Help with card ID (1960s British?)

[Colorspace]

First post here.. Hello AACA!

 

Hoping this group of experts can help me out a bit. My grandmother recently passed away and I have been scanning her old photos... came across this one of a friend of hers. Photo was taken either in Spain or Chile, probably in the mid to early 60s. Trying to identify this car. I recall seeing these in my youth and recall them being a British badge - Austin, Morris? But I could be wrong.

 

You might be able to see it in the photo I am able to upload but the small badge in front of the door looks like, as best as I can make out, "V206" or maybe "V20G"... this hasn't helped me identify the car, but maybe it rings a bell here.

 

Thanks in advance to any and all good samaritans that take a stab at this.

[Bloo]

I think its a 1962 Plymouth Valiant V-200.

Edited January 16, 2019 by Bloo (see edit history)

[Colorspace]

4 minutes ago, Bloo said:

I think its a 1962 Plymouth Valiant V-200.

 

I knew I came to the right place! Seems to be dead on, good call. I think I was thrown by how cramped this man looks... made the car look British 🙂 He must have been a big man.

 

Thanks,

P

[Bloo]

That might not be 100% accurate, I can't really see enough of the car to tell. I know I have seen side trim like that on a USA (Plymouth) model, but the only pics I can find like that are 1962 Australian Chrysler Valiants. Any Valiant made from 1960-1962 would have had that roofline.

 

Edit: It's a 1961 Plymouth Valiant V-200 if it is the USA model. If it's Aussie or built somewhere else, all bets are off...

 

Edited January 16, 2019 by Bloo (see edit history)

[Colorspace]

It think your right. Definitely not Aussie - since its a leftie wheel on my photo. All the ones that I was able to find with the "v200" trim/badge on the door were also from 1961. Which makes it really cool since it would have also had the "toilet seat" trunk which was really cool and distinctive!

 

Thanks again for resetting my brain.... from the original photo I posted I would have kept looking for some hatchbackish 1960s british car.

 

PS - I found that these were also made in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil with slightly different badging, but starting in 1963.... none of the photos I found for those matched my photo. Most like a made in the USA car.  Regardless of where they were made, apparently a very reliable and durable car all around.

 

P

 

 

Edited January 16, 2019 by Colorspace (see edit history)

[54vicky]

while generally reliable they were not a thing of beauty I think they were designed after a bouts of acid dropping.

[zipdang]

2 hours ago, 54vicky said:

while generally reliable they were not a thing of beauty I think they were designed after a bouts of acid dropping.

Gotta disagree with you here! I've always loved these cars. That may be because they are a model I can actually identify!

[jeff_a]

Some people call the rear deck treatment the "donut holder trunk".  I agree with 54vicky that it's not a beautiful design, compared to others of the time. Not as bland as a 1962 Chevrolet Impala or a 1960 Ford Falcon, but not as beautiful as Exner's 1956 Chrysler New Yorker or 1963 Mercer concept. In my opinion -- the lines of the fenders come out great in this sports car revival project, but in the Plymouth are just odd-looking tone-downs from the silly 50s tail fins. I'd really go for the car below{AC Cobra chassis/engine, Italian coachwork, copper accents, what's not to like?}. Last time it changed hands, it was in the $600,000 ballpark, so I'm out. I did build a model of it when I was a kid.

 

1963 design concept produced as the one-off 1965 Mercer Cobra:

          

Edited January 18, 2019 by jeff_a (see edit history)

[hchris]

12 hours ago, Bloo said:

That might not be 100% accurate, I can't really see enough of the car to tell. I know I have seen side trim like that on a USA (Plymouth) model, but the only pics I can find like that are 1962 Australian Chrysler Valiants. Any Valiant made from 1960-1962 would have had that roofline.

 

Edit: It's a 1961 Plymouth Valiant V-200 if it is the USA model. If it's Aussie or built somewhere else, all bets are off...

 

 

 

 

 

Have a look at some of the Australian Chrysler websites: built by Chrysler down here, they sold very well. 

 

Unlike the US product where this body style was marketed for both Plymouth and Dodge variants, downunder they were only sold as Chrysler Valiant.   

[Bloo]

Interestingly when I was looking for pictures, initially all the ones I could find with the round emblem on the body line were Australian Chrysler Valiants, listed by series rather than year.

 

One of those Australian cars said it was a 1962, had grille like a USA 1960 model, and the round side emblem (as in 1961 USA), and the "cats eye" taillights used on 1960-61 USA Valiants. (1962 USA Valiants had round taillights down lower, and a different grille).

 

The Dodge version up here in the USA was called a "Lancer", and had a completely different looking front end, and round taillights up in the fins. The side trim was different too, and Colorspace's picture confirms it is not one of those.

 

Another couple of interesting facts. "Valiant" was it's own marque (not Plymouth) in the USA in 1960 (only). Also there was a DeSoto variant in South Africa!

Edited January 17, 2019 by Bloo (see edit history)

[Guest]

One of my aunts had a Valiant like this back in the mid 60's. It was only a couple of years old but I remember thinking then, even as a kid, that it looked horribly dated. And while the Chevy II and Falcon were reasonably plain counterparts to the Valiant, at least they didn't have these atavistic wings, angles and lines that had fallen out of favor by the early 60's.

[JACK M]

Any Mopar with a slant six in it will last you forever.

So forget the 'dated' thing.

[Bud Tierney]

Wherever they were built, they were what were then considered "compact" cars, models smaller than "standard" size models. so while the man in the pic looks substantial he needn'tv'e been outstandingly large...

Had one of these...sweet little cars; liked the vaguely Buck Rogerish styling...there were much worse examples in those days of Freudian "bumper guards" and tail fins...