What is the difference between r and s series valiants?

Is it just a model year code designation?

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Model year. I believe R is 61 (or 60 and 61?) and S is 62.

Lou

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At that time, each kind of Chrysler Corp car had a 4-character identifier. First character was the year code. "R-series" refers to all 1961 Chrysler Corp passenger cars and "S-series" refers to all 1962 Chrysler Corp passenger cars, "T-series" is 1963, "V-series" is '64, then "A-series" for '65, "B" for '66, "C" for '67, etc, all with reference to model years in the home American/Canadian market.

Second character was the model identifier. Chrysler used "X" for the new Valiant in '60, but then changed it to "V" for '61, and that's where it stayed (likewise, they used "W" for the new Lancer in '61, but then changed it to "L" for '62, and that remained the code for the Dodge compacts, despite being renamed Dart for '63).

Third character was a 1 for six-cylinder cars, a 2 for eight-cylinder cars.

Fourth character was trim level identification: L for low, M for medium, H for high, P for premium. This was mostly just used in the parts cattledogs for differentiation between what went on the various trims.

So:

RV1: 1961 Valiant six-cylinder car (RV1-L = V100, RV1-H = V200)
SV1: 1962 Valiant six-cyinder car (SV1-L = V100, SV1-H = V200, SV1-P = Signet).

And so on and on down the line: TV1-H is a '63 V200, VV1-P is a '64 Signet \6, VV2-P is a '64 Signet V8, AL2-L is a '65 Dart 170 V8, etc.

Where things get confusing is that the Australian market puts vehicle ID emphasis on model codes, not model years like the American market. The first 1,008 Valiants sold in Australia were RV1 (1961) models, but they were sold there in 1962 and registered as 1962 models. The next 10,009 Valiants sold in Australia were SV1 (1962) models, but they were sold there in 1962 and 1963 and registered as 1962 and 1963 models.

So "1962 Valiant" is ambiguous in Australia; you have to specify whether you mean an R or an S model.

(Australian model codes diverged from American ones for '63; we got the TV1 and they got the AP5, which was their '63-'64 model…then came their '65-'66 AP6, their '66-'67 VC, '67-'68 VE, '68-'70 VF, '70 VG, etc.)

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Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

In Australia, basically all the classic Mopar guys (and I think Holden/GM and Ford guys) discuss the body code ("S", "AP5", "VC", "VG") and not the year. Here we do the opposite...

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Chrysler made the early Valiants for the South African market as a RHD car. The bits left over from the USA marques of 60, 61, and maybe 62 Valiants (R's and S's) went to South Africa then in knock down form (KDF) to Australia. Not sure if they went to South Africa in KDF, but certain about Australia though.

These marques sold out quickly in Australia as they were very different in design and performance to the average family car available at the time.

KdF = "Kraft durch Freude" (German for "Strength through joy"). It was a state-operated leisure organization in Nazi Germany. One of its biggest programs was to set up production of an affordable car, the "KdF-Wagen", which later became the Volkswagen Beetle ("Volkswagen" being German for "People's Car").

KDX = Knocked-Down eXport, that is a car that's shipped abroad in pieces.

BUX = Built-Up eXport, opposite of KDX, that is a fully-assembled car that's shipped abroad.

CKD = Completely Knocked Down, literally a build-a-car kit.

SKD = Semi Knocked Down (or PKD = Partially): the car is partly built at an origin point, and finished up on arrival wherever it's shipped.

The early A-bodies sent to South Africa were, if I recall rightly, BUXes from Canada. That was definitely the case for the early Valiants sent to the UK. The CKD (Completely Knocked Down) kits sent to Australia were not "leftover bits". They were new complete car kits produced during the run of '61 and then '62 Valiants in the North American factories—pretty sure from one of the Detroit-area plants, which I think I recall because it's weird they weren't sent from Canada, given Canada and Australia were both Commonwealth countries. No '60 models were sold in Australia.

The South African early A-body line, sold from '61 to '63, included the Chrysler Valiant and the DeSoto Rebel, which was a rebadged Dodge Lancer with the same dashboard as the Valiant: a right-hand-drive version of the US RV1 ('61 Valiant) dashboard—also used on the S-model Valiant and the '62-'63 Rebel.
These cars sold quickly. "Marque" is just a fancy word for "brand", especially car brands. Dodge, Plymouth, Chevrolet, Lincoln, DeSoto, Mercury, Mercedes-Benz, Datsun—those are all marques. Valiant was a marque in the US market for '60, then it became a model under the Plymouth marque for '61, but it carried on as its own marque in Canada through '66. In Australia and South Africa and many other places, the Valiant was a model under the Chrysler marque from the start.

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