I personally wouldn't exactly call the Superbird as being a tank whether it be in looks or weight.
It was basically a Road Runner with more junk hanging off of it and moved fast.

I still think ugly is ugly regardless of what is under the hood. To the best of my recollection the factory power plants offered in the Valiant were more along the lines of internal cumbustion sewing machines anyway.

I suppose it is all a matter of preferences I still think that most people even to this day buy cars to make more of a fashion statement than anything.
Naturally with going green and looking for fuel economy there is much more of a trend to buy more "conservative" vehicles than in the past. When price is no object or not the predetermining factor I think people purchase vehicles to make statements. They are saying look what I'm driving or look, I can afford this and you can't. As proof of that, you will fing many $20k cars that perform, are more efficient and trouble free than cars 2,3,4 even 5 times the price.

As I said matter of choice and Valiant certainly wasn't one of mine, I would rather drive the Ebay Bus