Chrysler News

Retired smelter worker Roger Graber, 62, bought his 1973 Valiant VJ Charger 15 years ago for $2000. "It's worth about $30,000-$35,000 now to an enthusiast," he says. "I wouldn't get rid of it, though. My son and grandson will probably fight over it when I fall off the perch." However, the money-making tale ends there."I did have three of these," he says. "One was a drag (racing) project with a Ford 351 engine in it and the other was stripped down. When I moved I didn't  have anywhere to put them so I sold them. I only got $2500 for the drag car and $1500 for the stripper. I regret getting rid of them now."When Graber bought his current Charger it was in "a terrible state", the 265 (4.3-litre) Hemi six-cylinder engine was "knackered" and the car had been off the road for years. "I spent about two years restoring it for the road, not as a show car," he says. "It cost about $5000 for the restoration."Graber claims to be a self-taught mechanic and did all the mechanical, paint and body work on the car. "I'm mechanically minded and can turn my hands to anything," he says. "I rebuilt the engine myself to make sure it was right."However, he put in a non-standard 600 Holly carburettor. "Otherwise the engine is standard," he says. "It has heaps of grunt without having to do much to them. If I checked the economy I wouldn't drive it so much. It gets about five kilometres to the litre (20 litres per 100km) because the carby is too big for it. I have a 350 which I'll put in it and then I might get about 7km/L (14.2L/100km)."Graber totally renovated the front suspension right down to the rubbers, but has done nothing to the rear except replace the brake shoes. The car features a four-speed Borg Warner gearbox with synchro in all but first. "You can't break them and it's as smooth as," he says. "It's 1970s driving. You have to be careful because the back can break out easily.""It's hard to drive, there's so much power you can easily spin the wheels. You have to drive it smoothly. But it's very reliable. I always keep a good check on the engine and recently changed the engine oil, gearbox oil and back axle oil so it's running really smooth now."If it stays in good condition, Graber plans to show it at the MotorMania show and shine at Rockhampton Showgrounds on July 25. The show is part of a 10-day Central Queensland MotorMania festival of motoring that includes cars, karts, drag racers, motorcycles and more."There's a big concentration of petrolheads up here, maybe because it's an industrial town and people have a bit of money," he says. "Our club (Curtis Coast Cruiser Club) has more than 60 members. A lot have joined because they can get concessional rego and it's a lot cheaper, especially for the guys with V8s."

The American maker is now controlled by Fiat, which is helping to develop a fleet of new vehicles which use its engine and chassis technology for sales from 2012. But that has not stopped Chrysler group rushing new features, extra equipment and better quality into 15 re-worked vehicles for 2010."Our local product team is working closer than ever with the factory to come up with revised or all-new models for our market which we're hoping to see in the near future," says Jerry Stamoulis, spokesman for Chrysler in Australia. As the top performing right-hand drive market for Chrysler, there has been a strong emphasis placed on our market to help lift international sales over the next five years."He says the first of the updated models is already in showrooms and the most important, the all-new Grand Cherokee, will be revealed this year ahead of sales in 2010. "The Grand Cherokee will be the first vehicle in Australia to be available with the all-new Pentastar V6 petrol engine," Stamoulis says. The Jeep Patriot has already had an interior update and similar work will be finished soon on the Dodge Caliber, which comes in the third quarter of this year."Other immediate changes to our line-up are that all Dodge Journey models receive, as standard, active head restraints and the 5.7L Hemi V-8 in the Chrysler 300C receives variable valve timing and an additional 15 kiloWatts, which lifts power to 265kW," Stamoulis says.Apart from the Pentastar V6, various Chrysler models will also get a six-speed, Fiat dual-clutch gearbox. It will be seen first in a re-worked Chrysler Sebring, which also gets updated body styling, a new interior and revised suspension for better ride and handling. The Jeep Wrangler also gets a styling tweak this year, as well as stop-start technology on its diesel engines.

And somehow it all makes good sense.  The 45-year-old came to Australia in 1982 when he was 17 to play in our pubs chasing the success of Aussie pub bands Australian Crawl, Men at Work and Mental as Anything."I came out here and joined a rockabilly band in Sydney," he says. "I've earned my living playing music full time ever since."Wilshire also trained as a mechanic, so when the opportunity to "earn some good money" came up maintaining the massive dragline excavators in the North Queensland mine fields, he jumped at it. "I only work three days a week up here and then fly back to Brisbane where I can continue to play my music. "When I get more money up here, I'll be able to whack a great big huge donk in the Valiant."This jumble of jobs and passions seems to fit like a jigsaw puzzle for Wilshire. His day begins at 3am when he starts a 12-hour shift keeping the big excavators running '24/7'. And he's been working on some of the biggest of them all."Dragline 37 at Peak Downs is the largest in the southern hemisphere," he says. "It weighs a couple of million pounds (about 900 tonne) and the bucket alone holds over 1500 cubic metres which is the equivalent of a house. It runs on a 66,000 volt electric motor and plugs into a giant wire about 8 inches (20cm) across."His love of big machinery extends to his passion for Chryslers.  "I bought the Valiant off a guy who worked for Compass airlines and when they went bust he had to sell," he says. "He had done some of the work on it; air shocks, turquoise paint and 1970s Jelly Bean mag wheels. "The car picked me. I had to have it."The car is a 1967 Chrysler Valiant VC Regal powered by a 225 (3.6-litre) six-cylinder Hemi with a single-barrel Carter RBS downdraft carburettor."If I could get my hands on a Special I would. The Regal is the one below," he says. "I got it for just $1500 in 2006. It was a bargain. It only had 6000 miles (9656km) on the clock.   I've redone the trim on the doors, rebuilt the carby, put new valve seats in as it was blowing some smoke, and a bigger exhaust. "I put 225mm tyres on the back and 190s on the front. When I pump up the air shocks the back looks high like a '60s Mopar muscle car.  One day I'll put a 360 (5.9-litre) Hemi in it. It's got the engine bay big enough for it."Wilshire likes old Chryslers because they have "more style than any Ford or Holden". "My dad was a Ford man and my brother was GM man, but not me. "You can always tell a Chrysler product. Even their PT Cruiser and 300C. They have that retro style that I like. "My dream car is an AP1 or AP2 1957-59 Chrysler Royal. I'm looking for one right now. They have the biggest fins in Australia. "Fins should make a comeback."The fins, the retro car ... It all seems to fit with Wilshire's music and his sense of style. "The way I look - tattoos, clothes - it's all retro," he says. "I've been into it since grade 3 when I saw Sha Na Na. They played at Woodstock and I looked at them and I just clicked with that era."Wilshire followed rockabilly band the Stray Cats in the '80s and became good friends with guitarist Brian Setzer, recently playing support in Brisbane on the Stray Cats reunion tour. "He's one of the main reasons I wanted to play guitar. I even have a big Stray Cats tat on my left shoulder."Wilshire will launches his new solo  "rockabilly, roots and blues, and western swing" album, Cuz Of You, with his band the Tailspinners at the 18th annual Brisbane Blues Festival on March 13 at the Jubilee Hotel in Fortitude Valley.Wilshire's music should even score him cheap rego. "I might put this on concessional rego and just use it for club meets. I play a lot of car club gigs, so I can use it a fair bit legally," he says.Visit: www.brisbanebluesfestival.com.

And he's certainly caught more than his share.  The Valiant Pacer was the performance version of the Valiant, in the days when the Australian car industry had the Big Three GM with its Holdens and Monaro, Ford with its Falcons and GT and Chrysler with its Valiants.Mr Moularas is pictured with just one of his collection, a 1970 VG Valiant Pacer, an ex-race car.  Chrysler and Valiant fans this year are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the VG model that not only introduced the famous Hemi six-cylinder engine but also stamped the Pacer as a performance and race car.  The Pacer was the first Valiant to be competitive in the Bathurst long distance race and it spawned the Valiant Charger."I've had this Pacer for three years," Mr Moularas says. "It's a late 1970 model and at the moment it's got a higher-spec 265 (cubic inch) engine in it and a four-speed gearbox. They came out with three-speed boxes and many of them have been replaced with four-speeds over the years."It's race history is a bit sketchy; I'm still researching that. But there are indications that Leo Geoghegan drove it, if you look at the shadow lines of the stickers. "I've kept it as original as possible and you can see where it's had a rollcage."Mr Moularas, a member of the Chrysler Car Club, arguably has the biggest collection of top-condition Pacers in Australia.  "It becomes a disease," he says. He says VG Pacers are "fantastic" to drive. They're thirsty on fuel but a good highway car and people are always stopping to talk about them."VG models had rectangular headlights distinguishing them from the previous VF model. But the major change of the VG was the engine: it introduced the Hemi 6, a 245 cubic inch (four-litre) inline six-cylinder engine to replace the earlier Slant Six. The "hemispherical" combustion chambers were claimed to be more efficient and so give better power.Stirling Moss became the brand's ambassador in 1970. Legend in Adelaide has it that when he was flown to do a TV commercial, he bogged a Valiant on a south coast beach, only for a film crew member to slip into the seat and drive it out.  A previous-model Pacer had come 17th at Bathurst in 1969 with former News Ltd motoring writer the late Mike Kable at the wheel but that had a fairly undeveloped engine.The VG model, however, had the Pacer with a 138kW engine as standard but also could be had in E31, E34 and E35 engine options, the top unit having a four-barrel carburettor, performance camshaft, close-ratio gearbox and well over 175kW power.Allan Moffat won the 1970 Bathurst race in a thumping Falcon GT HO but only one lap behind was Doug Chivas in a Valiant Pacer in fourth place. The tortoise-and-the-hare scenario is indicated by the qualifying times, Moffat 11 seconds as lap faster than the lighter Chivas Pacer which nevertheless finished the race on 129 laps to Moffat's 130.Leo Geoghegan was fifth in a Pacer with yet another Pacer in seventh, despite its three-speed gearbox. Chrysler had a local components policy and did not want to use an imported four-speed.  The Hemi engine was developed to the amazing 265 (4340cc) E49 unit of the Charger which really took on the V8s from 1971.Of the more than half a million Valiants built at the now-closed Tonsley Park plant of Chrysler (latterly Mitsubishi) in Adelaide, 46,374 were VG models. Only a small proportion were Pacers. Most were sedans with wagons, utes, two-door hardtops and the quad-round headlight VIP luxury version also in the mix.

Paul Holter, 54, of North Arm on the Sunshine Coast got his nickname from years of converting American cars, mainly Pontiacs, to right-hand drive.Over the years he claims he has restored, converted, traded and owned as many as 600 cars and now has a dozen in his backyard and shed as well as a few restoration projects belonging to mates.  "I've been collecting cars all my life," he says  "When I got married 35 years ago my wife threatened that if I got any more cars she would leave me. She's still here."Holter got his first car when he was 11 years old.  "My dad bought a Mk V Jag and sold off the tyres and battery and gave me the rest," he says.  "I sold it and bought a '48 Ford Prefect for $40."His daily drivers are a 2005 CVZ Monaro, a 2007 Holden Rodeo and a 2008 Honda Civic, while his collectible cars include a 1976 Chrysler VK Valiant Hemi, a 1968 Pontiac Firebird Convertible, a 1959 Plymouth Suburban sports wagon, a 1960 Pontiac Ventura, a 1962 S Series Chrysler Valiant and a 1983 Pontiac Trans Am race car.He bought the Trans Am for $2000 and converted it into a race car by pulling out the 305 Chevy engine and four-speed auto box and replacing them with a Gen III Commodore 5.7-litre V8, six-speed Tremec gearbox and adding GT-R Skyline rear suspension and brakes.  He claims it gets about 350hp (260kW) at the rear wheels and propelled him to 77th out of 185 cars at last year's Noosa Hillclimb.His current project is the Plymouth he bought for $8500 two years ago. It features nine seats, including a rear-facing row in the back.  He's leaving it in left-hand drive, but is replacing the engine with a 440 V8 he bought online.  "I don't know what it will all cost," he says. "I'd prefer not to know as it could get expensive."It's all the little bits and pieces you have to buy that add up."  Over the past six years he has spent up to $40,000 in a loving restoration of the Ventura he bought for $11,000 and plans to spend about $30,000 _ "or something stupid like that" _ on the S Series Valiant.  "When you do it a bit at a time it doesn't seem so expensive," he says.He plans to fuel-inject and turbo-charge the Valiant's 225 slant-six engine.  "It's rated at 145bhp (108kW), but I reckon I can get it up to the middle 300s," he says.  "I do all my own mechanical work, but I get interiors, paint and body done by experts."Holter is a qualified train driver who moved from Victoria to Queensland 21 years ago and started his right-hand-drive conversion business.  He also had a business importing Nissan Laurel four-door, rear-wheel-drive pillarless sedans but found compliance laws kept changing too often. He bought an Autobarn franchise six years ago and another a year later.Business must be good because Holter has been able to indulge his interest in American cars, travelling several times to the US to buy cars and ship them home for conversion and restoration.And Holter is always looking toward his next project.  He's currently considering trading his Firebird for a Grand Prix and he's always had a soft spot for a Valiant Charger although he reckons they cost too much these days, some fetching as much as $300,000.

It will also challenge your skills against the car's autonomous drive systems. Its designers say the concept will actually teach a beginner to drive or challenge the experienced driver to improve their skills. Getting started is easy.Drivers can enter their destination into the navigation application on a smart phone and the car takes care of the rest. It will let you ‘play along’ and try to match the skill level of the system. As you become more proficient, the Car Hero ‘unlocks’ vehicle controls to the point where the autonomous system is overridden and the driver is in complete control.This is where things start to get interesting. As the Car Hero gamer demonstrates skill and mastery, the car's ‘transmorphable’ architecture turns up the intensity by creating a more challenging driving experience.Car Hero's configuration will reward a driver's increasing skills by gradually changing from a four seater, to three seats and then the ultimate challenge, a single-wheeler. Car Hero also has peer-to-peer applications like ‘friends drive’ where anyone can come along for a digital joyride.GM likens the experience to having a Twitter with wheels. For those bored and stuck in peak hour traffic, ‘fantasy drive’ gives the driver access to insane environments such as running with the bulls in Pamplona or taking on ace US rally driver Ken Block in a drifting contest.

Up to nine Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge models could be axed or redesigned by 2012, according to details leaked of a new Chrysler-Fiat business plan.  However, Chrysler Australia is taking a wait-and-see approach to changes proposed this week by new Chrysler-Fiat CEO, Sergio Marchionne.Marchionne is heading up one of the biggest product shakeouts in Chrysler's history to resurrect the embattled US carmaker.  But Chrysler Australia's general manager marketing and product strategy, Craig Bradshaw, says it is too early to assess the local fallout any proposed changes.  Chrysler Australia is taking a "wait and see" approach, he says."We have to wait to assess the impact on our local market," he says.  Bradshaw says the company has no advance information of Marchionne's proposed changes.  Some of the proposed changes have been already leaked by the Wall Street Journal in North America.  It says that Chrysler's North American model lineup will be slashed to make way for more Fiat-based cars.Some new Chrysler models will share Fiat platforms in an effort to cut costs and harmonise production processes.  The cars expected to die are the Chrysler Sebring, PT Cruiser, Dodge Nitro, Dodge Grand Caravan, Dodge Caliber, Dodge Avenger as well as three Jeep off-roaders, the Compass, Patriot and Commander.The survivors are said to be the Chrysler 300C sedan, Chrysler Town and Country, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Journey, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Wrangler.  Although the list of Chrysler's facing the chop is long, some like the Sebring and Avenger, are expected to morph into new Fiat-based cars.Under the new Chrysler-Fiat regime, known as Chrysler Group LLC, Alfa Romeo and Fiat are expected to return to America as soon as 2012.  Fiat was phased out in North America in the 1980s because of poor quality and reliability problems. Alfa Romeo discon tinued marketing cars there in 1995.Chrysler will continue to build its performance cars and pickup trucks while Fiat is expected to build a range of smaller fuel-efficient European-style models for the US market.  Locally Chrysler Australia is a factory owned distributor but still shares some backroom operations with Daimler.Daimler severed its ties with Chrysler in 2007 and the US carmaker was subsequently purchased by private equity group Cerberus Capital Management before Fiat stepped in last year.Chrysler's Asia-Pacific business, including Australia, is one of the few bright spots, despite Chrysler and Jeep sales being down 30 per cent this year.  Australia is Chrysler's largest right-hand-drive market and the No.1 Jeep Wrangler market outside North America.

Chrysler Australia managing director Gerry Jenkins says the 20 per cent ownership of Chrysler Group LLC by Fiat SpA is yet to make an impact on local administration says. "Fiat integration is going well. "A month from now (Chrysler CEO) Sergio Marchionne will announce our new product strategy." Jenkins says that when the global financial crisis struck last year and Chrysler was beset by bankruptcy problems, production was slowed and they ‘rationalised our offers in the market place’. This led to a severe shortage of product in Australia, however Jenkins says shipments have now started to arrive to bolster supplies. "We need to ramp this up now," he says. "Production resumed in July and our first shipment arrived two weeks ago. We’re now refilling the shelves with the product and we start advertising from next week."

ANTHONY Field spends up to seven months of every year on the road.  When he pulls on the blue skivvy as the Blue Wiggle, he becomes an international celebrity with the world's weenie-boppers.So it's no surprise his favourite drive is the run home from Sydney airport to his wife, Miki, and their three children, Lucia, 5, Maria, 3 and Antonio, 18 months.  But Field, 45, is taking on even more work and now hosts Channel 7's RSPCA Animal Rescue, a documentary series that follows the tough cases the RSPCA inspectors and veterinary staff face every day.He says he is tired of being a passenger in the Big Red Car and jokes if money were no object, he'd buy it, pimp it up and charge Murray Cook (red Wiggle), Jeff Fatt (purple Wiggle) and Sam Moran (yellow Wiggle) to ride in it.What was your first car?A 1973 yellow Volkswagen Kombi. I bought it from my dad for $900 in 1981. It was a great car. I would sleep in it after big Cockroaches gigs. We took the seat out and I practically lived in it. I had it for three or four years until the accelerator cable broke. I figured it was getting a bit rusty and it was time to move on.What do you drive now?Ironically, I have a Volkswagen sponsorship now and I have a black EOS convertible.  We also have a family car, a Chrysler 300C sedan.Do you have a favourite drive and who would you take?I am away six to seven months of the year so my favourite drive is the one from Kingsford Smith Airport in Sydney to home with my wife Miki.How far would you drive in a year?Only about 8000km, but my frequent-flyer points are phenomenal.Do you have a favourite motoring memory?I have driven in the celebrity race at the Australian Grand Prix and the greatest thing about that was meeting some really great people and becoming friends. I was always down the bottom end of the pack so I don't think I'll be chasing a career in motorsport.What would you buy if money were no object?I would buy one of the most famous cars in Australia. I've been a passenger too long. I would buy the Big Red Car. I'd pimp it up and charge the other guys to ride in it.What music is playing in your car?Carlos Gardel. He's Argentinean and he was the king of tango.How much is too much for a new car?It's what you can afford, but petrol is going to cost the most, so you have to keep in mind how much it is going to guzzle. It's up to each person what they can afford.What should be done to make driving safer?The steps are already there with random breath testing, speed monitoring and ensuring people wear seatbelts -- that's all you can really do.Are you sponsored by a car company?Yes, Volkswagen. Miki loves it. I hardly get to drive the car.

Mitsubishi Australia boss Robert McEniry says the large car market is getting tougher and an imported replacement for the now-defunct Adelaide-built 380 sedan is not on the cards. "You look at the numbers being generated now by local manufacturers for the domestic market, look at what we were being held up as for the minimum number required, you start to do a comparison ...," he says.The company was reportedly looking at the production version of the Concept ZT for introduction as early as next year but those plans have been delayed. "I think we'll see a replacement model for the 380 but not in the near future," he says.The company's SUV ranks will be bolstered by the arrival of the Triton-based Challenger in November and an as-yet un-named compact SUV, based on the Concept-cX clean-diesel vehicle first seen at Frankfurt motor show in 2007. "We're going to be pretty strong in SUV and cross-over style vehicles, our Tiguan-style car will be in 2WD and 4WD, which will give us more small passenger opportunities as well," he says.The compact slots in below the face-lifted Outlander, which will get a turbodiesel variant but not using the engine powering the Citroen and Peugeot models. "We will put a diesel in it, we were looking at using the PSA diesel, but that's too expensive at the moment. We'll wait until we get an MMC diesel in it and we'll take that, you'll start to see over the next 12-18 months diesels coming into most of our range," he says.The company's Pajero off-road flagship is three years away from an all-new model, but Mr McEniry hinted that clues to its new-generation drivetrain might be seen at this year's Tokyo motor show.Mr McEniry is also extremely determined to get even a handful of the i-MiEV electric cars on Australian soil. "If it doesn't get here there will be trouble, we are desperately trying to shoehorn some, even if it is only 5, out of overseas markets. "The demand for the thing globally is making it difficult for us, otherwise we're in the production schedules for early next year," he says.The straight-talking Mitsubishi boss says like all new technology it is initially going to be expensive. "By this time next year they're aiming to have the price down close to half of what it will be when it's first released, the real issue is in the batteries," he says.Mr McEniry says the sale of the company's former manufacturing site at Tonsley Park in Adelaide's south is progressing. "We have three options on the go at the moment, we'll probably make a decision next month or the month after - I can't give you detail on them, but it would meet our requirements," he says. "We don't get the final environmental remediation plan until the end of next month as well, that's part of a buyer's due-diligence, we're on track with all of that," he says.A timetable for the site sale wasn't being rushed through given the market conditions, but the company has seen the market conditions show some positive signs. "The market is starting to come back, we noticed it a while back, in February - we went cold for a while but there were quite a few groups who are cashed up now," he says.The company has been decommissioning the plant and Mr McEniry says it’s an eerie place to be now. "We've pulled out all the tanks, we've started part of the remediation, we're pulling down the paint plant, inside the factory from the trusses down, everything has been taken out. It's pretty demoralising when you walk through it now, that's where we're at," he says.Conjecture about the future use of the site has been considerable but Mr McEniry says the site redevelopment will be a decade-plus proposition. "I don't think there will be residential, the main option is focussed on the SA government green path, education - which may have student accommodation - no big-box stuff, new technology and light industrial, I think you'll find the front would be retail-related, offices - there are some good ideas around for it but it could take 10 to 15 years, it's not going to be a fast development," he says.The Tonsley Park Plant was originally a Chrysler operation, opened by Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies in October, 1964. The first Mitsubishi rolled off the production line following a change of ownership in 1980 and the Tonsley Park plant manufactured more than 1.1 million vehicles, including 32,044 380 sedans.