UPDATE 1/24/11 – Did not meet reserve with only one bid of $35,000.
The Chrysler Town & Country was so named because of the styling. Up front it looked city and out back country. This 1947 Chrysler Town & Country just came out of thirty years in storage and has lots of dirt and some nice patina to show for it. It runs and drives, but is going to need a little sorting. Located in Akron, Ohio and listed for sale here on eBay, this woody is not going to go cheap. Bidding starts at $35,000 with a reserve and there is only one day left. Thanks to Kyle K for sending this one in.
These definitely do have a country feel to them from behind. We love the look of the weathered wood and old paint. The seller claims that the car was re-sprayed sometime in the sixties. Then the car went into storage for thirty years after only covering 44k miles. We would want documentation to prove these claims before laying down this kind of money, but the story is not too hard to believe after looking at the photos.
Inside the original green leather and white cloth upholstery is still intact and looking good. The carpet is gone, but you would probably need to replace it after that many years anyway. Someone has installed lap belts up front so it is possible that this car was driven in the 70s or 80s. The car is well equipped, even featuring dual heaters. We cant help but wonder if this car went through a full restoration in the sixties when they did the paint.
Power is provided by this straight six. The carburetor, fuel pump, and generator were all been rebuilt to get the engine running again. Hopefully the fuel tank was cleaned out and lines gone through at that time. Details like this would be good to add to the listing. If it has not already been done, we would want to go through the brakes and suspension too before driving this beauty much.
This could be the best looking roof rack we have ever seen on an automobile. The whole combination of wood, paint, and chrome look so good here. The wood slates on the roof even make it function. You could throw some luggage up there and take off down the road without worrying about scratches or dings. Cross your fingers that all the wood work is in salvageable condition because it can get very expensive to restore.
Things were different back then. There were fewer regulations to inhibit creativity and consumers cared about what their transportation looked like. Chryslers were still handsome, well built automobiles and the Town & Country was one of the coolest around. If the green example above was in our garage we would be tempted to tie a pine tree on top and gather the family for a photo…
Image Credit: Ken Eberts
SO nice to see a REAL “woodie” that isn’t just contact paper and plastic!! :-)
total cargasm.
Rode in a black station wagon version of this as we had rich neighbors, don’t recall the luggage rack but I doubt this body had any restoration because that’s what it looked like and the wood was really heavy and well sealed, all hand done. They probabaly got it running for a parade or some party style country club events. Fixed up this would be 100K for sure.
What a beauty! Looks like the perfect project and only 44k miles. Great find!
Amazing car – I would leave it in the original patina!
Depending upon the structural condition, I would drive it as a survivor. Much more important in the future than restoring it.
It’s only original once… and this beautiful example is pretty close to original. I would change/update it as little as possible. Great looking car!!!
Wash and wax only, tune up, fix radio new tires. Woodwork would be tricky
The most expensive thing to restore on this car will be the chrome. Wood on this car looks very solid and can be rstored. Same with the metal.
Yes the wood looks solid but those pieces are dado, dovetail joined, and would require an expert woodworker capable or taking care of wood curves. True rechrome, theses days, done right would be expensive, but not sure it would need too much rechrome. Really important project, Mill should be cleaned and maybe touched up, but left stock. Or you could go all out and put a Cummings diesel in it, or a Hemi LOL.
If this isn’t Father Knows Best…………I don’t know what is. I really like it. Put hitch on and tow a vintage Air Stream.
You could even put a Cummins diesel in it, if you couldn’t find a Cummings.
sorry about the spelling geeeze!
I never could understand why Chrysler built these in only 6cyl. models. They had to be heavy, they were expensive, why not step up the 8?
All convertible T&C were 8 cylinder. The sedan had an extended deck.The convertible trunk was 10 cubic feet. The sedan was 30 cubic feet. A few 8 cylinder sedans were built but with the huge front end and the extended deck they were limousine long and not easy to drive.
They needed to be slow so you could look at them, nobody needed to go fast in those days
I believe that you could get the straight-eight in the convertible version of this car. I read somewhere that Chrysler actually sold more open top cars then closed. They were nice looking machines.
I kinda doubt it would have been restored in the 60’s. There were still a lot around at the time I would think. Repaints were popular then.
But look at the patina looks original and not repainted and there were not a lot of these around ever, anywhere. I mean this coupe model needs to be researched but I suggest it was more or less a rare bird. Not much profit in it for Chrysler, even then.
All of the hard to find pieces appear to be there. And the seller says it runs, too good to pass up. These really attract a crowd at all of the high end gatherings if there finished, and this one looks like a great one to re-do.
Think about a driver with patina, or drop a ton of money for a trailer queen. It’s only this close to original now. I’d drive it for a while.
Yes, the convertible had a straight eight. This would have been a nice car for road trips when it was new–very comfortable and smooth and easy to drive. Not very fast off the line though. But 0-60 in 20 seconds was normal when these were new.
People wanted to be seen going slow in those days, speed was never the issue with an woody.
Speed wasn’t an issue due to road conditions. 45 to 50 was normal driving.