Show Car Sunday returns with a sweet Signet!

VALIANT SIGNET

I was walking around the north side of Williamsburg in late summer when this little beauty presented itself:

Nice! A 1966 Plymouth Valiant Signet in Light Blue Poly paint. The '60s were such such great years for all things Mopar (which includes Dodge, Chrysler, and Plymouth). Styling was first rate in my opinion, with yearly changes at every level. The fact that the bargain compacts such as this Valiant were so classy speaks volumes about their attention to detail.

Clean lines and nice proportions are the name of the game for this sweet cruiser. The company literature for the time stated that the Signet option was "the stylish new economy package that really lets you live . . . within your budget, and still take on a sporty feel and a prestige look." The Signet designation was only available for the 2-door hardtop and convertible, and included some dress-up additions such as that brushed stainless steel panel running along the bottom of this car. Below the Signet there were the 200 and 100 trim levels in increasing austerity.

Just about any option could be had on this car, but the standard Signet came with the legendary Slant Six engine and vinyl bench seats.

These are light cars, and the 6 cylinder is plenty to move them around in everyday traffic. You could've ordered a 273 V8 and 4-on-the-floor in this ride if you wanted which doesn't sound like much but would up the performance dramatically.

Here we can glimpse 2 prominent options; the radio and automatic transmission. Mopars of this era weren't afraid to be quirky, with a square off-center speedometer as opposed to the ubiquitous central location. These dashboards were some of the first to widely use plastic components which can be tough to locate should you be trying to restore one these days.

The paint on this ride is just about perfect.

From this angle we can just see the forward-leaning stance of the front making this ride seem eager to get out there and drive. With the hubcaps missing on such a sweet car I can only imagine that they're in the trunk or something. They were pretty cool with a wide chrome band surrounding a central logo.

I'm fond of this faux-split grill. This is the same exact car as the 2 year old Barracuda in 1966 with the exception of the huge back window and fastback roofline. The blue and red triangles that make up the logo are simply known as the Valiant medallion (try as I might I can't find the original meaning of it). All I know is that this sweet cruiser looks damn good rolling down the street 48 years after it came out!