Talk about a big project, big in every way. It’s big, as in just under 19 feet in length, and big as in almost two-and-a-half tons. When you look at the photos, you’ll also see that this 1969 Chrysler Town & Country is a big project, condition-wise. The seller has it listed here on eBay in Westminster, Colorado and there is an unmet opening bid price of $2,000, which nobody has clicked on yet.
This Town & Country is big in engine size and horsepower, too, which is what most of us were hoping for. Lurking under that patina-heavy (i.e., surface rust-laden) hood is the biggest, most-horsepower’est engine available in this car. I forgot to mention the big gas bill that you’ll have using this as your daily driver, at 10 mpg on a good day. Remember when gas was only $0.35 a gallon?! Stupid economy! Yeah, but $0.35 in 1969 is $5.66 today, which is much more than most of us pay now. Not to mention that most people don’t blink to pay $6 or more for an eight-ounce sugary, foamy, non-coffee “coffee”, so there’s that. It’s all relative, my friends.
Chrysler made the high-end Town & Country beginning in 1940 and production ended in 1988, other than a couple of years off during WWII. The fifth-generation cars, such as this model, were made from 1968 for the 1969 model year, until the 1973 model year. Beginning in 1966 with the previous generation cars, they were available with a 10:1-compression 440 V8 with 350 hp.
You have already noticed that the exterior has seen better days, despite actually somehow looking solid and mostly dent-free at the same time. This car would look absolutely beautiful in restored condition in this Jubilee Blue color. Make mine Avocado Green as always, but I would not turn away this car even as it looks now. The interior is fairly rough and the seller says that there is some rust on the floors to deal with, but once that’s fixed and acres of matching vinyl are ordered, your upholstery shop owner can finally make that final boat payment. It won’t be inexpensive to restore the interior of this car, but it’ll be worth the effort. Come on, man, it’s a Town & Country with the biggest engine and power windows!
Thank you, owner/seller, for providing an engine photo! And a beautiful beast it is: Chrysler’s 440-cu.in. OHV V8, which would have had 350 horsepower and 480 lb-ft of torque when new. Zinnnng! It needs some fuel system work and a battery, though. This car would have hit 60 mph in about the same time as a new Honda Civic, and get 1/3 the mpg, and… er.. wait, I forgot where I was going there. Oh yeah, but then you wouldn’t be driving a cool Town & Country! Life isn’t about getting the most MPG you can get, it’s about living the best, most fun, and most fulfilling life you can, and if a car like this Di-Noc wagon does that for you, I’m all for it. I’d love to have this car, have any of you owned one?
Back in the day, that 440 would have been transplanted into a Satellite , right after the demo derby. 99% of us wouldn’t have been caught dead in a wagon unless it was a Nomad. Not sure what changed.
What changed is that every “old car” of every type is uncommon now. It’s not 1991 anymore and vehicles that used to be everywhere are rarely seen. Station wagons and just plain cars are largely unavailable as everything is replaced by a jellybean-shaped gray/white blob that does nothing well except adhere to goverrnment mandates. People like these cars because they’re different or as they got older, they developed a fondness for the memories made in their parents/grandparents’ wagon and wish they had it back.
I bought my 1969 T&C back in 2001 for $400 off some guy who wanted to demo it. I still have the car today. It’s loaded with every option under the sun except for rear air and power vent windows. Plus it has the big 440. $20,000 plus she’s a beauty with custom paint job and rebuilt slightly modified 440. It’s a head turner. You just don’t see them on the road any more. Even the younger folks think it’s cool.
The prime collectables are snapped up, so you look to the second tier, and so on, until what’s left are the cars that were disposable to begin with, and to find one at all is a miracle.
I can remember when you wouldn’t pay more than $300.00 for any Fender guitar or bass from the 70’s.
As for Wagons in particular, they were totally not cool, but I think they fall into the category of bringing back good memories of childhood, and or “get a load of this!!” When you think about it, the last full size wagons are 35 years gone. I’d say most people 35 or younger have never been in a station wagon.
No they weren’t, I liked wagons back in the 80s when cars like this were hitting the pile by the thousands. I wish I had kept a few more than I did but cars take space time and $. I drove a 58 Buick wagon and a 59 Squire and was constantly poked at.
Hey! Found a Mopar for The Road Kill Boys!! 😂 They would get it going and smoked the tires up!! Then take it on a trip. 🐻🇺🇸
They already have one. But there’s is a 69
.35 cents then, equals $5.66 today. Lucky for us. We’re so much smarter than those Neanderthals back in the ’70’s!
.35 in 1969 is the equivalent of 2.85 in 2023 per the inflation calculator on google. Don’t know where the author came up with his figure.Cool car that’s gonna need a boat load of $ to restore.I’d do the usual stuff to make it safely roadworthy , go thru the brakes ,fuel system, new tires ,battery,belts all hoses etc.Dual exhaust with cherry bombs and cruise it as is with all its patina.I’d put an american flag up where the headliner is missing like I had in my old impala wagon.
Thanks, Maggy! I put it in twice and somehow came up with the wrong number both times. You’re right, that’s what I get now when I put in $0.35 in 1969 dollars. Thanks for the correction.
No big deal.I just thought your figure was a little high.I have an old cast iron cased Mills slot machine from 1941 and used the calculator not long ago being curious myself to let the grandkids know what .25 back then is now. You should see the look on their face when I tell them it’s 5.12 in 2023. At least when they play it they put their dang phones down for a minute.lol.Take care.Keep up the good writing.
In the mid 70’s I had the Plymouth Version. Same engine / powertrain. That thing screamed but with the driving I was doing then, I couldn’t afford to keep it very long.
Friends parents had one. Spent many hours in the middle seat, or horsing around in the rearward facing ones. Exhaust gasses would make you barf. The big 440 powering its way up the Sierras with a boat in tow was distinctive and memorable. But, yes, it couldn’t pass a gas station!
I learned how to drive on my dad’s ’69 T&C green on green with the standard 383 2v. It had plenty of power while providing 5 more mpg.
needs a dual quad setup
Looks just like the one in “The Out Of Towners”. Pretty solid looking wagon. One of the coolest steering wheels ever. Lots of work if you wanna put it back right.
All boy racer notions aside, this was a fairly classy hauler with unmatched road presence. Not quick off the line but built to travel fast for long distances before airplane travel was so accessible. Whatever didn’t fit inside got hitched to the rear. Hope it gets love.
My best friend had the exact same car/same color…beautiful gas hog. I should have bought it when he put it up for sale, but of course, “it’s a wagon”. He sold it to his neighbor; it met it’s fate (yeah, you guessed it) at the demo derby. It didn’t even win! I wanted to cry….
Gas mileage wouldn’t much worse than a restored 4×4 pickup with a big block engine.
Not that its a same type of vehicle, but my wife has a 2010 Town and Country, so name wise, it lasted longer than 1988
my very first car was dad’s cast 71 t&c wagon. all my friends called it noah’s ark. but you know what we took to the beach all summer or to the fairs come fall? yup noah’s ark. we couldn’t all fit in their shovelles or rustangs. and for the record i could get 15 mpg out of it! IF i could keep my foot out of the secondaries. if i couldn’t, the gas gauge beat the speedometer every time
oops* cast off*
I learned to drive on a red one like this, only a 383. You could cram these full of stuff, I recall a Pittsburgh to New York trip with 10 kits and two adults in ours. Drove the wheels off it, it owed us nothing.
No cruise, drum brakes, no seek/scan button on the floor – meh, it’s a stripper.
Road Kill already has one. But there’s is a 69
Brady bunch had one just like this
theirs was shinier lol
My folks had a 68 T&C with a 383 4 barrel. Towed the boat to the lake every Thursday in the summer, dad would think nothing of getting in the left lane passing anyone that was going the speed limit! I can still hear that 4 barrel open up and it would fly! Traded for a 73 T&C with 440, but I think the 383 had more GO!