VALIANT EFFORTS
FROM THE COMPANY’S earliest days, Chrysler’s cars were known for the advanced engineering that set them apart from the competitive offerings of Ford and General Motors. When Highland Park executives decided to field economical compacts for the early 1960s to tussle with the small imports, Rambler, Studebaker’s Lark, and the anticipated like-sized Ford and Chevrolet, the results were unique: The Valiant and related Lancer were efficient, spacious unit-body sedans with above-average dynamic capabilities. Buyers embraced these conventional-layout compacts, and would welcome the added power they would offer in the form of the Hyper-Pak tuning kit-equipped Slant Six. The body redesigns of 1963 would be followed by 1964’s availability of a Hurst linkage-equipped A-833 four-speed manual and 273-cu.in. V-8 in the Valiant, Dart, and forthcoming Barracuda, setting the stage for
