Chrysler Valiant Pacer

Valiant Pacer at a glance

Why Chrysler Australia built the Pacer

The VF Valiant range arrived in March 1969 with two new models, the Regal 770 and the Pacer. The Pacer was a budget four-door aimed at young drivers, and its price kept it inside the A$2,251-3,100 bracket of Class C in the Bathurst 500 production car race. Engineer John Ellis later explained the thinking: "We did not have the resources to go head-to-head with Ford's Falcon GT." Ford's Falcon GT raced in a dearer class, and the Pacer aimed at the cheaper one. With 4,012 cars built, the VF Pacer accounted for 11 % of VF Valiant sales.

VF Pacer 225: the slant six with 175 bhp

The VF Pacer used the RG 225 cu in (3.7-litre) slant six with compression raised from 8.4:1 to 9.2:1, a Carter two-barrel downdraught carburettor and a dual-outlet extractor exhaust. Period sources give 130 kW (175 bhp) and describe it as the most powerful six then built in Australia. Unique Cars and Parts notes that Chrysler never published an official power figure for the Pacer.

Power went through a Borg Warner three-speed with a floor shift, reverse above first and no lock-out. First gear was 2.95:1, which made standing starts harder. The suspension was lowered by about 13 mm (0.5 in) on the torsion bars and gained a front anti-roll bar; finned drums were standard, with power front discs and a Sure-Grip differential with a 3.23:1 ratio as options.

The look was loud. Buyers chose from three colours, Wild Red, Wild Blue and Wild Yellow, with a black and red grille, imitation mag wheel covers, a waist-high stripe and "Pacer 225" decals. Inside were high-back reclining seats and a tachometer on top of the dashboard; early publicity photos show it outside the windscreen, a sign of a late change. Period testers recorded 174 km/h (108 mph), 0-100 km/h in 9.6 seconds and the standing 400 m in 17.4 seconds.

VG Hemi Pacer and the E-options

The VG Pacer of April 1970 introduced the Hemi-6, a 245 cu in (4,018 cc) six with a bore and stroke of 96 x 93 mm. With it the VG became the first Valiant with almost 100 % local content. The standard Pacer engine had a two-barrel carburettor and 138 kW (185 bhp), and two performance options sat above it.

The VG added a pillarless two-door hardtop at A$3,178 (1970), fractionally heavier than the A$2,978 (1970) sedan. Production reached 4,547: 3,385 sedans and 1,162 hardtops. Only three hardtops received the E31 package and three the E35, and none had the E34. Wheels headlined its first test "Hemi Pacer: Family Racer"; the E34 covered 400 m in 15.7 seconds and a regular Pacer reached 178 km/h (111 mph). The three-speed stayed, because Chrysler Australia's local-content policy left no local four-speed to fit.

Pacers at Bathurst, 1969 and 1970

Leo Geoghegan gave the Pacer its race debut at Catalina Park on 15 June 1969. Two Eiffeltower Pacers finished first and second in Class C of the 1969 Datsun 3-Hour at Sandown. At the 1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500 the only Pacer on the grid, driven by Graham Ryan and Mike Kable, was fourth in Class C and 18th outright.

The VG did better. At the 1970 Hardie-Ferodo 500 Geoghegan's Sporty Cars ran two-barrel Pacers in Class C: Doug Chivas and Graham Ryan finished fourth outright, one lap behind the winner, with Geoghegan and Nick Ledingham fifth. Ahead of them were two Falcon GT-HO Phase IIs and Don Holland's Torana GTR XU-1. Peter Brown and Des West brought a four-barrel Pacer home seventh outright, running in Class D.

From Pacer to Charger R/T

The VH Valiant replaced the VG in June 1971. A VH Pacer sedan continued with the 265 six, rated at 163 kW (218 bhp) and priced at A$3,235 (1972). Chrysler's performance effort moved to the shorter two-door Valiant Charger, whose R/T took over the racing programme; the old VF racer served as a development car for the VG and the Charger R/T. Holden's answer in the same years was the V8 Monaro.

Valiant Pacer today: what to check

Model codes help to confirm a car: VF-S41 for the VF Pacer sedan, VG-S41 for the VG sedan and VG-S23 for the VG hardtop. A real VF Pacer has the high-compression 225, which was not offered in other VF models, and the dashboard tachometer.

• VG hardtops: 1,162 were built, and only six had an E-option engine.
• E-option sedans: the E31 and E34 parts are specific, so a standard Hemi-6 with an added four-barrel is a different car.
• Wagons: sources differ; Unique Cars and Parts mentions two pre-production cars, Wikipedia about 20 VF Pacer wagons.
• Gearbox: every Pacer left the factory with the three-speed manual.

The Pacer is listed in the Chrysler catalogue and belongs to the Australian muscle cars, the local performance sedans and coupés built between 1967 and 1979.