page_title: Plymouth Valiant
section_title: 1961
hierarchical_section_title: Plymouth Valiant / 1960–1962 / Design and mechanical revisions / 1961
caption_attribution_description: English: I took this picture at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, MI.
context_page_description: The Plymouth Valiant is an automobile which was manufactured by the Plymouth division of the Chrysler Corporation in the United States from the model years of 1960 through 1976. It was created to give the company an entry in the compact car market emerging in the late 1950s. The Valiant was also built and marketed, without the Plymouth name, worldwide in countries including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as other countries in South America and Western Europe. It became well known for its excellent durability and reliability, and was one of Chrysler's best-selling automobiles during the 1960s and 1970s, essentially keeping the company afloat during its hard economic times.
  Road & Track magazine considered the Valiant to be "one of the best all-around domestic cars."
context_section_description: For 1961, new 2-door sedan and hardtop models were released, but no changes were made to the 4-door sedan and wagon sheet metal. The interior and exterior trim were changed to provide model year differentiation, a mild form of planned obsolescence. The radiator grille stamping was the same as in 1960, but for 1961 it was painted with a pattern of black squares. The central grille ornament was still pulled from the bottom to release the hood, but it was now faced with an emblem having a white field with the blue-and-red stylized "V" Valiant logo, rather than 1960's red field with gold script "Valiant" callout. The side trim was changed; a 10 in (25 cm) stainless spear was placed at the rear of each tailfin crease, a hockey stick-shaped trim was applied to the lower break line, and the front fender/door crease was capped with a long stainless spear. The tailfins were each topped with three transverse chrome strips, and a large horizontal emblem containing a round plastic "V200" callout was centered in the deck lid's spare-tire stamping. Matching round "V200" callouts were placed in round housings at the midpoint of the front fender spears. Inside the car, the instrument cluster was largely carried over, but 1960's black gauges with white callouts gave way to 1961's white gauges with black callouts.
  Mechanical revisions for 1961 included new carburetors, the availability of positive crankcase ventilation (which was newly mandated on cars sold in California), the availability of dealer-installed air conditioning, the relocation of the alternator from the left to the right side of the engine, and extensive revisions throughout most of the Valiant's systems and components. Late in the 1961 model year, the larger 225 cu in (3.7 L) Slant-6 engine became available in the Valiant, its use having been expanded earlier in the year from the larger Dodges and Plymouths to the Valiant-sized Dodge Lancer.
caption: 1960-61 tail lamp with back-up lamp below
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