Pop quiz: what’s the greatest sports car ever built in the Australia? Well, there are a few potential candidates. There’s the short-lived 2004-2006 Pontiac GTO nee Holden Monaro, for one. Then there’s the Ford Falcon GTHO Phase 4, the Holden Torana A9X hatchback and the then-futuristic Holden Commodore SS Group A. They’re all good cars, and all highly collectible.
Personally, I’ve always been a fan of the Chrysler Group’s Valiant Charger R/T E49. The Valiant Charger was the short wheelbase version of the unremarkable Valiant coupe and the R/T’s homologation specials of their motorsport cousins.
The E49 was the last of the R/T’s, built primarily to win the 12 hour Bathurst endurance race. There were 149 of these legendary cars made, in colourfully named shades such as “Hot Mustard” and “Bondi Bleach”.
Hemmings, the Walter Cronkite of classic car magazines, has recently blogged about a right-hand-drive ’72 Valiant Charger R/T E49 in “Pink Panther” that has turned up stateside. With a straight six, 3spd manual tranny, auxiliary fuel tank and black leather interior, this particular Charger treads that fine line between “garish” and “ultra-cool”. Personally, I think it falls more on the “garish” side, but that’s just me. Check out the pics and leave your mark in the comments section below.
By Tristan Hankins
Via: Hemmings
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