Now here’s an intriguing opportunity. An 82-year-old owner has decided he’s never going to get around to restoring his three 1950 Chrysler Town and Country coupes, so he had a buddy list them on Facebook Marketplace in Greenwood, Louisiana, for $18,000 all in. These are exceptionally cool cars, highly collectible, and to have three of them together is an embarrassment of riches. From the photos, it would appear that the expedient thing would be to restore one of the cars, the example parked on the left, and use the other two as parts cars. That one example (below) retains its wood paneling, and what appears to be a pretty decent interior and engine. The driver’s door is open, possibly because of structural issues? But maybe the rarity and value of these T&Cs dictate preserving all three.
Town and Country models existed before World War II, but this particular model’s history starts in 1946 with a four-door sedan and convertible. The wood body frames were made of white ash, with mahogany veneer panels bonded to underlying steel. The hefty price in 1946 averaged $2,609. The first year, 2,169 were built.
The ’48 T&C four-door sedan was the last in that body style. The convertible continued, with one of the few changes being that the Honduran mahogany wood panels were now DI-NOC vinyl.
The ‘49s finally got new post-war bodywork, and a new, longer 131.5-inch wheelbase (based on the New Yorker). Note the near-contemporary Cadillac convertible in the background of the photo below. The owner had other unfinished projects.
And the 1950s coupes like this one were the last true Chrysler woodies, though, as mentioned, the side panels were simulated. Windshield washers were now an option! Classic.com doesn’t have a price for the 1950 Chrysler T&C Coupe (because none were sold), but the similar 1949 goes for $57,943 in average condition.
Given this, a price of $18,000 for all three, assuming the one car is as decent as it looks, seems like a pretty good deal, leaving some available cash to invest before the buyer is upside-down. And what an elegant result!
Now THAT’S value for you! I’d restore the better of the three and
maybe restomod the other two.
Too bad we can’t see all the cars
he’s selling, I’ll bet he has something for everyone. And while I like the Caddy flower car too, I think I’d take the three-fer though. Doggone it! Now I wanna make a print of this car, but I’m still in the middle of a friend’s Cobra 🐍.
Ken,
I hope you are not referring to the red Cadillac in the background as a flower car. I know there is a listing for a 1955 flower car but this red one is a 1954 Cadillac Eldorado convertible. I hope the stainless skirts are in the trunk.
Hey Angel 😇! You once said that you liked Town & Countries, well here ya go!
I think the last interior pic is another car. My guess would be a ’55 Chrysler. I see a big brake pedal and a shift lever on the dash. Otherwise an interesting trio. I don’t know how many “T&C only” parts would be needed from the extra two cars. I think I would try to sell those and put the funds into the best car of the lot. If somebody is into these the price doesn’t seem too bad, but sadly anybody into these is about the same age as the seller.
It’s a ’56 Dodge. There’s a pushbutton transmission pod on the left side of the dash.
For sure. You can see the gorgeous late 40’s Chrysler jukebox gauge cluster in the the first and last cars shown in the video on FB.
That’s a 1956 Dodge. It’s a 1956 because it has the Powerflite shifter pod with 4 buttons to the left of the driver. The vertical sliding levers located on either side of the steering column control the cabin heater temperature (on the left) and the exterior headlights (on the right).
Note the “Super 230 Powered” script on the glove box. That car has a 230-horsepower 315-cubic-inch “Super Red Ram” V8 engine, equipped with a four-barrel carburetor.
Actually the $2600 price tag in 1946 works out to about 31K in todays dollars.
seems like a fair deal, there’s other cars in that building too.
The interior photo is of a ’56 Dodge. There’s a pushbutton transmission pod on the left side of the dash.
looks like they had dry storage. at 6k a piece it sounds like deal if you like these.