You're right: it's a model. A "promo" model. It is 1963, it is Valiant; but it's hardtop where ours was two-door, it's blue in and out where ours was red in and white out; it's 1:25 where I wanted 1:43. Other than that it is a nice little item for a nice price.

Before I found it I had bought a 1962 Valiant, 1:43, darker blue, completely different body style aside from being a four-door. One of those things like a Shih Tzu or a Xoloitxcuintli : so ugly it's verging on cute. Bill Gise the Autosport and tech inspector guy with a mustache had one of them with a "426 wedge" in it. Quick, I understood.

The 1963 I bought had the push-button automatic and a 170 cu. in. slant six engine. It stayed with us from early middle 70s for five years or more. It was one of those you could count on to do its job without complaint. When it did complain, it was almost invariably something I could fix. Except the transmission, which required a professional rebuild at about age fourteen.

What I usually do when we get a new used car is replace the shocks with good aftermarket units and reline the brakes. No point in taking a chance with safety. This one burst a brake line as it rolled to a stop at home. I drove it to Margarita's friend's shop on the parking brake and transmission.

Margarita got stuck at work when the battery went dead. I replaced the battery and the alternator in the parking lot outside her building while she worked inside.

Bought it for four hundred, sold it for three hundred after five or six years use. If I could find a station wagon version of this car (a real one, I mean) I think I could live with it.

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