Here's a car I found for sale on the Seattle Mopars Unlimited web site
1965 Plymouth Valiant Signet FACTORY Formula S - 4 speed. I, Ray Guardiano, have to be crazy to admit to owning this particular car 3 DIFFERENT TIMES in the past 20 years ! I have documentation to back up it's authenticity of this wild Valiant having left the factory as a never offered ( except just this one time ) Formula S Valiant. It was specifically built for a high ranking Boeing exec (who had something to do with the Boeing 737 program...though I do not know what. ) who was knowledgable of the performance and handling of the 1965 Barracuda Formula S cars.......however he did not care for large rear windows on the Barracuda's. Apparently he was good friends with the President of the Chrysler/Plymouth dealership, S.L. Savidge in Seattle - Mr.Sam Savidge, and sought him out to order this car. Mr. Bill Stephens wanted the following: 1965 Valiant Signet, white exterior, red bucket seat interior, power steering, AM radio, power drum brakes, black vinyl roof, Formula S package to include: HiPo 273 4-barrel (with engine dress up), 4-speed, in dash tachometer, HD suspension, 7-1/4" SureGrip, wider 14x5-1/2" steel wheels, special 14" wheelcovers, special large diameter single exhaust with chrome square tipped resonator AND Formula S badging on the sides of both front fenders. Mr Savidge himself wrote up the order and placed it with the factory. The factory advised Mr. Savidge that they COULD NOT build a Valiant with the Formula S package as they requested, "....it is NOT offered...if your customer wants the Formula S package, he will have to order a Barracuda ! ". Well, Mr Savidge then sent his request to the head of Dealer-Customer Relations at Chrysler at the time and let them know that Mr. Stephens was a high ranking individual at Boeing and that Chrysler needs to build this Valiant as per his request....VERY SOON !! Through the chain of command at Chrysler, heads rolled and this 1 of 1, Formula S Valiant was born. Mr. Stephens had such clout that Boeing flew he and his wife back to Detroit to drive the car back to Seattle aboard a Boeing 737 test flight !! On the back of the owners manual, Mr. Stephens wrote down all the flaws & problems he experienced with the car on the trip back to Seattle. The car has had 9 owners the past 45 years....with me owning 3 times !! Bruce Herbig and I first saw this car over 30 years ago at a Walter P. Chrysler club meeting....little did I know I'd be a caretaker of it 3 times !! One last thing, personalized license plates were not offered in Washington State until 1974 or 1975, but Mr. Stephens
again had such clout that the Department of Licensing issued him the 1965 Washington plate it STILL wears: " AOK 737 " .....how about that for clout !!! Yes, the car is for sale...best offer, swap or trade.
Here the link to the ad as well as pictures of the car.
http://moparsunlimited.com/newsletter/2010-01 January.pdf
1965 Plymouth Valiant Signet FACTORY Formula S - 4 speed. I, Ray Guardiano, have to be crazy to admit to owning this particular car 3 DIFFERENT TIMES in the past 20 years ! I have documentation to back up it's authenticity of this wild Valiant having left the factory as a never offered ( except just this one time ) Formula S Valiant. It was specifically built for a high ranking Boeing exec (who had something to do with the Boeing 737 program...though I do not know what. ) who was knowledgable of the performance and handling of the 1965 Barracuda Formula S cars.......however he did not care for large rear windows on the Barracuda's. Apparently he was good friends with the President of the Chrysler/Plymouth dealership, S.L. Savidge in Seattle - Mr.Sam Savidge, and sought him out to order this car. Mr. Bill Stephens wanted the following: 1965 Valiant Signet, white exterior, red bucket seat interior, power steering, AM radio, power drum brakes, black vinyl roof, Formula S package to include: HiPo 273 4-barrel (with engine dress up), 4-speed, in dash tachometer, HD suspension, 7-1/4" SureGrip, wider 14x5-1/2" steel wheels, special 14" wheelcovers, special large diameter single exhaust with chrome square tipped resonator AND Formula S badging on the sides of both front fenders. Mr Savidge himself wrote up the order and placed it with the factory. The factory advised Mr. Savidge that they COULD NOT build a Valiant with the Formula S package as they requested, "....it is NOT offered...if your customer wants the Formula S package, he will have to order a Barracuda ! ". Well, Mr Savidge then sent his request to the head of Dealer-Customer Relations at Chrysler at the time and let them know that Mr. Stephens was a high ranking individual at Boeing and that Chrysler needs to build this Valiant as per his request....VERY SOON !! Through the chain of command at Chrysler, heads rolled and this 1 of 1, Formula S Valiant was born. Mr. Stephens had such clout that Boeing flew he and his wife back to Detroit to drive the car back to Seattle aboard a Boeing 737 test flight !! On the back of the owners manual, Mr. Stephens wrote down all the flaws & problems he experienced with the car on the trip back to Seattle. The car has had 9 owners the past 45 years....with me owning 3 times !! Bruce Herbig and I first saw this car over 30 years ago at a Walter P. Chrysler club meeting....little did I know I'd be a caretaker of it 3 times !! One last thing, personalized license plates were not offered in Washington State until 1974 or 1975, but Mr. Stephens
again had such clout that the Department of Licensing issued him the 1965 Washington plate it STILL wears: " AOK 737 " .....how about that for clout !!! Yes, the car is for sale...best offer, swap or trade.
Here the link to the ad as well as pictures of the car.
http://moparsunlimited.com/newsletter/2010-01 January.pdf
