We all dream about finding that rare, cool car languishing in some backyard or shed and bringing it back to life as a bad-arse street machine. But for Melbourne’s Robert Crosby, it’s no dream – that’s exactly how his tough VH Charger came into his life.

First published in the February 2025 issue of Street Machine

“My brother saw it from his excavator sitting in a chook pen in Glen Waverley, next door to where he was working. I had a Charger when I was 18, which is why he knew I wanted it,” Robert explains. “It’s an original Charger 770, but it was pretty sad: it was painted Holden Chrome Yellow, had a CL front on it, and it had been left to rot. It needed a lot of work to bring it back.”

Thankfully, Rob is no stranger to old street machines and their often-lengthy paths back to life, but even he wasn’t quite ready for the 15 years it took to get this Charger rocking the streets once again. “Life happens, so it took a long time to finish off, but there was a lot of work to do,” he says. “The bottom half of the thing had to be replaced; there was rust and bog, and timber that needed replacing. But the firewall, roof and floors were all really good.”

While Robert is handy on the tools, there are few cars built by one person alone, and he had some key help along the way. Shane Withers from Valigrunt Performance came on board early on and was integral to the Charger’s transformation from wreck to righteous.

“I met Shane before he had a shop, when he was selling Charger parts from his shed,” says Rob. “Most of the steel and fabrication work was done by Shane. The car initially just went to him for mini-tubs and moving the leaf springs in, but then it got out of control. He had the full VH front end I needed, which kicked this off.”

The Charger’s sad tinwork was repaired, before the focus shifted to adding beef to give the Val a classic, tough street-car stance. This included extending the rear tubs to the rails in order to squeeze a 12in-wide wheel under the VH’s pert bum. “I always wanted big tyres, as there’s a lot of room under there once you get the tub to the rail,” Rob says. “I got a nine-inch from McDonald Brothers, and then we did the four-link for the Viking coil-over struts.”

The third member in question boasts 31-spline axles, 3.7:1 gears and full-floater hubs to prepare for those fat rims. Double-adjustable coil-over struts connect the diff to the chassis, and it’s all joined up to a TCI-built 727 Torqueflite auto and 3500rpm converter.

With the requisite acreage unlocked underneath, getting the car painted was the logical next step. Mopars wore some of the coolest, most famous hues of the muscle car era – and that’s ignoring the many epic aftermarket options out there.

“The colour was always going to be Hemi Orange, but we added a bit of ice pearl to make it really stand out in the bright sun,” Rob says. “I had Kevin Gillespie do all the bodywork, and then it was painted by Simon Gruar, who used to do all the paint in Ford’s concept shop for years.”

As rad and as quick as the six-pot E38 and E49 R/T Chargers were, Rob preferred to spice his VH up with one of Ma Mopar’s stove-hot V8s, so he sourced a 360ci Chrysler LA mill to jam in its engine bay. Ian Medley of ANGREE AP6 Valiant fame then built it into a 410ci stroker using Scat crank and rods, Wiseco pistons, alloy Aeroflow heads and a thumping Comp Cams XE294H hydraulic flat-tappet stick. Up top, an Edelbrock Torker II intake wears a two-inch spacer, while a 750cfm Holley four-barrel distributes the go-juice.

While the combo is good for 500hp and 500lb-ft, Rob has set it up to take a 200-shot of nitrous should he decide it’s time to run a number. However, he’s in no hurry for that to happen, having only debuted the car at the 2024 Chryslers On The Murray show.

Even though he’s invested a decade-and-a-half of toil into bringing this formerly abandoned Charger back to life, Rob’s already keen to add another toughie to the stable – this time some rare GM tin.

“I’ve got a ’66 Pontiac Catalina two-door hardtop,” he reveals. “We’re going to tub it, and I’ll be building a tough big-block Chev for it. It shouldn’t be too hard; I didn’t have to dig this one out of a chicken coop!

ROBERT CROSBY
1972 VALIANT CHARGER 770

THANKS
Shane at Valigrunt Performance for the fab work; Ian Medley for the engine; Chris at Race Wires; Ryan at Race Coatings; Irmi Withers for help with stripping the car; all my family and friends who helped make the car a reality.