Just before cars went full-on Interstate Cruiser with 900-pound bumpers and rocketship fins, showrooms offered the stately and handsome design of this 1956 Chrysler Windsor Town and Country station wagon. The never-restored classic comes to market here on Facebook Marketplace, where $8500 seals the deal. Thanks to reader T.J. for spotting this mid-fifties family mover located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Yeah; it’s got a Hemi in it. If original, the 354 cid first-generation Chrysler V8 with hemispherical combustion chambers made 225 HP in this Windsor model, according to Lov2xlr8, while the New Yorker Town and Country managed 280 HP from a half-point bump in compression and other changes. Have you ever seen a blue battery cable?
Double overhead cams? Not so fast, friends; that’s merely the Hemi’s interesting dual rocker arm arrangement, making an overhead valve motor actuate splayed valves in the hemispherical combustion chamber. That and centrally-located spark plugs make for a unique valve cover that’s instantly recognizable to Mopar fans everywhere.
The Hemi-powered hauler spent most of its life in California, according to the seller, and I can picture a surfboard or two on top or in the cavernous cargo hold. Sadly the seller ran out of film before snapping a picture of the dashboard or front seats. The push-button transmission certainly makes an impression. Two-tone upholstery and chrome trim dress up the interior.
Body panels and trim seem mostly straight and rust-free, though it’s hard to tell for sure. Most pictures show the chrome wagon wheels, but here we see the full-sized wheel covers. Spear-like fins foreshadow the fintastic 1957 Chryslers, making the 1956 look more conservative by a landslide. If I could only have one, a ’56 or ’57 of any corporate Chrysler brand, I’d generally take the ’57, but this ’56 and the Plymouth Fury for ’56 (at least) look especially sharp with their small fins. Would you daily drive this Hemi-powered Chrysler?
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