The Chrysler Town & Country
Woodie Years (by Harold Mermel)
In
1941, Chrysler came out with the first all steel roof woodie wagon,
called the Town & Country 4-door sedan. Less than 1,000 of this
luxury vehicle were built, in 9 passenger and 6 passenger versions, for
city or estate transportation.
Chrysler wrote: “The celebrated 1941 Chrysler Town & Country would become the first luxury station wagon, appealing to affluent buyers with attractive design and interior fittings coupled to a larger and more refined cargo area than that found on competitor’s vehicles. Significantly, it was the industry’s first steel-roofed wagon. But to many this first Town & Country wasn’t a wagon at all, but rather a fastback sedan, a glamorous and soon-popular new type of car whose production run would sadly be limited to just 17 months by world events. After World War II, the Chrysler Town & Country name graced a line of elegant convertibles, sedans and hardtops – but no wagons (Plymouth was the only Chrysler division to produce station wagons in the immediate postwar period, again featuring wood bodies supplied by an outside vendor).”
In 1942, the sheet metal was changed and the woodie design was similar. Again, less than 1,000 were built, due to Pearl Harbor stopping production in December, 1941. These two models are considered the grandfathers to the recent explosion of minivans and SUVs.
After WWII, the 1946 to early 1949 Town & Country woodies were made in much larger numbers, as sedans, convertibles and seven 2-door hardtops (the first production hardtops ever made by any manufacturer). In later design 1949 models, only convertible versions were made. In the last year of Chrysler woodie production, the T & C were 2-door hardtops only.
The T & C woodies were only built from 1941 thru 1950, with none made during WWII (1942 thru most of 1946). These cars are highly respected and sought after. They are gorgeous in restored or nice original condition. Prices cover the spectrum, but usually on the high side. (A very few have even sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars!)
Chrysler and Desoto did also offer box type woodie station wagons in 1949 and 1950. Plymouth and Dodge offered the box type woodie wagons throughout the 1930s and 1940s.
Anyone who wishes to join the Town & Country Owners' Club can mention me and contact John Slusar at TandCregistry [at] cs.com.
Steel Town & Country wagons
Chrysler wrote:
In 1949, Chrysler became the first American automaker to build all-metal wagons in quantity, beginning with the aptly named Plymouth Suburban. Eagerly purchased by those flocking to freshly built suburbs, the success of these cars soon prompted Chrysler to also add steel-bodied station wagons to its Chrysler, Dodge and DeSoto product lines, making it the first American automaker to build all-metal wagons in quantity.
In 1951, the Town & Country nameplate was again properly applied to a station wagon [but not a woodie], coinciding with the debut of the famous HEMI® V-8 engine and rekindling the association of Chrysler and luxurious, high-performance station wagons. The company enhanced this reputation through the creation of numerous station wagon engineering firsts, including roll-down rear windows for tailgates in 1951 and rear-facing third row seats in 1957. Tailgates, in fact, were a major focus of Chrysler innovation: window washers came in 1968, integral air deflectors in 1969 and, in 1971, ignition interlock to prevent children from opening the gate while the car was running. Cruise control, introduced by Chrysler just as the interstate highway era dawned in 1958, was another popular addition to the company’s smooth-riding wagons, which were often called upon for long, out-of-town family outings.
One of the best examples of Chrysler’s leadership in the category was the 1959 Town & Country station wagon. With 95 cubic feet of cargo space, it offered more carrying capacity than any other North American wagon. The third-row seat folded flat into the floor. To customize the interior of their new Town & Country, buyers could choose from among 22 combinations of fabric and vinyl, as well as such high-end options as Airtemp air conditioning, electronic speed control, automatic dimming headlights and “captive air tires,” which permitted the driver to reach a service station after suffering a flat and obviated the need for a spare-tire compartment in the cargo area.
Town & Country drivers and passengers in this era traveled with authority as well as comfort, thanks to the under-the-hood performance of a 413 cid, 350-horsepower V-8. In addition to Chrysler-created power steering and power window lifts, power brakes, power seats and a power radio antenna were available. Nor surprisingly, this most luxurious of American station wagons was also the most expensive, with factory suggested retail pricing in the $5,000 range, depending upon options selected by the customer.
In most years from 1951 through to the end of the big wagons, the Town & Country would ride on a longer wheelbase than the sedans they were based on, and frequently changes made to other vehicles would lag behind on the wagons, due to their much lower production numbers (tooling was good for around 100,000 vehicles). Indeed, Town & Country wagons were unusual until they were downsized and down-priced, as making the vehicles unique, on their own special wheelbase and with special trim and heavier-duty chassis and brakes in many years, added greatly to the cost. In some years, the Town & Country was a trim level above a standard wagon.
The Town & Country would continue as a full-size wagon, officially becoming part of the C cars in 1965, when the platform-lettering began. In 1977 the name was transferred to the F/J/M bodies (technically to the M) until 1982 [click here for extensive details on the M-body Town & Country]. These Town & Country models’ cost premium was no doubt less than it would have been had the popular Volare and Aspen wagons, using almost identical bodies, not been introduced years earlier. (These were continued as the Chrysler LeBaron; the Town & Country was a LeBaron wagon with a higher level of trim, as years earlier it had been a Newport wagon with a higher level of trim.)
From 1980, wagon tail lights maintained the older style from the 1977-79 body; given that dies last about 100,000 cars, it’s quite possible they were saving money by using the tooling as long as they could. Marine teakwood-grain (plastic) appliqués on body sides and liftgate were framed with simulated white ash moldings. Cut-pile carpeting — color-keyed to the interior trim —covered the cargo floor and sides up to the window trim and the back of the second seat-back. The cargo floor and back of the second seat had stainless-steel skid strips. With the second seat-back folded forward, the cargo capacity was 71.8 cubic feet on all wagons. A push button unlatched the second seat-back for folding forward. A carpeted floor panel—attached to the back of the second seat-back — pivoted forward to fill in the floor gap between the cargo floor and second seat and locked the seat-back down. This panel made the cargo floor continuous and gap free.
| Power (Exc. CA) | 1977-78 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981-82 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbs | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| HP (318) | 145 @ 4000 | 140 @ 4000 | 120 @ 3,600 | 130 @ 4,000 | ||
| HP (360) | 155 @ 3600 | 155 @ 3600 | ||||
| Torque (318) | 245 @ 1600 | 245 @ 1600 | 245 @ 1,600 | 230 @ 1,600 | ||
| Torque (360) | 275 @ 2000 | 270 @ 2400 |
| 1980 Town & Country |
|
|---|---|
Wheelbase |
112.7" |
Overall length |
205.5" |
Overall width |
74.2" |
Overall height |
55.5 |
Track—Front / Rear |
60.0"/59.5" |
Turning diameter (curb-to-curb) |
40.7' |
Headroom—Front /Rear |
39.2" / 38.7" |
Legroom—Front /Rear |
42.4" / 37.4" |
Hip room—Front /Rear |
56.8" / 56.6" |
Shoulder-room—Front /Rear |
56.0" / 56.0" |
Cargo capacity— [cu. ft] |
71.8 |
| Weight | 3,545 - 3,617 |
In 1982, the Town & Country was finally moved into the front-wheel-drive world, using a modified Dodge 400 body and becoming, in the words of allpar, an EEK. The rear-drive M-body was just not selling well enough to support all the variations, and the sedan itself (four doors only, with the two-door dropped) would remain in production almost entirely due to fleet sales, being sold to around 80% of police agencies across the country (and also maintaing strong popularity among taxi fleets) due partly to its rugged construction and ease of repair. The front wheel drive Town & Country would remain in the lineup, faux wood sides and all, through 1988, powered by a variety of four-cylinder engines.
In 1983-1984, a Town and Country convertible was sold, complete with plastic panels designed to resemble wood. This was essentially the LeBaron convertible with different trim.
In 1990, the Chrysler Town & Country minivan was introduced; click here for more on the Town & Country minivans.
