Old cars that have managed to survive everything the decades could throw at them are worthy of all our admiration. One such car has been under the custodianship of a South Australian family for 59 years now, and has recently re-emerged as a beautifully built street machine.

First published in the August 2025 issue of Street Machine

Ralph and Antonia Belperio’s ’66 VC Valiant has been a family fixture since it rolled out of the dealer’s lot, though its path to the award-winning streeter you see on these pages involves a three-decade-long slumber.

“The Valiant was delivered new by Motors Limited in Gilbert Street, Adelaide, to my father-in-law Gennaro Piacquadio on 22 July 1966,” says Ralph. “It was used as his daily driver and workhorse for 22 years until September 1988, when the old slant-six had become a bit tired and smoky and it was time for an upgrade. The car was considered pretty much worthless at that time, but I said I’d take it and restore it.”

While it normally takes most of us a little while to get our projects finished, Ralph didn’t even start on his until 31 calendars had been pulled off the wall. However, with a finished result as clean and cool as this Valiant sedan – now transformed from a slant-six base model to the top-of-the-pops VC V8 – it’s fair to say it was worth the wait.

“It’s pretty amazing I managed to hang on to it for that amount of time,” Ralph laughs. “Over the 30-year period, I collected various bits and pieces that would be required for the restoration.”

The Val was stored in various locations during those years, spending time on the Yorke Peninsula at Ralph’s parents’ property, then out the front of his house in Paradise, and finally at his parents’ home in Gulfview Heights, where the car was stripped in the early 2010s. Finally, in May 2019, it was time for the restoration to begin.

Ralph’s first port of call was Adelaide’s SA Suspension to get the front end rebuilt, and after that, the shell got sand-blasted to address issues accrued from a life lived outdoors. “It had spent most of its time outside while in my father-in-law’s hands, and it also lived outside when it was stored at Paradise, so it had some pitting in the roof and required rust repairs,” Ralph says.

Panel beater Pino Tassone was tasked with cutting all the rust out and fitting all the VC V8-specific parts, including welding in bracketry for the centre console, modifying the radiator support to fit the V8 radiator made by Greg at C&C Radiators, and cutting a hole in the floor for the shifter.

“Joe Muscat started the Spanish Red paintwork at home, and then he took a role at Dream Works Garage, so it ended up being easiest for me to commission Dream Works to paint the car, do the engine, interior, electrical and the final assembly,” Ralph says.

What began as a simple closed-door respray soon ballooned into a full nut-and-bolt rebuild over four years.

“Gennaro had the roof painted black when the Val was new,” says Ralph. “It was important to me to respect the provenance of the car, so it now presents as a VC V8 complete with black vinyl roof and all the trim.”

As the works progressed at Dream Works, Ralph decide he wanted the Val to be such a good VC V8 tribute that people couldn’t pick it wasn’t original. “I had to chase all manner of V8-specific parts, like the rear window moulding, all the stainless trim, the V8-specific boot trim – which is possibly the hardest one to find – the door trim tops with vinyl and stainless-steel retainers, the rear vision mirror and more.”

With Ralph building a VC V8 tribute, the original leaning tower of power would have to be relocated to pastures greener in favour of some Mother Mopar horsepower. While idly browsing the internet one day, Ralph stumbled upon a rare piece of kit: a virgin-bore LA 340. Needless to say, he snapped it up immediately and had Nick Totsikas go through it and sauce it up.

Along with a forged crank, I-beam rods and forged slugs, the rorty small-block also copped a Comp hydraulic stick, and alloy Edelbrock Performer cylinder heads and a matching Pro-Flo 4 intake manifold, which features injectors for the Edelbrock EFI. It was enough to make 411hp on an engine dyno, and that was plenty for Ralph, as he wanted the car to primarily be a cruiser.

The 340’s grunt is pushed through a 904 Torqueflite auto and down to a nine-inch built by Adelaide’s CDS Engineering with a Truetrac centre, 31-spline axles and 3.89 gears for plenty of punch.

Finally, after 37 years in hibernation, the VC’s metamorphosis was complete and its wheels met the road once more. “It’s done about 2500km so far, and I enjoy driving it,” Ralph says. “The brakes aren’t boosted and there is no power steering, so it’s a throwback to days past for me.”

Ralph didn’t waste any time in showing off the finished car to his father-in-law Gennaro, the Val’s original owner. “He has never been a car guy, but he used to ask me when it was going to be done. When I finally showed him, he couldn’t believe it and loved it,” says Ralph.

If only Chrysler Australia had made them as nicely finished as this VC back in 1966!

RALPH & ANTONIA BELPERIO
1966 VALIANT VC V8

THANKS
John Dente and the Dream Works Garage team; Joe Muscat; Frank Bria; Pino Tassone; Nick Totsikas; Claude Carofano and Michael Hatzi; Aurelio Bartemucci at The Refurb Center; Sot Kavuki at Modified Vehicle Engineering; Warren Piatenesi at SA Suspension; my friends and family, especially my wife Antonia for her love, patience and support across the journey!