1974 Chrysler Valiant Regal

Here is your chance to own probably the rarest and most unique Mopar here in the United States. I always wanted a right hand drive Mopar and I made that dream cone true. This is an Australian bodied car that was assembled and sold in South Africa, and was never offered for sale here in the states. While the Aussie cars were offered with the Hemi six, and V8 options, the South African cars were only available with the slant six engine, which this car was equipped with when I purchased it. The car has the Formula S package which gives it the 2 barrel induction, or Super six here in the states.

I purchased the car from the second owner in a little town just outside of Johannesburg South Africa. The gentleman had owned the car since the early 80's and really took great care of the car. Most of these cars were used as Taxis, and were just run in to the ground. This one was not. It took me 6 months of searching and having cars inspected before I found this clean and original example. I then went thru all of the hassle of getting the car thru inspection in SA and finally in a container back in early 2015.

Once the car arrived here back in May 2015, I went to Long Beach CA and picked it up myself. Brought it back to Phoenix and began looking it over. The original slant six was definitely needing some attention. It had a pretty rough idle and was only hitting on 5 of the 6 cylinders. After running a compression test, it was obvious that the cylinder head would need to come off and be serviced. At that point I had to make a decision. Stick with the anemic slant, or throw some real power in? Being I have done a few EFI Magnum engine swaps in the past, I knew that's the route I needed to go. I wanted to make the car very dependable, and something I could hop in and drive across the country if I was so inclined to do so. This is where the fun began.

I sourced a 360 magnum engine with low miles out of a 2000 durango, and the engine harness. Tim over at Tim's Garage in Tempe, Az took the original engine harness and made it a stand alone type, deleting all of the unnecessary wiring, and adding in the needed relays and such. Before the engine was installed it received several upgrades to go along with the intercooled turbo set-up.

Engine Quest Cylinder Heads
ARP Head Studs
Felpro Performance Head Gaskets
Comp Cams 1.5 Ratio Roller Rockers
Hughes Performance Roller Cam
Hughes Performance Timing Chain
Hughes Performance Air Gap Intake
Edelbrock Air Hat
92mm Throttle Body

The car runs like a scalded dog. According to my tuner Ryan Hogan With Flyin Ryan Performance, who has tuned several other turbo magnum setups, the car is making about 500 to 525 horsepower at the wheel.

The turbo kit was custom built using the factory durango exhaust manifolds, and includes the following.

VS Racing 78/75 T4 Turbo
Godspeed Wastegate
HKS Blow Off Valve
Custom Built Y Pipe
3" Downpipe
3" Jones High Flow Muffler
Full 3" Exhaust
Currently Running 10 psi Spring

The car has two fuel tanks. There is a safari tank that is mounted in the trunk which holds about 16 gallons. That tank feeds in o the original fuel tank that is located under the car, and that one holds 22 gallons. I have driven the car to and from Vegas, and only had to fill it one time. Fuel system is comprised of the following.

Walbro 255 Performance Fuel Pump
Aeromotive Fuel Filter
Aeromotive Fuel Pressure Regulator
Ford Motorsports 58lb Fuel Injector

Custom tuned using the factory PCM and SCT.
The rest of the drive train also received upgrades.

Built 727 Automatic Transmission
Lokar Kick Down Cable
Mopar Performance Deep Pan
B&M Transmission Cooler
Ford 8.8 Rear Diff
New Ford Motorsports Posi
All New Bearings and Seals
2.73 Gear

Since having the driveshaft shortened I have had a vibration in the driveline. I am almost positive it's the driveshaft.

The suspension and brakes also received some upgrades as well.

Polyurethane Upper A Arm Bushings
Super Stock Rear Leaf Springs
Add Addco Rear Sway Bar
73+ Front Discs All New
Explorer Rear Discs All New
Mopar Master Cylinder
Mopar Adjustable Push Rod
Mopar 2 Bolt Conversion Plate
17x8 Wheels

The cooling system was also upgraded with the following.

Triple Pass Aluminum Radiator
Derale Dual Fans 3750 Cfm
Adjustable Fan Controller
Stainless Steel Overflow Bottle
Car runs cool even on 110 degree days.

During the build process I decided I needed to add A/C and went with Vintage Airs retro under dash unit. I wanted to keep the interior looking as original as possible. Speaking of the interior. It is probably the most original and almost perfect interior you will find in a 47 year old car. The dash is in excellent condition, the headliner is perfect, the seats are perfect, the door panels are almost perfect, I mean it's like a time capsule. The only thing really showing any wear is the carpet, but even that is in excellent condition. I added an auto meter tachometer to the steering column, and swapped out the steering wheel for an E body Mopar wheel. The original wheel is included with the sale. I also had Tim at Tim's Garage add two gauges that are hidden inside the Ash tray. A coolant temp gauge and an oil pressure gauge. The original radio is still in the dash and operates, most of the time. Overall I give the interior a 9 out of 10.