Ken Venis says this lovely 1967 VC Valiant Regal is his first classic car, although he did own a Valiant back when he was an apprentice.
It was an AP5 “which was only 10 years old then. That was immaculate, too, and I’ve always liked them.”
His grandfather also owned Valiants, and his grandmother taught him to drive in one.
“We lived on the West Coast and she lived in Nelson. I’d spend holidays with her, and we’d drive into Nelson. She’d tape blocks on the brake and accelerator, and put me on a cushion, and I’d drive in — I was 12.”
It must seem like ancient history to today’s kids, but Ken was born and bred in Ikamatua and, back then, if his dad wanted to go to Christchurch on the east coast, the drive wasn’t that simple.
“Dad had a Humber 80. He’d put a sack of coal in and back up the Lewis Pass — reverse was the strongest gear.”
Roll on more than a few years and, having been a self-employed builder all his life, Ken developed arthritis, forcing a job change.
“I had a company vehicle and my other car would just sit here, so I thought, why not sell it and buy a classic?”
He’d long wanted one — a stint working in California, where he went with a cobber to classic car shows, had whet his appetite.
He’d been looking for this model, or the one before, “for a long time. Only seriously for about a year but I kept a casual eye out for about 10 years”.
1967 VC Valiant Regal. Photo / Jacqui Madelin
This was the version that came up first in perfect condition. Ken says he is not mechanically minded and didn’t want to do too much.
He was apprehensive about buying it sight unseen, “The guy seemed pretty honest, sent plenty of photos, so I took the gamble.
“They’ve got the 3.3-litre slant motor, they call them, a six cylinder. Chryslers are the only car that had them, I think they stopped putting them in cars around 1970.”
1967 VC Valiant Regal. Photo / Jacqui Madelin
It is fitted at a slant. “They’re a really strong motor, an auto, three-speed with no power steering, which is different to drive to new vehicles, that’s for sure.”
This car was assembled in Australia and had one owner there, in Willara, New South Wales, who stored it in a shed for about 20 years.
A buyer in Adelaide bought it, cleaned it up and put it on eBay, from where it went to an owner in Tauranga, in 2010.
1967 VC Valiant Regal. Photo / Jacqui Madelin
“So, really, it’s had only had two owners, other than me. It’s just clocked over 100,000 miles (160,934km), which is good for 50 years old, and it’s still all original except for the wheels.
He still has the original wheels, with whitewall tyres, but he likes the look of the mags. “The old ones were cross-ply tyres and these handle much better.”
He should know, he and a mate
