The Town & Country was one of Chrysler’s longest-running nameplates. From 1941 to 1988 (excluding the World War II years), the T&C badge was found on Chrysler’s top-of-the-line station wagons. In the early days, the bodies were made of wood, but by the 1950s Chrysler went the steel-body route like the other U.S. automakers that sold “woodies”. The seller offers a nice, but not perfect, survivor from 1973. It’s been well-used, but also well-taken care of. He/she must thin the herd due to lost storage, so this land yacht on wheels has to go. From Denver, Colorado, it’s available here on craigslist for $21,000. Thanks for the tip, Mike F.!
Once the wood bodies were gone, “fax” wood paneling began adorning the wagons (and some convertibles, too). The fifth generation of the T&C was produced from 1969 to 1973 based on the luxurious New Yorker platform. They adopted the “fuselage” styling that became popular on Chrysler products in that era. Riding on a 122-inch wheelbase, the Town & Country was one of the biggest consumer vehicles sold, coming in at 230 inches bumper-to-bumper. Chrysler built about 20,000 T&Cs in 1973 of which only 27% had seating for six like this one (the other 73% had seating for nine).
The seller and the photos supplied confirm that this 51-year-old wagon has a few minor scratches and scrapes, but the body and paint are original. And, rust is said to have been held to a minimum. The interior looks quite good, especially since the odometer is close to turning over (96,700 miles).
This big wagon has a 440 cubic inch V8 under the hood, the largest Chrysler offered in those days. A TorqueFlite automatic transmission is also along for the ride. The car has some newer parts, like the tires, battery, radiator, and fuel tank. The A/C needs charging and one of the mirrors is trying to fall off, with both likely not big deals to fix. If you’re into wagons, will this Mopar fit into your garage?
Is it my imagination, or are those seats gray? I expected to see the same tan color on the inside. Very nice wagon in very good shape, nicely optioned, would be fun to own, but the price is a bit steep.
They look to be reupholstered ; I dont remember that look on Chryslers seats
I bought my ’73 T&C used in ’77 largely because it had really good-lookin’ houndstooth check cloth upholstery. Other than that, it was a well-loaded nine passenger 383, same color as this one. I really liked that car but only owned it for two weeks before my son, who had just gotten his license, got run off a back road by a farmer hauling a load of freshly-picked sweet corn to the market. Son did a hard right and avoided a head-ender, but his path pretty much took out the whole bottom. It looked silly sittin’ in the junk yard with no visible damage…
The 1973 Chrysler fabric samples show a gray herringbone like this, and I found another 1973 Town & Country with the exact same upholstery, so I believe it’s original or reupholstered with original fabrics. There’s also a Hemmings article from July that appears to feature this car. In that article, the owner claims it’s original.
My parents bought one of these new, just dark brown, 9 passenger without power windows or power seats. The gas tank rusted through when it was 5-6 years old and the Thermoquad had issues that could never be resolved, which caused it to stall multiple times before it got up to operating temperature. They bought it to tow our travel trailer, which it did well all across the western US, but didn’t get driven much otherwise. Even though rare, the 1973 is ugly compared to earlier and later versions. This wagon is nice, but it’s hard to see $21,000, they were great highway cruisers, but pigs around town.
Steve R
I had a ’73 New Yorker back in the early 80’s, I think I paid 400 bucks for it. Only had 40,000 mi. on it. It only got 10MPG either on the hiway or sitting still. The choke would stick about once a week and fowl the plugs, two on the left side you had to get from underneath. It got to the point where I could take them out, clean them, and put them back in about 35 minutes. A rebuilt carb solved that issue but never got better gas mileage. I sold that and got a rambler for 250 bucks. 21K for this, it’s nice but doesn’t bring back any fond memories.
“AC needs charging” really means “AC system has a leak”.
my folks bought a new ’70 town & country wagon similar outside color i.e. antique ivory with black vinyl seats a 9 passenger. I like the interior vs this grey one. also, it had the standard 383 which was greatly underpowered! It did ride very nice. A lot of car which did fill up all of our garage! I think this car is greatly overpriced?
What I wouldn’t do to get this…….