite this, the VE Valiant featured the most Australian content of any previous Valiant. It was also larger than any previous model in both length and width and there was more interior space.
As usual upgrades and improvements were made to the equipment such as a larger fuel tank, electric windscreen wiper motors and a shorter gear lever throw on the manual gearbox.
The ‘VIP’ variant was introduced with the VE Valiant. It was brought in to compete with the Brougham of General Motors Holden and the Fairlane from Ford. It was to target the high end of the market. Although it did featured high levels of standard equipment and luxury, it never quite achieved the prestigious status is rightly deserved due to that fact that it was built on the same wheelbase as the Valiant sedan. The Brougham was also built on the same wheelbase as the Holden sedans, but this proved to be unsuccessful and was later dropped in favour of the longer wheelbased Statesman. The Ford Fairlane was built on a longer wheelbase.
The VE Ute was marketed and badged as a Dodge utility.
The Slant 6 engine was carried over and tweaked by Chrysler engineers to offer 2 Slant 6 engine options, one offering 109kW, the other 120kW. The V8 engine was also carried over and tweaked to produce more power at lower revs.
The VE Valiant also featured a number of safety upgrades such as power assisted front disc brakes on all V8’s, exterior rear view mirrors, seat belts and padded sun visors.
The VE Valiant was the first Valiant to win the prestigious Wheels Car of the Year award in 1967. It was well received by the Australian motoring public as well as the press. The Valiant continued to sell in droves and was gaining on market leaders Holden.
A total of 68,688 VE Valiants were produced before it was replaced by the VF Valiant in March 1969.
10 Facts you may not have known about the VE Valiant
Most commonly reported issues with the VE Valiant
VE Valiant service part numbers