Valiant Charger

Chrysler Australia's own Charger

The Valiant Charger is a two-door coupe that Chrysler Australia built in Adelaide from 1971 to 1978, on a shortened version of its Valiant sedan. It ran through four series, the VH, VJ, VK and CL, and its fame rests on a memorable 1971 launch campaign and on the R/T models, whose triple-carburetor Hemi six reached 302 hp in the 1972 E49.

It is not an Australian-built Dodge Charger. The two share a name, a corporate parent and some styling inspiration, but the Valiant Charger is a smaller car on a different platform, and in its best-known form it has a six-cylinder engine. About 32,000 were built across the four series.

Charger series at a glance

Sources differ by a month or more on the VJ, VK and CL release dates, and on whether the last car was built in June or August 1978.

The Hey Charger launch

The Charger was not part of the original VH Valiant plan. Managing director David Brown found about A$2 million in the program budget for a coupe, and US designer Bob Hubbach began styling it in January 1970, partly inspired by the 1968 Dodge Charger, which also supplied the name. Cutting the wheelbase from the sedan's 111 inches to 105 inches gave it a chunky, wide stance and took about 300 lb out of the car.

It went on sale in August 1971 from A$2,795, and the top 770 was aimed squarely at Holden's luxury HQ Monaro LS coupe. The TV campaign showed people flashing a V sign and calling out "Hey, Charger!" as one drove past, and Australians copied it on the street. Within its first year the Charger accounted for about half of all Valiant sales, and it took the country's best-known car of the year award for 1971. Chrysler sold just under 18,000 VH Chargers in about 18 months.

The Hemi six

The Charger's signature engine was Chrysler Australia's own inline six, sold as the Hemi. It arrived as a 245 cu in (4.0 liter) in the 1970 VG Valiant, and 215 and 265 cu in versions followed in 1971. The name was a stretch, since the non-crossflow head has only semi-hemispherical combustion chambers, but the engine was strong, with seven main bearings, a bigger bore and shorter stroke than the Slant Six it replaced, and 265 pistons shared with the 318 V8.

Design began at Chrysler's Highland Park engineering center in the US before final responsibility passed to Australian engineers, who developed the high-performance versions. The engine was never used outside Chrysler's Australian range, which matters for parts today.

R/T, E38 and E49

The R/T was the Charger built to race, with loud graphics and the hottest engines. Chrysler worked with Weber in Italy on a triple-carburetor intake for the 265, using three 45 mm DCOE sidedraft carburetors, and called it the Six Pack. Ratings below are the gross figures of the period.

The E49 arrived in June 1972 with a 10.0:1 compression ratio and, at last, a Borg Warner four-speed. Period road tests recorded 0 to 60 mph in about 6.1 seconds and a quarter mile of 14.4 to 14.5 seconds, the quickest acceleration of any Australian production car of its day. Estimates of E49 production run from about 150 to 200 cars, and a privately entered E49 finished third outright at Bathurst in 1972.

The Supercar Scare of June 1972 had already doomed the program. Chrysler dropped the R/T and its competition effort when the VJ arrived in 1973, and the V8s it had imported for a faster Charger went into 125 VH Charger 770 SEs and then into VJ Charger 770s as the E55 option, as detuned 340 cu in V8s with an automatic. The scare is covered in our guide to Australian muscle cars.

VJ, VK and CL

The VJ of 1973 got round headlights, a new grille and electronic ignition but lost the R/T, and Chrysler built 10,509 VJ Chargers. The 360 cu in V8 became an option on the 770 from 1974, and the red-and-white Sportsman limited edition followed (sources give 399 or 500 cars). The VK of late 1975 dropped the base model and added the 200-car White Knight edition.

The CL of late 1976 brought a new nose with twin headlight pods, and the 770 was the only Charger sold to private buyers, with the XL kept for police use. The final Drifter edition came in June 1978, shortly before production ended, and Mitsubishi had taken over Chrysler's Australian business by 1980.

The earlier Valiant hardtops

Before the Charger, Chrysler Australia's two-door was a full-size hardtop. The VF hardtop of September 1969 combined the Australian Valiant front end with the rear body of the US fourth-generation Dodge Dart, on the Dart's 111-inch wheelbase, and the 1970 VG hardtop kept that body as the range gained the new Hemi six.

For the VH series, Chrysler released a new hardtop in November 1971 with all-Australian panels on a 115-inch wheelbase, sold as a Valiant and as the luxury Chrysler by Chrysler. The two shared their doors. Sales were small next to the coupe, with fewer than 2,000 VH and VJ Valiant hardtops built, including 1,067 VJs, plus 480 Chrysler by Chrysler hardtops.

How it differs from the Dodge Charger

The American Charger of the same years is a bigger car with engines up to a 440 V8, while the Australian car is a smaller coupe best known with a six.

Buying and importing one in the US

Clones and look-alikes are the first risk. In February 2022, a 1973 Charger wearing R/T badges sold at a US online auction for $22,000, but it was not a real R/T, and its original 215 six had been replaced with a 318 V8 and automatic. Check that the build plate and the numbers stamped into the body agree, confirm the engine and gearbox for the version being sold, and have a Charger expert or owners' club inspect any R/T, E38 or E49 before you pay.

• Build plate, body numbers and engine codes that agree
• R/T hardware that matches the claimed version, not just badges and stripes
• The original engine, or records of what was swapped and when
• Rust and past body repairs, checked with the car on a lift
• Hemi six engine parts, which come from Australia since no US car used the engine

Every Charger is now well past 25 years old, so federal law allows it in without meeting US safety standards. U.S. Customs and Border Protection lists the HS-7 and EPA 3520-1 paperwork on its importing a motor vehicle (opens in a new tab) page. On duty, passenger cars carry a 2.5 percent base duty, and since July 24, 2026, products of Australia also carry an extra 12.5 percent Section 301 duty that cars 25 or more years old do not appear to be exempt from, so budget for about 15 percent in total and confirm the current figure with a licensed customs broker before you buy. The emissions exemption for cars at least 21 years old applies in original configuration, and the EPA's vehicle import guidance (opens in a new tab) requires a replacement engine of the same model as the original, or one with its emissions equipment from a US-certified vehicle no older than the car, so a V8 swap like the one above can cause trouble at the port. Check your state's registration rules before you ship. On the Australian side, a significant Australian-made car at least 30 years old that is not represented in at least two public collections there by a car of equivalent quality can need an export permit, and an R/T, E38 or E49 is the kind of Charger most likely to qualify. A car with a notable racing or ownership history can also need a permit. The exporter must check, permits can be refused, and exporting without one can lead to seizure, so ask Australia's Office for the Arts before you pay.

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