There are Town & Countrys, and then there are Town & Countrys. The model name ran for seven decades – with a small hiatus during WWII, of course, and a single year retirement in 1989 – but its style gyrated from the famous, desirable, and rare “barrelback” hauler to the modern minivan. Mostly, the Town & Country was a family car, with copious space for people and luggage. This splendid example, available on craigslist for $35,000 and located in Tacoma, Washington, has logged only 53,000 miles since it was new. The seller has owned the car since 2002, and it runs well. Curvette, thanks for another spectacular tip!
The Town & Country was introduced for model year 1941 as an eight-passenger luxury station wagon, substantially adorned with wood. One of the true “woodies,” these early models fetch stunning prices. Chrysler’s next T&C iteration brought more body styles to the table – barely. Despite the promise of two sedans, a roadster, a coupe, and a convertible, only a four-door sedan and a two-door convertible were ever made in production quantities through 1949. These were heavy cars, powered by inline six- and eight-cylinder engines with horsepower ratings in the 115-135 range. This example’s underhood powerplant is the 323.5 cubic-inch “Spitfire” inline-eight, paired with a semi-automatic fluid drive gearbox, cleverly named the Presto-Matic. The seller notes that his car has a subtle vibration while underway, and the tires should be replaced due to age.
These were luxury cars, no doubt about it, with leather upholstery, a full complement of gauges, and color-matched accessories. Spotlights, dual heaters, grille-mounted fog lamps, a working convertible top with a glass rear window, refreshed chrome – all add to the appeal of this special car.
By 1948, manufacturers were replacing real wood with a new miracle material: Di Noc. Producing vintage Di Noc is as much a photographic process as it is a chemical process. The mahoghany-look panels between the ash framing here are vinyl Di Noc; the vinyl film also showed up on instrument panels and interior trim. By the 1950s, vinyl had nearly completely supplanted wood in every corner of the typical car. Other than a few special models, including from other makers, values of Big Woodies have been declining. Maintenance of the trim is a factor, as is performance. But if you can enjoy these iconic cars for what they are, this example is an outstanding prospect, at a reasonable price even in today’s soft market.
Wow!!! What a beautiful Car!!! This is one of my all time favorite cars. I have a burgundy Danbury Mint model of this exact Chrysler. This is just such a beautiful car. That straight 8 must be silky smooth. Curvette, a huge hats off to Curvette for finding this beautiful gem, and Michelle, thank you for the great write up for us to enjoy. I’m going to finish this response. And start drooling over the photos again.
I’m with Driveinstile this is a beautiful car I can not stop looking at it this car has personality.
Ha! I just heard the Lemon Pledge commercial jingle in my head!
What a magnificent motor car. If it were mine I think I would have to use it at every opportunity in order to show the youngsters of today what absolutey beautiful cars we had back in our younger days!
At this summer’s Woodies on the Cove in Ogunquit, Maine was a 49 version in black.
The curved trunk lid is just amazing, I was not aware that it was not wood.
This one has a better interior.
What a magnificent time for automobiles !
I couldn’t agree more! My father had one of the seven hardtops
Chrysler built in ’47 as prototypes
but were never built. He bought it
as a used car after serving in Korea in ’52. His was mint green
with a dark green top and all that
wood! He told me that the car ran and drove great. But after a
a few times of varnishing all that
wood, he got tired of the car and
traded it in on a new ’54 Dodge
Indy Pace Car Replica convertible. OMG! I think I’m in love 💕! Definitely wanna make
a print of this one! If anyone’s
interested, Angel has my contact
info so that you can get in touch
with me. Too bad I couldn’t post
one or two of my prints here the
way you guys list cars, trucks, and everything else we enjoy here. And lemme tell Ya’, I would
be riding around in this car as often as I could– after I had electric power steering installed
so that my niece and SIL could drive it easily. I could see cruising it at Old Town on weekends and taking orders for
prints there too. One thing’s for sure, you won’t see another car like it– that is after you call Orkin
or Terminix to treat the wood to
protect it against termites LOL!
What a beauty! I have a 48 New Yorker Business Coupe that I listed here awhile back that shares most all of the same drivetrain and mechanicals. The shop manual that i have also has information on the wood body panels for this Town and Country. The 323 Spitfire L8 engines in these run beautifully but the fluid drive has some quirks to it.
Not an expert but 35k seems like a steal for this car. wow.
Now this was built when they actually knew how to build cars. Just about everything on this car is the perfect combination and, if I had the money, this may be parked in my driveway, in a choice spot.
Beautiful car in every way. And I appreciate the care that has been given this car. But not my style.
Outstanding is definitely right Michelle, this car is absolutely beautiful. I love this era in automotive design and this car is one I’d be proud to own and drive.