Chrysler Valiant Charger - VJ Valiant Charger

VJ Valiant Charger

In March 1973 the VH range was superseded by the VJ series. The VJ featured changes to the cowl, grille, lighting and rear quarter feature panel, with notably 7" round headlights replacing the previous rectanglular units. Significantly, this new model range saw the end of the Charger R/T, which pretty much coincided with Chrysler having officially withdrawn from participation in Australian touring car racing at the end of the 1972 season. However, the essential elements of the Six Pack E37 engine option were carried over into the VJ series, now referred to as the E48 engine option.

• option E48 - Street tune "Six Pack" 265ci engine with three two-barrel Weber carburettors and four-speed manual gearbox.
• option E55 - 4bbl 275 bhp 340ci V8 (1.88" valve heads).
• option E57 - 2bbl 255 bhp 360ci V8 (introduced late 1974 to replace E55 option)

VJ Charger 770 (with option E55)

When specified with the E55 340ci V8 engine option, such VJ-series cars were no longer tagged as a special edition Charger 770 "SE". This meant that a variety of colour and trim combinations are featured in E55 optioned VJ Chargers such that the only external distinguishing features were the "340 4BBL" badges on the front guards. Most, but not all, of the VJ-series E55 option cars also featured the W35 option seven inch wide alloy wheels that were a signature item for all prior E38, E49 and E55 option VH-series Chargers.

There was an improvement to the motor in this model, as opposed to the previous VH-series. The introduction of "Electronic Ignition" replaced the use of points ignition. This greatly improved the car for normal use making cold starts easier, and no longer requiring the ignition to be tuned every 10,000 km or so.

The Carter Thermoquad was used in this series as well, however not from the start, or at least not all the cars left the factory with one. Some still had the previous models AVS carburettor. When the carburettor change was implemented is unknown, with some examples having the Thermoquad and later builds still keeping the AVS. There is considered to be an improvement to engine performance as the flow in the carburettor was increased from 625cfm to 800cfm for the Thermoquad.

During this option's life, there were other engine variations, e.g. the motors also had a change in the cylinder heads. According to the service manuals, early VJ models maintained heads with 2.02" inlet valves, whereas later heads had a decrease in inlet valve size which saw a reduction to 1.88", again, when this was implemented is not truly known and some early build cars have the smaller valves whereas some later builds have the larger valves.

It seems that most E55 versions of the VJ Charger were manufactured during the latter half of 1973. When remaining stocks of the 340ci V8 depleted, Chrysler ceased manufacturing cars with option E55 and in late 1974 extended availability of the lazy 360ci V8 (from the prestige Chrysler by Chrysler sedan) to the Charger 770 by way of option E57.

VJ Charger Sportsman (option A23)

In August 1974, a limited edition Charger Sportsman was released, based upon the Charger XL. Built to a quantity of 500 units, all Sportsman cars were painted an exclusive combination of Vintage Red and white, with a combination black and white interior featuring specific cloth trim. These cars were powered by the standard 265ci engine and four speed manual transmission.