To accurately tell this story, we must go back exactly the week before this Valiant Pacer was purchased. Back to the afternoon of Wednesday the 5th of May, 1971. On this day John’s eldest son, David arrived at the local Chrysler dealership to collect his brand spanking new Hemi Orange four-door Valiant Pacer. A machine he’d wanted since first laying eyes on one; a machine he saved hard to buy.

Starting work as a pastry cook aged 16, David had done okay for himself saving up enough money to buy a Valiant S series as his first car. He traded this in, and handed over $1,200 to buy the Pacer. 

Like most 23 year olds, David wanted to show-off his new wheels. You couldn’t get David out of his new car. He drove it everywhere. Any excuse would do just to get behind the wheel and cruise his hot Pacer around town, catching up with mates and running errands. The Pacer was a standout in Glen Innes, a small country town on the northern tablelands of New South Wales, which has a population of around 5,000 residents made up mostly of a farming community. Like all small country towns, everyone knows everyone else as well as their business, but in case they didn’t then a bright orange Pacer would soon grab their attention. The Pacer also caught the eye of Bill and Nerilee, friends of the family, who wanted David to chauffeur them in it, to their upcoming wedding in a week’s time.

Unluckily though, whilst returning home from a football game in Deepwater on the Saturday before, the then three day old Pacer left the road and rolled down a ditch. David says jokingly, “We were having a race with a friend and doing 90mph when a guide post jumped onto the bonnet!” 

Remarkably everyone inside walked away unharmed, not so for the bright orange Pacer which hadn’t even managed to reach its first scheduled service.

Enter David’s dad John, a man of his word who honoured his son’s wedding promise by walking into the same Chrysler dealership (in Byron Street, Inverell) only a week later to buy an identical orange Hemi Pacer sedan. 

Identical to the first Pacer, this too came complete with the X6 black trim and red carpet, three speed floor shift and A88 ‘Mod Pack’ which included a blacked-out hood, special body striping and decals. Hardly the type of car you’d expect a then 48 year old to buy, especially one who was trading-up from a tired grey and white EH Holden. The salesman promised the car would be ready by mid-week, needing a few days to sort out pre-delivery and registration. It turns out this car was a demo model and the dealer principal’s personal car, which had already clocked up 430 miles. This Pacer was also ordered with a very strange ‘delete’ option that would come to be remembered many years later by Teddy, one of John’s other sons.

youth appeal

By the late 1960s it was clear that the young people of the day were keen to get behind the wheel of something a little more spirited than the average family sedan. Holden’s Monaro and Ford’s Falcon GT were quickly garnering stellar reputations, particularly on the racetrack. It was evident to even the most casual observer, that Chrysler desperately needed a sports model in its line-up if it wanted to capture the hearts and minds of the young, and the young at heart.

In 1970, Chrysler Australia captured the youth market with the introduction of the Valiant VG Pacer, offering a variety of hot new colours with catchy names like Little Hood Riding Red, Thar-She-Blue, Hot Mustard, Bondi Bleach White, Cosmic Blue, Hemi Orange and a few unique colours like Hot Orange-Vitamin C (only five made), Go Green and Tan Fastic which are considered rare today. The Pacer was Chrysler’s answer to the GTR Torana, Monaro and Falcon GT, although aimed to suit a budget. A two-door Pacer hardtop was also available. The town of Glen Innes would go on to boast a few muscle cars in the ’70s such as a few more Pacers in Hot Mustard and Bondi Bleach, some Monaros and Toranas, a Bronze Wine Falcon XY GT with a black vinyl roof and a number of Chargers including a Magenta R/T bought by David after repairing the crashed Pacer.

Largely based on the US Dodge Dart, the Pacer was the right car at the right time, menacing, powerful and most importantly, a great drive. Easily identified by the black and red grille treatment, black war-paint on bright hero colours, sports style (albeit fake) mag wheel covers, and bold ‘hockey’ stripe emblazoned with Pacer 245 decals that screamed attention. Chrysler called it the ‘Clean Machine’ and for all the right reasons. Packed with 245 cubes of Hemi powered six-cylinder, a two-barrel carby and a 3-speed manual all-synchro floorshift, Chrysler claimed it was “the hottest production six in Australia” at the time. Add to that four fat ‘red line’ tyres, heavy duty suspension and big 11-inch disc brakes ‘The Hemi Pacer handles like your life depended on it’ said Stirling Moss, Chrysler’s ambassador of the day, and renowned Formula One racing car driver. Whilst it may have handled well, we doubt it could be depended on with no power assisted brakes though! Air-craft style bucket seats and a full instrumentation sports dash complimented the menacing stance of the Valiant VG Pacer.

keeping the proMise

Before the EH Holden, John drove a Graham Paige utility and ’59 Humber Hawk which served as the family car taking his four kids to primary and high school. He also owned an old ’47 Austin Morris that served as a paddock basher until he did it up some years later. Like most of us, John didn’t mind tinkering with old cars. When John was 27, he and his two brothers took over the local garbage contract from their father. He was used to driving a floor shift manual in the old garbage truck, and looked forward to owning the Valiant Pacer with its sporty close ratio 3-speed manual.

On the 12th of May 1971, another Valiant Pacer was ready for delivery. The salesman was over the moon having sold two Pacers in less than two weeks! The dealer principal was not so happy, as he was quite fond of the Pacer. Waving a farewell to the old Holden, Edward ‘John’ Hodge drove away from the dealership with a million dollar smile. On Saturday the 15th of May, in the hands of John’s son David, the new Pacer dutifully chauffeured Bill and Nerilee’s bridal party on their wedding day as promised.

From this day onwards, John drove the Pacer every day for near on 20 years. Even by the next scheduled service four months later, the Pacer has accumulated 3,917 miles. In 1972, he changed careers and began work at a local feed produce store and nursery. Here he learnt the secrets to growing wonderful flower beds and a huge vegetable garden at home. In the late ‘70s he went onto driving the local school bus, the Pacer never far away. Even years later, after retiring, John still received Christmas and Birthday cards from past students on his bus route. At the age of 77, he was excited to be asked to drive the official buses for the Sydney Olympics. However, he politely declined.

Never one to venture far from home, family holidays with the Pacer consisted of fishing trips to the coast at Yamba, a couple of hours away. John would pack the ‘tinnie’ on the roof racks, and head off with the boys. The furthest he ever drove the Hemi Pacer was to Newcastle in 1975 to visit his youngest daughter, Carol. Carol has fond memories of her father and his beloved Pacer. ‘He bought a new Mitsubishi Magna in 1990, and built a new garage. The Magna got the old earthen floor shed out the back and the Pacer had pride of place in the new garage!’ This level of care accounted for the car surviving when most other Valiants succumbed to rust, especially in the firewall, quarter panels and floors.

‘It was colder than a mother-in-laws kiss’ is how John’s son Teddy laughingly remembers being dropped off on freezing cold mornings in the Pacer. You see, this Pacer was ordered with a ‘Delete’ heater option and Glen Innes would regularly fall below minus in winter. We can’t help wondering why it would have been ordered that way, but some things are stranger than fiction.

After buying the Magna (from the same dealership), John would only drive the Pacer on weekends but would look for any excuse to get behind the wheel. On trips home, Carol would be asked by her father to sit in the Pacer and listen to its engine idle. “Even when Dad couldn’t drive anymore, he would still turn the engine over and sit behind the wheel with his pet Border Collie, Phoebe,” says Carol.

The bright orange Pacer with the sun visor was very well known around town. John would often be approached by people in the main street of Glen Innes with offers to buy the car. He always declined, although one chap offered him ten thousand dollars cash on the spot one day! John was nearing 80 years old when he stopped driving the Pacer, but kept it until he passed away in 2011, aged 88.

The car was then for sale by word of mouth. Des Seaton, a well known Chrysler enthusiast and collector heard about the car and bought it from the Hodge family as a club car. Des was also the Service Manager for Chrysler in Ferntree Gully, Victoria during the ‘70s and knows how to maintain and preserve a Survivor car. This Valiant Pacer Survivor is showing 112,974 miles, having gone around the clock only once. It was regularly log-booked serviced by the local garage in Glen Innes.

Des has left the Pacer largely as is, even to the extent of leaving the tow bar on. He has it on club registration which is a far more viable option. There is some worn paint here and there, and the weather strips are aged and frayed. Fitted seat covers had saved any wear and tear on the front seats, a rear window louvre, which has now been removed, saved the top of the back seat from sun fade and cracking. The original red carpet is still in good condition for its age, a home-made bonnet release handle replaces the original which must have broken when John owned it. Period aftermarket Clarion speakers are mounted to the rear parcel shelf.

“It’s no show car, but it’s certainly a good driver that still turns heads” says Des proudly. Des has no intentions of restoring the Pacer but rather to continue to use it as a weekender cruiser and club car. A car he can quickly dust off and enjoy with his wife, Jean. And this is the benefit of owning a Survivor car, it doesn’t matter whether it has battle scars, bumps and bruisers. Survivor cars are seldom show ponies, and to have survived 40 odd years in this shape is a feat in itself. Unlike a show car or a trailer queen, it doesn’t matter if this Pacer gets another stone-chip. Des and Jean will continue to use it the way the factory intended for many more years to come.