Like all project this one had to start somewhere..... I was working for a college in Sydney training tong term unemployed for placements in the hospitality industry. The training and work experience took six months, so I built up a friendship with a lot of my students.

It turned out that one of the students (Paul) and I shared a common interest in performance cars, not just any performance car, but valiants. The most underrated performance cars in Australia.

I had a passion for Valiant's R/T Charger. The R/T E49 produced 310 bhp at factory and pulled 14.26 seconds on a standing quarter mile. It was rated at the time as the fastest 6 cylinder production car in the world and australia's fastest production car. That record stood arguably for nearly 2 decades. With a few dollars and a little time it could produce up to 440 bhp. Well thats what they calculated mine produced, but thats another story.

Paul told me of a car he had in storage, unable to pay the two years back rent owing, they were going to sell the car and recover the debt owing.

Paul told me it was a valiant V8 2 door convertable and I could have the car because he knew it would go to a home where it would be loved, not just done up and sold to make money.

I eagerly drove him to where the car was stored for the past eight years. On the way he told me that it had been inside under cover for 6 years and only the last two years had it been outside in the rain and the sun (with soft top down, of course) It was outside because he owed the owner $1000 (Australian) in rent, all I had to do was pay it and it was mine.

At this point I felt it was a waste of time continuing to drive on. It was only out of politeness that I did keep going. I was sure the car was going to be rusted away and beyond any worth.

We arrived at the site, on the outskirts of Sydney. There sitting in the driveway was a dusty but otherwise near drivable car. Three of the tyres still had air in them. The only visable rust was a small bubble in the drivers windscreen pillar and in the firewall going into the planim chamber. The front drivers seat was torn where the yard dog slept and the interior was filled, litterly filled with leaves from a nearby tree. I wanted this it bad. It was a beauty.

The yard owner had it advertised for $2500 in tomorrows paper. Paul spoke to him and he agreed that if he pay what was owing he could take it away.

To cut a long story short, I paid $500 for it and had it towed home that night. The tow truck driver offered me $2000 .

And now the restoration begins.

[ Previous Two | List | Join | Random | Next Five ]
This Mopar Webring member site is owned by Craig Hallam.

This Golden Hubcap Award Recipients WebRing site is owned by Craig Hallam. [ Previous 5 Sites | Skip Previous | Previous | Next | Skip Next | Next 5 Sites | Random Site | List of Sites ]