Charger Specifications


The Valiant Charger was introduced in August 1971. The BIG THREE (Ford, GMH and Chrysler were making big and fast cars, but none of them had such a radical design as the the Chrysler Valiant Charger. A two-door coupe that gave V8 performance from a straight 6 power plant. The design and manufacture of the first Charger (the VH model) remained solely in the hands of Australians, with it being the only fully Australian Chrysler automobile. The all steel unitary chassis weighed around 1400 kg and was 4570 mm long, 1880 mm wide and 1370 mm high. For the decade that the Valiant Charger was produced, only 31,857 Charger Coupes were produced.

Suspension was provided by independent torsion bars, upper and lower control arms and antiroll bar at the front, and the rear by semi-elliptic leaf springs, and a Hotchkiss type live axle. Brakes were generally 11 inch fully ventilated discs at the front (power assistance optional in the VH, and became standard later) and rear 9 inch drums (the VH model had finned drums for extra heat loss).

The main item of the Chargers that make them so desirable is the engines. The Hemi six cylinders (215, 245, and 265 (Standard, E37 (to become the E48), E38 and E49) were conventional four-stroke reciprocating pistions engines. They were front mounted, longitudinal in-line with a hemispherical combustion chamber, OHV (overhead valve), with pushrod operated rocker arms and hydraulic lifters. The R/T engines the E37(E48), E38, and E49 had shot peened con rods and valve springs and surge dampeners fitted. The V8's (318, 340 (E55) and 360) again were conventional four-stroke reciprocating piston engines that were front-mounted and longitudinal with an OHV.

The VH Charger is easily noted by it unique front grill of horizontal aluminium bars with a centre ornament. It had rectangular headlights and front quarter windows. Indeed much of the remodelling of the Chargers centred around the front panels, keeping essentially the rear of the vehicle the same. The VJ model had a grill with seven upright bars forming eight rectangles and revamped rear lights, and had indicator surrounds that were the same colour as the body. The front grill of the VK had the vertical bars whitened, and the indicator surrounds became chrome-plated. The last of the Chargers, the CL model had twin circular headlights in a honeycomb grill with a dividing vertical bar.

Valiant Charger VH

The VH Charger was introduced in August 1971. The Charger R/T E49 in June 1972, and Charger E55 340 in October 1972. The lineup in the beginning included the Charger, Charger XL, R/T Charger, and the luxury 770 Charger. Due to the uproar over "Supercar" which were dubbed "bullets on wheels", the VH model also saw the demise of the R/T Charger and their souped up engines.

VH Charger R/T E38

Hemi 265 linked to a 3 speed manual with a top speed of 203 km/hr
0-100 km/hr in 6.4 secs
Standing 400 m in 15.0 secs

VH Charger E49

Hemi 265 linked to a 4 speed manual with a top speed of 216 km/hr
0-100 km/hr in 6.1 secs
Standing 400 m in 14.1 secs
(Australia's fastest production car)

Valiant Charger VJ

The Valiant Charger VH was introduced in March, 1973 and included in its line-up the Charger, Charger Xl, Charger 770, and the Limited Edition Charger Sportsman.

VJ Charger XL

Hemi 265 linked to a four speed manual with a top speed of 176 km/hr
0-100 km/hr 9.6 sec
Standing 400 m 17.5 secs

Valiant Charger VK

The Valiant Charger VK was introduced in October 1975 and the lineup was reduced to the Charger XL and Charger 770
The 360 V8 was introduced with the VK model.

VK Charger XL

Hemi 265 linked to a three speed automatic with a top speed of 179 km/hr
0-100km/hr in 10.9 secs
Standing 400m  in 17.9 secs

Valiant Charger CL

The Valiant Charger CL was introduced in October 1976 and only the Charger 770, and a Limited Edition Charger Drifter were offered to the public. The Hemi 215 was discontinued, and due to stricter emission laws, all engines suffered a drop in power and torque. Chrysler Corporation only released figures for the Hemi 265 of 109 kW @4800 rpms and 288 Nm @ 3000 rpms. However, this drop was not as great as the drop suffered by Ford and GMH.

Engines

Engine

 Hemi 215 Hemi 245 Hemi 265
(Standard)		 Hemi 265
(E37 or E48)		 Hemi 265
(E38)		 Hemi 265
(E49)
Carburettor Single barrel Single barrel Double barrel Triple Weber 45-DCOE Triple Weber 45-DCOE Triple Weber 45-DCOE
Power(kW)@rpms 105@4400 124@4400 162@4800 186@4800 210@5000 226@5600
Torque(Nm)@rpms 270@1800 317@3000 354@3000 413@3400 431@3700 433@4100
Compression 8:1 9.5:1 9.5:1 9.7:1 10.0:1 10.0:1

Engine

 318 V8 340 V8 (E55) 360 V8
Carburettor Double barrel Quad barrel Carter quad barrel
Power (kW) @ rpms 173@4800 206@5000 191@4400
Torque (Nm) @ rpms 459@2400 459@3200 486@2400
Compression 9.2:1 10.5:1 8.8:1