Here are some photos of my car from Mexico. One of the pictures was taken in an exposition that took place in a mall last October, and the another from the annual Concours De Elegance held by the Mexican Jaguar Club in Huixquilucan, Mexico (I won first place).

Some caracteristics of my car are as follow:

serial number 213, original 170 cu.in Slant six engine with one overhaul made in 1973 by my father who bought the car new back in october of 1961 (its a 62 V-100 model).
The car has now more than 300,000 kilometers, and still going strong. It also has the original gearbox with syncro's for two and three gears. Originally it was painted aqua blue, but now is a pearl shade of red. It still has the original grey interior and everything is in working order.

For daily use (as it is now) I put in the really hard to find Cragar 13 inches wheels with white wall Michelins 185-80 13's, Lucas highbeams and the black grille with the v emblem that once adorned the front of a 62 Signet V-200.

All Valiants here were assembled in the Toluca Plant with parts coming from the United States (as a curious note, there is no number marked in the engine).

Here in México its hard to find a R or S series Valiant with an original 225 engine or even with a two barrel.

The factory that assembled the car was named "Fabricas Automex", here in 1960.
In 1961 and 1962 Automex sold only the v-100 models (four door sedans in 1960, and two and four door sedans the following years, no hardtops or wagons). It's a shame that they didn't sell the v-200 series.
My father told me that the car was quite popular, there where a lot of taxi cabs and police patrols (but now, it is really hard to find a Valiant from these years.... they just disappeared). The lancer was sold only in 1962 (its really hard to find a 61 here in Mexico) and the entire production of Lancers was sold to the Mexican Army, where these cars served for more than 20 years. By the middle of the 80's the Army Lancers (all of them four doors sedans) where sold surplus at bargain prices.

The R and S Valiants were really successful in the sixties in Mexican rallies and races all over our territory. "Billy Sprowls" drove the Valiant (R and S models with hyper pack or offenhauser manifold, I don´t remember well) to 12 victories in Mexican rallies.
I will send you some photos of these Valiants in action. In Mexican twisty roads (the coast to coast race held from Veracruz to Acapulco) of more than a thousand kilometers, the Valiants avaraged speeds of more than 160 kilometers per hour, beating Porsches (356), Alfas, Mercedes, Dauphines and obviously the Chevy and Ford junk.

Talking about spares, in Mexico they are hard to find, and also in the United States, since all the restorers focus their attention on the other models. Only some of the mechanical parts (such as brakes) are starting to be a problem to find, but the quality of the market spares is not as good as the originals. For example, you will never find a cast water pump, you can only buy the aluminium one that is totalled in five years.

My future plans are to buy another S series that I saw a few years ago and that hopefully the owner will sell it to me. The other plan is to install a 225 big rod 67 engine I found that once propelled a 67 Coronet. I already overhauled the head, but the block is still waiting for some attention. I also want to overhaul the front suspension, with new bushings.

Well, I look forward to hear from others and your experiences with these beautiful machines there in Australia.

Best Regards,

Ricardo Alfredo Peralta Martínez
ricardperalt@yahoo.com