I know when I picture a classic American built Woodie, it’s a station wagon. While every Woodie is cool, not all are wagons! This Chrysler Town and Country is a sedan body and boy does it look awesome. The metal looks solid, but there is a lot of work here, including some wood repair. The seller had paid someone to restore and maintain the wood, but instead they parked it outside and left it to decay. It’s going to need considerable wood work around the trunk. Restoring it won’t be easy, but it sure would be an amazing car once finished! Be sure to take a closer look at this one here on eBay in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
I’ve always enjoyed wood working, so I think a project like this would be fun. I sadly also know how difficult it can be to make it all fit together and look good. It’s going to take considerable patience and lots of sanding to get this one right. Let’s just hope there isn’t any serious rust that needs to be fixed too, as that will make things even more complicated. At least the interior is complete and in good shape!
Of all the Woodies built in the late ’40s, the Chrysler Town and Country convertibles and sedans are some of my favorites! I love the mixture of materials. The wood brings character and warmth to the body, the flowing metal fenders give it a great shape and all that chrome makes it really pop on sunny days. If you ask me, these were some of the most attractive cars of the late ’40s!
Restored, this would be a rather valuable car, but I’m not sure it’s worth $17k in its current condition. Now if it was a convertible, it would be a steal at that price! Finding parts for these is difficult, but not impossible and there are several shops specializing in restoring and producing parts for them. Finding replacement wood will be the most challenging part of this project. So do any of you know if someone is reproducing the wood parts for these? If so, I’m sure the next owner will appreciate the tip!
I’m close if someone wants me to take a closer look…
Question…would you rather deal with the “tin worm” or “termites “? All joking aside, this would be a sweet ride.
These were highly desirable in the 70s.
You can see the chrome has a ton of nickel under it and is in good shape.
The wood can’t be that bad to do!?
This wood, as it is on most woodies, is steam bent and uses complicated finger joints for connections of adjoining pieces of wood. You can see those clearly in the pictures on the lower right side of the fender line adjoining the trunk. Not for someone without sophisticated woodworking experience.
Is that roof rack made from wood as well, looks like it to me.
The timber on either side of the trunk is laminated, you can see the lines between the strips, shouldn’t be too hard to make up new flat laminated panels then use these as a template to cut new sides and re shape, all the wood only appears to be curved or bent one way so shouldn’t be all that hard to reproduce, just watch out for splinters.
These still sell for a LOT when restored. Looks to me like the wood outside of the trunk area would not be that hard to restore. Sedans sell for 50-60K but I found one that sold for 148K (All the convertibles seem to sell this high)
A boat builder/restorer can help you with that wood.
I have been captaining and sailing antique wooden boats for the last 40 years – the wood repair problems on these vessels are myriad – little, if any, of the wood is structural on this car and if you frequent any wooden boat show, start asking around and you will meet many talented craftsmen who would be able to replicate or repair anything on this vehicle and consider it a regular job – and be proud of their finished work.
I also am close by if someone wants me to look at the car.
This is a real treat to find one in this good a condition and essentially unrestored. Wish I had that kind of money again.
This price is not that far off. It books slightly higher in this condition.
Wow….getting some positive vibes today…..how refreshing ! Not in the market for one but like was said this car does have a lot ( pieces to find ) going for it.
that should be hard pieces to find or repair….
The wood is easy…….there are several shops that have patterns and will build anything you need. Might not be cheep. I would think these are like a wooden boat. Varnish needs to be stripped and re-varnished every few years to keep show quality. Note Varnishes are much better than the old stuff, it will hold up longer but the old stuff has to be completely removed.
But a true classic, even if the “authorities” have not dubbed it so as yet. Except for the missing trunk wood (not an easy thing to reproduce) the rest looks incredibly fine. Most (all?) had the 6 not the 8 for reasons I never have understood, but that 6 can take this car at highway speeds all day.
If the drivetrain is serviceable, and the interior complete and usable. I would think seventeen grand isnt far off. There is a Town and Country club:
http://www.townandcountrywoodies.com/
And after you buy it you can drive it to Wavecrest in September:
https://sandiegowoodies.com/events/wavecrest
There was one on Curbside Classics a while back. The wood is very expensive to get restored and the people who can truly be able to almost do it right you can count on one hand. These are beautiful cars, it just is the talent that built them is gone and will never be resurrected again. You can come close but people today will no way spend the 6-8 years with almost no wages to learn how to become a master coach builder. The ones today are but a pimple on the master coach builders of the past.
The wooden boat school turns out a graduating class of these craftsmen every year……have you seen modern built wooden speed boats? They are as good as the old ones. The woodwork here takes less skill than building a new Riveria. I know of 1/2 a dozen shops that specialize in rebuilding woodie cars. It takes a craftsman but is not rocket science. What it does take is time, and a craftsmanship time is worth 100.00 an hr, so it is expensive.
I have also rebuilt many horse drawn carriages. There are still craftsmen that do that work. I have a cousin in Ireland that still builds traditional carriages in my families old carriage works but there are many fine restorers and builders here in the US. I have a buddy that bought a 250,00 Brewster road coach that had been wrecked…..he had it restored to like new condition in a shop in New England. It is one of the most beautiful wheeled vehicles you have ever seen…..off course, it always was. Brewster built the best carriages in the world. They were shown extensively in Europe and had little competition. Another friend of mine built the Wells Fargo Concorde coaches……exactly as the originals orignal plans and with the orignal machinery. You can not tell the difference between one of his and an orignal sitting side by side. The one on display at the Autry museum was one of his until the last few years when they obtained an orignal to replace it with. We have the greatest craftsmen in the world here in the USA even today. The problem is there too few people with the means and willingness to pay the price for there work.
I remember my dad had one of these and it was a convertible. Gray in color but a beauty for sure. He owned it in the mid 50’s and sold it for $50. Loved it.