Straight ahead it was a screamer. Just don't try to turn on those tiny tires. The lack of low end torque convinced the product planners that two more cylinders should be added to the slant 4. The slant-6 engine became a classic, and one of the best engines ever by anybody. It was one of the biggest dogs you can imagine.
Luck plays a strange roll in the auto business.
About this time they also learned that GM had rolled the first Corvair at their proving grounds, and ran scared at the thought of a rear engined car. The result was what we now know as the 1960 Valiant. As an Introduction Day promotion, someone in the crack Chrysler Marketing Group came up with what turned out to be like getting married, it seemed like a great idea at the time. I seem to remember it was something like 200 new Valiants, but give or take, it was a bunch of taxis. Now, the Valiant had been tested in every conceivable manner, and nothing bad ever happened to the test cars.