1961 Plymouth Valiant Commercial - Bennington VT - Covered Bridge

The 1960 Plymouth, another in a series of commercials featuring Valiants in various locations around the USA. Pete Hansen is doing the Voice Over (Mr. Plymouth), he was the Spokes person for Plymouth in many of their commercials. He was nominated for an day time Emmy for his acting on the TV show General Hospital

[@Tinstar2]

We had one when I was young and was one of the first cars that I drove when I got my license. It had push button transmission. That slant six was a great little engine!

[@stevenschiffel4294]

My father's first company car. Slant 6 - bulletproof. Had one in a '67 barracuda.

[@philiptucci2458]

beautiful car, what a great commercial

[@crazybobdj]

I was a rural letter carrier, starting in the 70's.....I had a lot of "Slant Sixes"!

[@unclemarksdiyauto]

Dad had a few newer Valiants 63-65. All good cars. Not sure if they were worth twice the price, but they got our family around.

[@geraldscott4302]

The '61 Valiant was a beautiful car. My dad had a white 2 door model back in the early '70s. I was hoping it would eventually be mine, but sadly he got rid of it when the transmission went out.

[@8x56]

Interesting commercial. They went from Old Bennington to the "rock cut" on Woodford Mountain over to River Road in Bennington and finished up at what appears to be the Miller Farm in Arlington.

[@KCIREDERF10]

Yes- I believe your interpretation of the geographic content in this commercial is quite accurate.

[@8x56]

Derf M Much better now with GPS systems, mail doesn't get delivered at the wrong end of the county.

[@KCIREDERF10]

He did seem to be taking the circuitous route around Town... but it was 1961. Just got Route 7 graveled.......running water in all the houses..... indoor plumbing.

[@8x56]

Derf M Around town? He was in Arlington ! That road led to where you lived in Shaftsbury Depot if you remember.

[@KCIREDERF10]

8x56 In the 2 story by the train tracks. I remember. If you kept going, you came out by Miller farm which was just north of Death Valley. Michael J Fox ownes the house accrost the road beyond the mill pond. Used to fish there.

[@hvacr24]

my dad has a blue 61' in cayuga County NY

[@1223jamez]

Just looking at this commercial makes me want to move Florida.

[@gregedwards1921]

My first car

[@dirkherstel4176]

1:51 the best slogan/jingle for a car ever

[@barrykochverts4149]

Noooo! My crystal ball shows rust already forming in the rear quarters: "7 layers of rustproofing", my eye! It wasn't until the 1980s that road salt corrosion was successfully addressed on cars by galvanizing, heavy rocker coating and plastic inner fenders. It's still odd to me that splash guards weren't thought of back then. When you look under the front fender of a 1960s car, you often see the back of the headlights! BTW the Valiant was the first retro design ever offered in volume production, and is quite a successful mid-century take on the proportions and features of a 1930s luxury car, scaled down. All of the key elements are referenced: the upright radiator grille, an evocation of the separate body and fenders, thin roof pillars and the rear mounted spare. All other American cars had heavy bulging shoulder lines under the side windows but the Valiant evoked the smooth fuselage and wings of a small civil airplane. It was 2 years before the larger Chysler made cars caught up.

[@carlthompson5744]

Well put. Wish we had in UK. It wasn't too big or thirsty at all. I first saw one in 2002 in Atlanta and loved it. Can't beat US 60s compacts. Why did you make most of your cars so stupidly big and we made most of our stupidly small? Lol, this size of car is perfect.

[@dennisleporte2327]

You are def right ! I grew up in Massachusetts.

[@walterweddle7644]

@@carlthompson5744 You definitely have better entertainment. Love watching Vera and her driving a Land Rover Defender.

[@HFX1955]

That was the knock against the 63 and 64 Chryslers, that they looked like upscaled Valiants.

[@mattw8332]

Interesting looking cars, I like them.

[@79tazman]

So Chrysler was the first in 1960 to have a alternator instead of a generator

[@glennso47]

Yes. GM and Ford followed suit a couple years later.

[@bubbaclinton1105]

Great car, mine rusted out pretty bad though. I could NOT blow the lil 170 engine up... the 3 speed manual wasn't up to my 16 year old driving., I turned the 3 speed into a 2 speed with no reverse. Top speed.... 96 mph indicated.

[@727100bear]

loved the wagons!

[@727100bear]

yes! 3 seat models came with a standard power rear window

[@glenndecker1645]

Snow tires, and two bags of sand, that car will go anywhere.

[@errorsofmodernism7331]

It is such a nice car excpet for the toilet seat lid on the trunk and the exagerated 1930's Art Deco style fender creases. My dad bought a '62 Falcon instead which was excellent as well but without the rococo styling elements that Exner was cumpulsively adding to otherwise modern designs.

[@OsbornTramain]

Just your opinion. I like the trunk lid, had one put on my Imperial. They were popular, they would look ridiculous on a modern car but in this time period, it was very stylish. I do get tired of people complaining about the styling of cars from the 50's and 60's. Not sure what value it adds? I couldn't ever imagining complaining about the styling of a Model T or any antique car when I was a kid, I love them all.

[@kyjimbo511]

We had a 61 wagon. Was a great and dependable car until it literally rusted away!

[@scrambler69-xk3kv]

Those seven coats of protection were not enough in the northeast.

[@eddyfurlongester1257]

The 1961 Valiant seen here does not have the two 'over-riders' on the front bumper, like the '61 Valiant seen in the San Francisco commercial (with Pete Hanson voice over).

[@62valiant68]

Eddy Furlongester Hi, on this commercial the model shown is the v-100 model (the entry level budget model). The v-200 (the more high end model) shown in the San Fransisco commercial has added trim on the exterior and a nicer, more refined interior.

[@1023Jaybird]

Is this a slant 6er?

[@glenndecker1645]

I would say it does, maybe a 170. Still great engines.

[@mrdanforth3744]

170 cu in 101HP six was the only engine available in the early Valiants. Later they added the larger 225 120HP, that was originally meant for the Belvedere, as an option. Starting in 1964 you could get the 273 cu in 180 or 235HP V8.

[@kevinowen8155]

Beautiful car. More stylish than most of the crap today.

[@johnwalsh7256]

Had a 74 Valiant. My first car 🚗 😍

[@brianandglendaharkin9457]

👍🏻🇦🇺MOPAR for life .

[@TomoyukiWatanabepartII]

I have a interesting this car!!! the Plymous was based on the Rumbler at first time??

[@OsbornTramain]

No, not at this time, Chrysler and American Motors who made Ramblers did merge and are related, but the Rambler and Valiant are different cars.

[@TomoyukiWatanabepartII]

OsbornTramain oh yeah? Hum～　Thank You.

[@TomoyukiWatanabepartII]

ah~, Thank You.

[@8x56]

Tomoyuki Watanabe 渡辺 朋幸 partⅡ Any questions just ask me. I'm an old school mechanic who left the business in 1980.

[@TomoyukiWatanabepartII]

8x56 Thank you. Thank You Very Much.

[@barrykochverts4149]

Doesn't it have to do with the width of the ages-old English roads, along with ridiculously cheap gas in the States?

[@mrdanforth3744]

I had a lot of slant sixes. The early Valiant with 170 engine and manual trans would get 30 miles to the gallon. Later heavier models with the 225 and Torqueflite, up to 26. That is Imperial gallons, in Canada.

[@neildickson5394]

Some people thought these were ugly, I think they were very interesting looking. though they were decidedly Studebaker Lark like.

[@DSGNflorian]

The '59 Studebaker Lark had a nearly identical front end treatment. Ironically, not because Plymouth copied it but the other way around, even though timing would suggest otherwise. One of the Chrysler/Plymouth designers went to Studebaker in the mid-1950s and put the Valiant front end theme onto the '59 Lark, which was quicker to market because it was just a facelift of an old Studebaker body, while the all-new Valiant was still in development and didn't launch until the 1960 model year.

[@barrykochverts4149]

The grille was the only similarity between the Lark and Valiant. Put them next to each other and they couldn't be more dissimilar. To be fair, Studebakers had an upright grille on the 1956 Hawks. But the theme might have been arrived at via a different route: they had a tenuous import agreement with Mercedes, and might have been inspired by the latter's vestigial radiator, whereas the Valiant grille was part of Virgil Exner's love for general 1930s luxury car design. Larks were truncated 1953 Studes (full size cars) while Valiants were completely new, designed as compact cars from the get-go.

[@carlthompson5744]

I think strangely ugly and beautiful at the same time, somewhat like late 50s US cars yet different. I always though ridiculous tropical fish / fat spaceships but got them instantly when rode in a 56 Belair Wagon. Wouldn't have got Valiant if not for that ride.

[@neildickson5394]

@@barrykochverts4149 True drill down. Studebaker had that grill for some years. In NO way did they borrow it from Chrysler.

[@hughjass1044]

A lot of the early sixties Mopars were very, ahem.... unique looking. An acquired taste for many but I love them. It's often said that they're so ugly, they're gorgeous.

[@crist67mustang]

I worship background music, made specially following each escene. That way was usual on footage. Today music is not nade accord to the scene. Today there is not an orchestemra playing, just 1 keyboard. Same for actual cartoons, Tom & Jerry, Mickey, etcetera. Well, talking about the car, I think it is uggly, same 60s Studebaker, wirdt design, rounded, rare, like a Salvador Dalí design. XD Greetings to all Anerican citizen from the far city of Santiago, Chile SouthAmerica.

[@verdant2215]

The mailman

[@waterheaterservices]

The goofy tail lights did not help these cars any.

[@shwt121]

Jim Rr ....you can thank the head-designer for that, Virgil Exner.......he was responsible for most of Chryslers flamboyant and outrageous designs that ended up very popular in the late 50's- early 60's. A lot of his work was very,very famous!!!

[@shwt121]

Virgil Exner " The Man who Loved Cars & Hated the Administration"

[@shwt121]

The Valiant was Exners final accomplishment before leaving Chrysler

[@randymorobitto5453]

Jim Rr - Check out the '60-'61 Mercury Comet... www.google.com/search?q=1960+mercury+comet&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwilnY-mttDaAhVGPN8KHdXRAroQ_AUICigB&biw=1438&bih=651

[@barrykochverts4149]

They got rid of those tail lamps in '62. Finished out the fin with a rounded body color cap and rolled the fender stainless strip around it, put small round tail lights underneath. More conventional looking but less identifiable at night.

[@79tazman]

I had one with a slant 6 and it did not matter the temp out just a few pumps of fuel it would fire right up and idle there were many winters many people would have their hoods up trying to fire their car up and the Valiant with the slant 6 would fire right up

[@jasoncarpp7742]

If only today's cars were built this rugged. Even certain rear-wheel drive cars like this seemed to have little problem driving in the snow during winter.

[@maddywendall2980]

Looks like it had many European style influences

[@OsbornTramain]

Chrysler, AMC, Studebaker and International Harvester, even Checker all seemed to be in a different styling direction than Ford or GM, much more European..now in highsite, people say the products were strange or weird but in reality, it was just a different styling direction and people liked that style, clearly they sold cars and trucks

[@dkt1976dt]

I only live 25 miles from Bennington, im over in Troy NY

[@robertsamsak4710]

OK don’t build cars like this anymore😎

[@jamesstuart3346]

Impossible! You need computerized mutlifunction super control all wheel drive to go out in the snow! And $2000 worth of speciallly designed winter tires! Go back, your life is in danger!

[@OsbornTramain]

someone mentioned to me about the "supply chain" issue and "computer chips" for cars......We can get rid of that type of stuff if we have to if there are supply chain issues....we shouldn't be held hostage, We can go back to the old school methods.