Chrysler · 1940–1988

Chrysler Town and Country (pre-1990)

The Chrysler Town & Country is an automobile manufactured by Chrysler from 1940 to 1942 and from 1945 to 1988, with production interrupted during World War II. Primarily produced as a luxury station wagon, the Town & Country was also available in "woodie" four-door sedan, two-door hardtop and convertible body styles from 1947 to 1950, 1968 to 1969, and 1983 to 1986. The 1988 model year was the last for the station wagon until the 1990 model year, when Chrysler reintroduced the Town & Country nameplate as the rebadged Town & Country minivan. The Town & Country wagon was reintroduced with all-steel construction in 1951, in both Windsor and New Yorker variants until the end of Windsor model production for the 1960 model year, and then in Newport and New Yorker models through 1965. In 1966, it became a standalone model, with trim and features that bridged the gap between the two sedan lines. It was distinguished by luxury features including a carpeted rear cargo area with split-folding second row bench seats trimmed with chrome covered strips of steel, and from 1968 forward, simulated woodgrain paneling on the body sides and tailgate, a feature also associated with somewhat competitive top-shelf station wagons such as the AMC Ambassador, Buick Estate, Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser, Ford Country Squire and the Mercury Colony Park. In 1976, AMC introduced the Jeep Grand Wagoneer, with similar passenger accommodation and a simulated woodgrain appearance built on a dedicated chassis. The Town & Country, however, stood in a luxury class by itself until the last of the full-sized versions of 1977. In 1978, it was sized down and absorbed into the LeBaron series, with a lesser version lacking the more luxurious features and the woodgrain bodyside decals available for a few years in the early 1980s. Chrysler reintroduced the Town & Country nameplate in 1989 as a luxury rebadged variant of the Dodge Grand Caravan/Plymouth Grand Voyager minivan for the 1990 model year. This incarnation of the Town & Country would continue to be sold until the end of the 2016 model year, when Chrysler reintroduced the Pacifica nameplate for their minivan for the 2017 model year.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Successor: Chrysler Town & Country

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1941–1942

The four-door, eight-passenger Town & Country station wagon made its debut during the 1941 model year as Chrysler's first vehicle to offer wooden doors and body panels, or "woodie", with an all-steel roof. Using wood in vehicle production was not a new approach, as most cars built from the 1900s until the 1930s regularly used wood for body support, flooring, or structural uses. The car used the roof of the concurrent Chrysler Imperial limousine, which led to a rear-loading configuration with wooden double doors (also called "Barrel Back" doors) that opened out from the center beneath the fixed backlight (rear window). The wooden body framing was made from white ash, and the panels were Honduran mahogany veneer. The use of wood was not confined to exterior appearance, and carried over to the interior trunk lid and interior door panels as well. The wood panels were provided by Perkins Wood Products, and the owner's manual suggested that the wood panels be varnished every six months. The name "Town & Country" was coined after another nameplate Chrysler offered for another six-passenger sedan, called the "Town Sedan", on the Windsor, Saratoga, and New Yorker product lines from 1941 to 1942. It was introduced with the straight-six engine as an alternative to the Buick Estate, Oldsmobile Series 60, and Packard One-Ten woodie station wagons. This engine was installed in the Series C-28 Windsor, offering six or nine passenger accommodation with a six-cylinder engine, or the Series C-30 Saratoga, with the straight-eight engine and nine passenger accommodation (of which only one was specially requested for 1941). It was offered as a response to the eight-cylinder Buick Super and the Packard One-Twenty woodie station wagons. Prices listed for the six-cylinder Series C-28 Windsor w

1946–1950

After World War II, the Town & Country nameplate returned, though the 4-door 8-passenger station wagon did not. Only the 1946 4-door sedan and 2-door convertible were offered. However, the 1946 Town & Country sales brochure described and illustrated a roadster, a 2-door sedan called the Brougham, and a 2-door hardtop called the Custom Club Coupe. None of these three additional body styles progressed beyond the prototype stage, with only one Brougham and seven Custom Club Coupes being built. It would be another three years before General Motors would offer the first mass-produced 2-door hardtops, while the Town & Country range would not see a production 2-door hardtop until a year after that. The wooden body framing was made from white ash, and the panels were mahogany veneer, but were now bonded to steel body panels. The average retail price was listed at US$2,609 ($43,075 in 2025 dollars ), and production totals were documented at 2,169. For the 1947 model year, the Town & Country 4-door sedan and the 2-door convertible were each carried over with just a few improvements from the previous year. The 1948 model year would be the last for the Town & Country 4-door sedan, after a three-year production run. The 2-door convertible carried over with very few improvements from the previous year. This was also the year the genuine Honduran mahogany wood panels were replaced by DI-NOC vinyl panels. A similar appearance sedan was also introduced in 1948, called the Packard Station Sedan, which resembled a sedan but had a two-piece tailgate constructed entirely of wood. After a four-year production run, 1949 would be the last model year for the Town & Country 2-door convertible, which again received very few improvements from the previous year. Chrysler's 1949 models were the com

1951–1959

After the woodie coupes, sedans, and convertibles were discontinued, the Town & Country nameplate was used on an all steel-bodied full-size rear wheel drive station wagon, coinciding with the debut of Chrysler's first V8 engine, which was originally called FireDome but later unofficially called HEMI. This wagon introduced several firsts, including roll-down rear windows for tailgates for 1951 and rear-facing third-row seats for 1957. It shared the chassis, engine, transmission and interior luxury features with the Chrysler Imperial, including a simulated leather and broadcloth upholstery. The previous generations' use of wood paneling bonded to the exterior steel body panels was discontinued due to durability and appearance upkeep issues, although it was still used on the DeSoto Firedome and Dodge Coronet. Production totals for the 1951 Windsor Town & Country were 1,967, while 1,299 Saratoga Town & Country and 251 New Yorker Town & Country were produced, with the New Yorker station wagon listed at US$4,026 ($49,938 in 2025 dollars ). The Town & Country was luxurious and expensive and sold in limited numbers, averaging 1,900 each year for both the Windsor and New Yorker versions. The Windsor Deluxe sedan typically sold 64,000 and the New Yorker Deluxe sedan 34,000 each year, averaging US$2,660 ($32,994 in 2025 dollars ) for the Windsor sedan and US$3,494 ($43,339 in 2025 dollars ) for the New Yorker sedan. The 1951 Town & Country wagons were offered in the Windsor, Saratoga, and New Yorker series, and featured split folding second row seats as standard equipment, with a hardwood-covered cargo area and chrome-covered steel load strips to aid in loading cargo, an appearance that remained for several decades. For 1955, Chrysler introduced the 2-speed PowerFlite automatic, a

1960–1964

For model years 1960 through 1962, the New Yorker Town & Country remained on the 126-inch wheelbase, while the Windsor and later the Newport Town & Country models rode a wheelbase of 122 inches. These were the roomiest factory-bodied, automobile-based station wagons on the market at the time. Chrysler also introduced hardtop styling as standard on Chrysler-branded models for the first time. These were the first large wagons, and among the largest automobiles with unibody construction. The 1960 New Yorker Town & Country nine-passenger station wagon was US$5,131 ($55,841 in 2025 dollars ); 671 have been recorded to have been manufactured. Starting in 1958, Chryslers were optionally equipped with Captive-Aire tires that remained inflated regardless of a tire puncture for $94 ($1,023 in 2025 dollars ). In 1957, Chrysler introduced a new torsion bar front suspension called Torsion-Aire, which replaced the previous coil spring front suspension. The dashboard had been designed with Chrysler's button controls for the TorqueFlite automatic in mind, with the "AstraDome" instrument cluster covering the part of the steering column. As standard practice, a column shifter would come out from under, and manual cars thus used a floor shifter. Due to the installation of the "AstraDome" instrument cluster extending outward towards the steering wheel, the traditional installation of the turn signal lever was relocated to the dashboard, underneath the "TorqueFlite" pushbutton gear selectors, and was installed as a sliding lever that would return to center as the steering wheel returned to the center position. When the program to create Chryslers for 1962 was abruptly canceled in 1960, both of the 1962 Town & Country wagons (Newport and New Yorker) were instead created by mating their 1961

1965–1968

All of Chrysler's full-sized cars, except the Imperial, received major makeovers for the 1965 model year. They were the work of chief of design, Elwood Engel, who had been hired away from Ford a few years earlier. The unitized body and chassis, with longitudinal front torsion bars and rear leaf springs, carried over from the prior generation. The wood-sided appearance which was last used in 1950 returned, albeit in a simulated form. The 1965 New Yorker Town & Country station wagon was US$5,033 ($51,420 in 2025 dollars ); 1,697 were recorded to have been manufactured. Automatic transmission-equipped cars dropped the dashboard shift control and converted to the new industry-standard PRNDL sequence shift lever, either column or floor mounted. Dodge and Chrysler models shared passenger compartment structures, and so interior dimensions were essentially identical. The Town & Country wagons shared the 121 in (3,073 mm) wheelbase and design with Plymouth and Dodge wagons, while other Chrysler body styles rode on a wheelbase 3 in (76 mm) longer. However, the wagons had the same overall length as sedans, at just under 220 in (5,588 mm). All Chrysler models and body styles, including the Town & Country, featured rear wheel opening skirts. Thin pillars and tall glass shared with 4-door sedans made for generous space and outward visibility. Straight roof rails on the long roof rack had adjustable cross bars. All Newport models including wagons had a larger standard engine for 1965. The 3.375 inch stroke LB engine was bored to 4.25 inches, yielding 383 cubic inches. With a 2BBL carburetor and single exhaust, the regular fuel 383 produced 270 HP. A premium fuel 383 engine with 4BBL and dual exhausts producing 305 HP was an available option. New Yorker wagons continued to feature the

1969–1973

For 1969, a major restyle brought a dramatic new look to all full-sized Chrysler cars. Called "fuselage design", it featured a pronounced side curvature from the rocker panels all the way to the roof rails. Plymouth and Dodge models, excluding wagons, shared passenger compartment structures and greenhouses riding on 120-inch and 122-inch wheelbases respectively. Similarly, Chrysler and Imperial models, excluding the Town & Country wagon, shared slightly longer passenger compartments and greenhouses, riding on 124-inch and 127-inch wheelbases respectively (all of the Imperial's longer wheelbase was in the front clip). As with the prior generation, all full-sized Chrysler wagons shared a common greenhouse on a unitized body and chassis with longitudinal front torsion bars, rear leaf springs, and Dodge's 122-inch wheelbase. As before, the wagon's shorter wheelbase was offset by the additional rear overhang. 1969 Town & Country wagons were nearly identical to other Chrysler body styles in overall length, at just under 225 inches. The 1969 Town & Country was US$5,279 ($46,347 in 2025 dollars ); 24,516 were recorded to have been manufactured. Fuselage-era Chryslers featured a full-width loop style chrome front bumper. Quad headlamps and grille were recessed inside the loop, with differing grille inserts for each series. Turn signal and parking lamps were recessed into the bumper below the headlamps. Body sides were simple and smooth, with a subtle character line originating at the front bumper, descending slightly for the length of the car, and ending at the wrap-around rear bumper. On Town & Country wagons, this character line was also the location of the lower molding surrounding the standard wood grain side paneling, simulated cherry for 1969. The fuselage profile extended

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name

Chrysler Town & Country

Assembly

Jefferson Avenue Assembly, Detroit, Michigan, United States

Manufacturer

Chrysler

Production

1940–1941, 1945–1988

Model years

1941–1942, 1946–1988

Successor

Chrysler Town & Country minivan (1990–2016)

Class

Full-size luxury car, (1941–1942), (1946–1977), Mid-size luxury car, (1978–1988)

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Check the linked sources for citations.

More photos

US EPA fuel-economy records

US EPA test figures (US MPG, US test cycle).

Sources

• Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11212731CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
• Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Town_%26_Country_(1941%E2%80%931988)CC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1373414551 · retrieved 2026-10-01
• Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1972_Chrysler_Town_%26_Country.jpgCC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo: Josephew at English Wikipedia (Original text: Josephew) · retrieved 2026-10-01
• Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.

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