In an ultimate attempt to regain the customer, who in the 1950s had given way to a - smaller - European car, the American car industry had to plunge into the so-called market compact car. General Motors was the first to appear with the later reviled Chevrolet Corvair, closely followed by the solution from Chrysler, the Valiant.
As was then the case in fashion, this 'little' American was also richly provided with 'fins'. At the front and rear. The Valiant can also be counted as one of the first Chrysler products to use a monocoque, a self-supporting carriage. Under the hood an 2,8 liter six-cylinder engine that the owner had to make completely happy. A year after the introduction in 1960, the Chrysler Valiant was suddenly called Plymouth and the range was expanded with a two-door version. The American buyer with limited financial resources gave in to this compact car. That was also the reason that the delivery program expanded rapidly and eventually from 1964 resulted in the racial V8 equipped Barracuda. Various design updates followed over the years. The Valiant turned out to have been a blockbuster. In 1976, after more than 2 million copies, the curtain fell for this model ...
The Valiant was not introduced as a Chrysler but as a new brand because it could also be sold through the Dodge dealer network. In 1961 the sister model Dodge Lancer appeared so the Valiant became a Plymouth.
The Valiant, Ford Falcon and the Chevrolet Corvair were introduced shortly after each other in the fall of 1959. The Falcon was the most successful and the Valiant lasted the longest. In 1974, every 2e compact sold in the US was a Valiant or Dodge Dart.