By 1979 a 4.0-litre Valiant with Electronic Lean Burn beat a 2.0-litre Ford Cortina on fuel in Wheels magazine's economy test.
Median 90 hp across 205 similar cars
Lead trim: CL Hemi-6 245 low compression
Chrysler Valiant CL1976–1978
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Chrysler Valiant CL yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactBy 1979 a 4.0-litre Valiant with Electronic Lean Burn beat a 2.0-litre Ford Cortina on fuel in Wheels magazine's economy test.
The CL Valiant (November 1976) reused bumpers from the 1969 VF; the Regal became the Chrysler Regal (against the Valiant Regal name used from AP5 through VK). With ADR 27A the 3.5 L (215 cu in) Hemi-6 and 5.9 L (360 cu in) V8 were dropped, leaving low- and high-compression versions of the 4.0 L (245 cu in) Hemi-6 and the 5.2 L (318 cu in) V8, which introduced an Electronic Lean Burn emission-control system; transmissions were a 3-speed manual (floor or column), a 4-speed floor manual and a 3-speed Torqueflite (standard with the 318 V8, optional with a six). In 1978 Chrysler released a limited edition run of 400 Regal Le Baron models (option A17) with the 265 Hemi-6 standard and the 318 V8 optional; 36,672 CL Valiants including the last-ever Chargers were built, and the CL was the last Valiant series assembled in New Zealand, by then with only the Regal and Regal SE (replacing the 770). The CM of November 1978 was little changed in body; when Wheels performed an economy test in 1979 the ELB-equipped 4.0 L Valiant used less fuel than a 2.0 L Ford Cortina, and a Valiant achieved better than 30 miles per imperial gallon in the Total Oil Economy Run. Valiant production ended in August 1981 with 16,005 CMs out of 565,338 units of all models, and full-sized Chryslers were not marketed again in Australia until the 2005 Chrysler 300C.
Collectors Spotted in the Chrysler Valiant Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Chrysler Valiant yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
2 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL Hemi-6 245 low compression | 1976–1978 | 4.0 L | 123 hp | 178 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| CL V8 318 Electronic Lean Burn | 1976–1978 | 5.2 L V8 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
By 1979 a 4.0-litre Valiant with Electronic Lean Burn beat a 2.0-litre Ford Cortina on fuel in Wheels magazine's economy test.
New Zealand held off launching the VJ for nearly a year after Australia, a 60 percent tax on big engines having killed the market's appetite.
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The Australian-built AP5 Valiant looked American but barely was one — Chrysler's local arm redesigned nearly everything, keeping just the doors, windscreen and front guards from its US counterpart.
Australia's first-ever Valiant quietly beat the rest of the local industry to a piece of modern electronics: it was the first Australian car built with an alternator instead of a generator.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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