1968 Plymouth Valiant Hardtop

　　Failure is a beautiful thing. As crazy as that sounds, history

　　doesn't lie. A curious pharmacist whipped up Coke as a cure for

　　headaches, a Kodak engineer accidentally invented superglue while

　　designing a plastic gun sight lens, and Play-Doh was originally

　　marketed as a cleaning paste. Granted no one aspires to suck, but

　　sometimes failure can lead to greatness. ( Thx to Steven

　　Kim-Motortrend)

　　The consignor of this menacing 1968 Valiant set out to make a

　　muscle car from a go to church on weekends car your grandmother

　　would drive and turn it into a muscle car of his dreams. Well he

　　failed because this A body small car turned out to get way out of

　　hand and thankfully for you, the potential buyer, it becomes the

　　nicest build way overdone and totally radical machine here for the

　　taking. Failure is good!

　　Exterior

　　Totally straight deep end of the pool painted steel panels are

　　minding their gaps to the minutia, and the car has a nice peppering

　　of chrome trimmings to accent the lines. The split front grille is

　　perfectly aligned egg crate shaped chrome, sports the driver's side

　　Plymouth badge, and has a headlight on either corner of the grille.

　　The lower bumper has been blackened, the hood has been pinned and a

　　large 6-Pak style scoop resides in the center. The front quarters,

　　doors and rear quarters are just perfection with no rust and more

　　of the miles deep black paint expertly applied. Chrome is on for

　　the door handles and window trimmings and is simply perfect as to

　　its condition. The side view mirrors are the same, and as we move

　　to the trunk below the clear rear glass, it too is presenting with

　　nary a mark on it. A slightly fanned out trio of light tail lights

　　are on each back corner and a PLYMOUTH badge screams at you from

　　the trunk lid turndown. Below, a black bumper is as shiny as the

　　bodywork, and just below large black tailpipes peer out from under

　　the bumper. Simple, beautiful and just the nicest example of a hot

　　rod Valiant in our Hallowed Halls and possibly in the states.

　　Grounding the car is a set of 15-inch American Racing polished

　　wheels with skinny 165R15's in front and 245/60R15's on back giving

　　the car a tasteful rake from the side view. Oh and yes you can go

　　to church in this radical ride and get there on time even if you

　　leave 10 minutes late!

　　Interior

　　You will continue to be impressed with a swing of the door with

　　steel black painted sills and black ribbed vinyl for the door

　　panels. An actuator and cranks, as well as the armrest are

　　perfectly aligned and shiny as crazy diamonds. Inside we sit upon

　　showroom quality chairs in the form of low back buckets in front

　　and a full bench in the back. These are covered with black vinyl

　　bolsters and have fuzzy broadcloth tuck and roll inserts in a dark

　　steel black fabric. These all show little to no wear and float on a

　　sea of clean black carpeting. In the center, perched on the central

　　hump, is a B&M shifter setup, chromed and with black ball

　　topper. A wood rimmed rally steering wheel adds some warmth to an

　　otherwise cold black and white accented environment. The dash is

　　factory fare with square and rectangular white faced gauges within

　　a black vertical ribbed textured flat front panel. A large

　　aftermarket tachometer is mounted to the steering column and the

　　dash top is padded and black. This black again appears for the dash

　　front andt rest of the dash as it stretches across the the

　　passenger compartment. Temp sliders and a radio delete, as well as

　　a glovebox are installed in this area. Below the dash is a trio of

　　aftermarket gauges in a shiny chromed panel also with white faces.

　　Above a tight black vinyl headliner is covering the ceiling and a

　　working dome light is in the center. The interior is not to be

　　outdone by the exterior so they fight for attention and they get

　　it. Speaking of fighting we need to give a shout to the trunk which

　　has been restored and has the spare tire in its dead center,

　　mounted on the factory wheel.

　　Drivetrain

　　Time to cut the meat! A flip of the hood and we are in bling

　　heaven. A 440ci V8 sits in this perfectly restored engine bay and

　　within its block are all consignor-stated aluminum rods, a 540

　　solid lifter camshaft, 10.5-1 compression ratio pistons and the

　　block has been bore .030 over. There are aftermarket Edelbrock

　　aluminum heads and on top are dual Edelbrock 4 barrel carburetors.

　　In back is an A727 Torqueflite 3-speed automatic transmission that

　　has a reverse manual valve body and a 3000rpm stall converter. The

　　rear axle weighs in at 8-3/4 with 3.91 gear ratio. Headers and a

　　FlowMaster exhaust are on and again another all star presentation

　　with chromed valve coverings and air cleaner, perfectly satin cast

　　intake, and yellow wiring,supple hoses and all clean mounted and

　　buttoned up bolt ons throughout.

　　Undercarriage

　　When you get this machine you will need to also purchase a mirror

　　so you can show off the undercarriage as well! It's that good with

　　the factory unibody and floor pans, dual exhaust, independent

　　torsion bars for front suspension and leaf springs and Caltracs

　　bars for the back. Wilwood disc brakes are all around and it is a

　　beautiful presentation.

　　Drive-Ability

　　My muscle car sidekick test drove this baby and found it to be a

　　fab ride with awesome power, good handling and a smooth cruise with

　　lots of exhaust noise but still in tasteful range. There were a few

　　frowns as the factory gauges are not working, the heater blower is

　　silent and speedometer did not tick away the mph. Also, the reverse

　　lights do not illuminate.

　　Quite the Valiant build if you will with lots of time invested and

　　plenty of TLC throughout the process. Now you have a muscular go to

　　church ride that can get groceries too and all in a very hurry if

　　you want!

　　VL21A8B265543

　　V-Plymouth Valiant

　　L-Low Price Class

　　21-2 Door Sedan

　　A-170ci Ibbl I6

　　8-1968

　　B-Hamtramck, MI Assy Plant

　　265543-Sequential Unit Number

　　Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special

　　interest automobile showroom, featuring over 850 vehicles for sale

　　with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle

　　barn find collection is on display. This vehicle is located in our

　　showroom in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, conveniently located just

　　1-hour west of Philadelphia on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The

　　website is and our phone number is (888)

　　. Please contact us anytime for more information or to come

　　see the vehicle in person.