1960 Plymouth Valiant Resources

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1960 Plymouth Valiant Facts – Body Paint Color Codes

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1960 Plymouth Valiant

1960 Plymouth Valiant Facts and Specifications

1960 Plymouth Valiant Facts – General Information

The Plymouth Valiant first appeared at introduction in 1959 as simply “the Valiant”. It was created to give the company an entry in the compact car market emerging in the late 1950s and became well known for its excellent durability and reliability. It was one of Chrysler’s best-selling automobiles during the 1960s and 1970s helping to keep the company solvent during  economic downturns.

History
In May 1957, Chrysler president Lester Colbert set up a committee to develop a competitor in the burgeoning compact car market which included the popular VW Beetle, the new American Motors Rambler and upcoming entries from GM, Ford, and Studebaker. The result was a car that was smaller and lighter than a full-size car Plymouth without sacrificing passenger and luggage space. The vehicle was named “Valiant” which means “having or showing courage or valor. The Valiant debuted at the 44th British International Motor Show in London on October 26, 1959.  It was introduced as a 1960 model and was initially and officially considered a distinct brand. When the 1961 model year arrived, the Valiant was classified as a Plymouth.

Design
The Valiant was less radical in configuration than General Motors’ compact Chevrolet Corvair, which had an air-cooled rear-mounted engine, but was considered more aesthetically daring than the new Falcon and Studebaker Lark compacts, which had more conventional looks. Instead, the Valiant was a more radical design that continued Exner’s “Forward Look”. The flush-sided appearance was a carried-over feature from Chrysler’s Ghia-built D’Elegance and Adventure concept cars which also gave the Valiant additional inches of interior room.  It also had design elements that tied it to other contemporary Chrysler products, such as the canted tailfins tipped with cat’s-eye shaped tail lamps and the simulated Continental spare tire pressed into the trunk.

The Valiant debuted with an all-new six-cylinder overhead-valve engine, the famous slant-six. Its cylinders were uniquely canted 30° to the right, permitting a lower hood line. The water pump was shifted from front to alongside, shortening engine length. A long-branch individual-runner intake manifold was fitted. The slant-six produced both more power and better economy than similar American made economy straight sixes, and it soon gained a reputation for dependability.  Block and head castings were unusually thick because both were intended to be cast in either iron or aluminum with the same tooling.

The 1960 Valiant exemplified Chrysler’s leadership in aluminum die casting. While the aluminum slant-six engine block did not enter production until 1961, the Kokomo, Indiana, foundry produced a number of other aluminum parts for the 1960 Valiant, all instrumental in reducing the total weight of the car. The 1960 model contained as much as 60 pounds of aluminum in structural and decorative forms, with the majority of the material used in cast form as chassis parts. These parts included the oil pump, water pump, alternator housing (the first car to have an alternator), standard production intake manifolds, an all-new Torqueflite A-904 automatic transmission case and tail extension, and numerous other small parts. These cast-aluminum parts were roughly 60% lighter than corresponding parts of cast iron.

Exterior decorative parts stamped from aluminum were lighter than similar chromium-plated zinc castings. For example, the entire grille and surrounding molding on the Valiant weighed only 3 pounds. An estimated 102 pounds – about 4% of a Valiant model’s total shipping weight – was saved with the aluminum parts.

Construction
The Valiant A-body platform used “unit-body” or “unibody” construction   rather than “body-on-frame” construction. Instead of a bolted-in fore structure used in other unibody designs, the Valiant incorporated a welded-in front understructure and stressed front sheet metal. The fenders, quarter panels, floor and roof contributed to the stiffness of the body shell. A unit wheelbase comparison showed the Valiant to be 95% stiffer in torsion and 50% stiffer in beam than a 1959 Plymouth with separate body-on-frame construction. Dynamic testing showed that high structural resonant frequencies were attained, indicating greater damping and reduced body shake.

The front suspension consisted of unequal length control arms with torsion bars, while the rear suspension used a live axle supported by leaf springs. Chrysler used this design through the entire production of the Valiant and other A-body models.

Engine Upgrades
During the 1960 model year, there were revisions to improve lubrication of the two rear connecting rods, voltage regulator function, cold starting and idling, acceleration, and to prevent breakage of the front and rear manifold mounting studs.

Performance
While Chrysler engineers developed the Hyper-Pak performance option for the track, the Hyper-Pak dealer tuning kit was made available in limited quantities on beginning December 1, 1959. Features included a 148 HP 170 CID slant six with 153 foot-pounds of torque, a 10.5:1 compression ratio, dual exhaust pipes on a single muffler, a manual choke and a larger 15 gallon fuel tank.  The Hyper-Pak replace the standard carburetor with a single four-barrel and ram manifold.” The race Hyper-Pak cars also featured high-load valve springs and long-duration, high-lift camshaft that could be ordered separately.

1960 Plymouth Valiant Facts – Valiant in Racing

Hyper-Pak at Daytona
NASCAR’s new compact car category debuted at the Daytona International Speedway on January 31, 1960. The first of two races was a road course, which used a 1.5 mile portion of the high-banked tri-oval together with a twisting infield road for a lap distance of 3.81 miles. The race length was 10 laps. Averaging a speed of 88.134 mph, Marvin Panch drove his Hyper-Pak into first place; all the entered Hyper-Pak Valiant models swept the field taking the first seven places.

The second race of the day used only the tri-oval track, 20 laps on its full 2.5 mile length. A multi-car accident on the fourth lap took out the four Valiant leaders including one driven by Richard Petty. Panch was not among them because car trouble delayed his start and he was busy passing slower cars from the rear of the field when the leaders crashed. After a restart, Panch worked to first place and stayed there, averaging a speed of 122.282 mph . The remaining Valiant models placed 1-2-3.

1960 Plymouth Valiant Facts – Significant Options

• • Anti-freeze ($4).
  • Appearance group ($63).
  • Backup lights ($11).
  • Convenience group, V-100 only ($16).
  • DeLuxe V-200 floor covering ($17).
  • DeLuxe wheel covers ($16). V
  • Front and rear bumper guards ($12).
  • Hot water heater with defroster ($74).
  • Left-hand outside rearview mirror ($5).
  • Padded dashboard ($13).
  • Power brakes ($41).
  • Power steering ($73).
  • Power tailgate window, wagons ($33)
  • Pushbutton radio ($59).
  • Solex glass ($37).
  • Special option group ($102).
  • Station wagon third seat – V-200 only ($61).
  • Undercoating with under hood pad ($14).
  • Variable speed windshield wipers ($17).
  • White sidewall tires ($29).