My memory of road trips in a great big wagon is a huge part of my childhood. My parents car was a green Caprice wagon with the wood paneling along the side. It was big but not quite as enormous as this 1977 Town & Country wagon submitted by Pat L and found here on craigslist in Hudson Valley, New York for a whopping $15,000. This is the last of the giant wagons, big enough to fit a 4×8 sheet of plywood flat with the door closed. After the ’77 model year, Chrysler scaled down on the size of their full sized station wagons.
This clean and tidy “time capsule” sports the original 440 V8 with only 19,789 miles on the odometer. The listing says it has a full load of power options and even provides a photo of the original bill of sale to prove it. The car was driven until 1983 when it was parked in a garage until the seller purchased it earlier this year. It runs but will need a fair amount of work to get it safely back on the road. For starters, the fuel system is going to need a complete overhaul to get rid of the 35 year old gas.
The paint and the chrome look very solid with no real signs of damage or rust. The interior is a fantastic deep brown leather that looks to be in excellent condition as well. I don’t know if this model had the rear facing third row seat like my parents Caprice but it does have the what appears to be the 3 way rear door.
I would love to take my family on a road trip in this car. It screams comfort with the soft leather benches and the float-like ride. Even better, it has a working 8-track player so the music would be classic. No dance music or rap allowed! The car is in fantastic shape, has low mileage and all the power options but the asking price might be a bit high. That said, the seller is open to offers so I really hope that someone puts it back on the road. Bring back the family road trip!
These things were so big they were difficult to get in and out of the shop, but you couldn’t get more luxury or room on a Grayhound. Great highway cruisers. At today’s prices though you would need a six figure income just to keep gas in it.
Yes it is a barge with wheels. But what a comfortable ride.
Length:
5784 mm / 227.7 in (18.97 feet)
Width:
2017 mm / 79.4 in (6.61 feet)
Width with mirrors:
Width folded back mirrors:
Height:
1448 mm / 57 in
Wheelbase:
3150 mm / 124 in (10.3 feet)
Front track:
1626 mm / 64 in
Rear track:
1610 mm / 63.4 in
Ground clearance:
Turning circle btw. walls:
14.6 m / 47.9 ft
Turning circle btw. curbs:
13.65 m / 44.8 ft
The Town & Country once I got rid of the Lean Burn system works as it should. The gas mileage is not that bad on the highway but it takes a lot of oomph to get it up on plane :)
I think this is more of a displacement hull than a planing hull. As in displace sho eats gas.
Super cool. I just picked up a 91 Country Squire on the cheap and road tripped it 200 miles over the weekend. I’m totally in love with these big wagons and their ability to crush miles in style and comfort (with plenty of space for the lady, the dog, and the luggage). That said, it doesn’t exactly corner as flat as my MGB. Hah
Wow he totally fell for the car and had to have it, and selling it a few months later with almost no work done. Must be love. Bet he paid the old guy $2,500.
it is a 3 seat wagon , says so on the window sticker in the Craigslist ad
@Shawn Fox Firth
You have some good eyes, I could barely make out the 3 seat wagon part.
I love how the seller boasts that you can read the window sticker about all the eye grabbing details. With the great picture that the seller provided I could barely read the first line.
I have the dodge Royal Monaco, in México the interiors was more Like a Chrysler Imperial
You have a wagon or the sedan? I am also in Mexico.
Driving this car is like driving in your living room. These are fantastic road cars. I had a 75 New Yorker Brougham 4 door and it was a great cruiser. C bodies are well built and very tough. Drop the fuel tank and send it out to be cleaned blow the fuel lines clean with 35 PSI shop air and rebuild the Carter Thermoquad carburetor with new fuel filters and you are good to go. The key is with these fuels with 10% ethanol need to be treated so that the fuel does not break down to what is called phase separation that is when it begins to attack metal and rubber components in the fuel system. A good product for this is Lucas fuel system treatment and conditioner which also treats against ethanol. 1 Oz of Lucas treats 5 gallons. Changed the rest of the vehicles fluids and you would have a great and unique show Cruiser here with what appears to be a Survivor with original paint.
Or pay for no-ethanol gas—available near me (I live about 20 miles from a large lake.) for around 3.00 a gallon right now. Carburetors do not like ETOH in gasoline.
Another curbsider who will not admit it.I do agree he likely paid 2500 for it. At 5 dollars a gallon for gas in Canada it would be a expensive ride.
I’m a huge wagon fan, and would love to own this one. I do think the $15k sticker is a bit high considering it’s not ready for prime time.
This is very Rare low mileage time capsule Museum piece. The window sticker is the kicker.
Call him a curber or anything else but I think he will get what he wants and maybe more.
Mopar Freaks will go nuts.
Ha! I am a Mopar fan, but at $15k..? He can go kick rocks. You guys that think this is the biggest vehicle “Ma Mopar” ever made for consumer consumption are very mistaken, too- Travco Travstar 320 is the king. I’ve owned a ’71 300 coupe and a Travco 320, so…
“Go kick rocks” I’ve never heard that one. I love it. I’m going to use that one with your permission. Thanks for the laugh of the day.
Back in ’79 I bought a ’73 Town & Country 440, in really nice shape, only had 100K miles, in the same butternut yellow or whatever color, anyhow I only paid $100 because this was during the gas “shortage” following the second arab oil embargo and gas was around $1/gal in NW Washington State at the time (roughly $3.60 per gallon adjusted for inflation) anyhow that car never did any better that 10 mpg, was too expensive to run for an unemployed 22 y.o. like me, so I drove it for awhile and resold it and all I got was my $100 back
I agree with Chris. Use the Lucas treatment, refresh the fluids and drive it from sea to sea. You’ll love it. And the 440 will run forever because there’s really no burden on it other than vehicle weight. Chrysler transmissions were historically bulletproof. It looks like a really nice car but I think the price is too high.
Love these huge wagons but $15k seems steep.
The thing still needs work. 15K is what they guy WOULD LIKE to get, but anyone who meets that number has more money than sense.
These cars really don’t have any real collector following, so the price does seem high.
A pristine Chevrolet wagon of the period would have a hard time getting that kind of money, and they are much more popular.
I had the very last one of these built, black , no wood grain, have pics and vin, if anyone cares and details. also this is the last vehicle a funeral director could get a casket in.