 Another shoot confined to a workshop, this time a Valiant Charger at Raceface Custom Classics in Kya Sands. The car was almost 100% complete, it was just lacking carpeting over the Dynamat soundproofing that was laid down throughout the interior. I did want to shoot it outside of the workshop but there was an issue with something in the drivetrain - it wasn't engaging gears on the auto 'box properly. I had to get through the shoot in a decent amount of time as the problem needed to be diagnosed and fixed as soon as possible - the client was en route to collect. It still managed to work out ok, luckily there was enough space in the workshop to shoot around the large slab of American muscle. Another rare occasion where I used speedlights, but mainly some long exposure work with a tripod in play. A Valiant Charger isn't something seen often, here's some information taken from the SA Hotrods article I wrote to go with the shoot: A Valiant Charger? What in tarnation is this skullduggery? It’s a legit car, not some custom creation suffering from a badge identity crisis. According to the interwebs (Carbuzz), the Valiant Charger was Australia’s answer to a Mopar muscle car and has no relation to the well-known yank version except by name. It seems the Valiant variant is more of a distant relative to Plymouth’s Barracuda although they have no shared parts or platforms either; the similarities are more in the design of the car itself. The American Charger had more powerful engines as options, but the stuff down under wasn’t too bad either. The eventual daddy of the range, the Charger 770 SE was eventually fitted with a 340cu V8 pushing out a decent 205kW. But this 1972 Valiant Charger isn’t American or Australian; it’s a full on rebuild that’s better suited to being labeled as a South African – we do have our own flavour of course. Dave’s (Raceface owner) client, Pretoria-based Gerrit Nieuwoudt, commissioned Raceface to get this Charger to be a head turner and looking at the pics, you can see that the mission was accomplished as per the requirements, and then some. That smooth orange paint and those perfectly chosen wheels are an awesome combination, but the added aural arrangement from that V8 completes the package. A little more from the shoot...   |
