Wagon Week EP6 - Chrysler Town & Country
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
- It may have been thirsty for gas but this 440 big block powered Town & Country was the perfect machine for growing American families on the move. Watch and wonder as Steve examines it’s novel “dual action” tailgate.
What always pops into my head when seeing all those junk cars is every one of them was somebody's pride and joy when they were new....Thanks Steve
I've always wondered if someone recognized these cars
I've thought the same. They all tell a story. At one time they were brand new.
@@LongIslandMopars Can I get an Amen!!!. As a teen scavenging parts ,I always knew and wondered about the people who owned and had moments in those junk cars when they were new and mid-life etc.
@@gulfy09 As a teen scavenging parts ,I always knew and wondered about the people who owned and had moments in those junk cars when they were knew and mid-life etc.
@@samuraibushido7077 Amen
Motor homes are a great place to find big blocks too, but not many people feel bad about picking those out
14-16mpg for a 440 wagon? My Shelby Dakota NEVER did better than 16mpg. So much for progress.
A great crawl on a car I paid absolutely no attention to in 1973. As a 17 year old high school senior, this car was as exciting as Lawrence Welk and Geritol ! 😂 But I have come to appreciate these old beasts, and I am always glad to see one of these old dinosaurs! 😁
Something this generation misses out on: "bumping into your friends car at stop signs!" with those bumpers.
I didn’t, mine and my buddies cars were junk in high school. It was just before everyone had a phone with a camera and we used to bump at red lights all the time. We made it a point to road rage each other if we saw one of us on the roads. One time we got out at a light and caused a huge scene only to act like normal and get back in our cars when the light turned green 😂
I had a company car.All of our cars were the same. We used to push each other at red lights etc.
Glad you are doing well and on your way back to normal we are praying for and will continue to pray for Steve. Thanks for sharing this with us and we appreciate your time, work, and research for these videos
My dad bought a brand new 68 Town and Country....383 , avs four barrel, hi rise exhaust manifolds with factory dual exhaust. He pulled a 28 foot Coachmen camper with it....from Illinois to the Colorado Rockies. It was the car that taught me to drive.....with 150,000 miles on it it would still do one hundred twenty miles an hour.
With all the options, someone hauled the family around in comfort. I remember these new, along with all the other manufacturers' wagons, every kid wanted to sit in the rear facing seats. Thank you as always sir - look at all the people out here pulling for you. We all appreciate you and your expertise. ~ Chuck
I remember how well they ran and how you couldn't hear the engine running. 😁 So many times I'd see my parents reach down to start the engine and it was already running
Not "every" kid! I was prone to car sickness when I was in my preteen years and riding in that 3rd seat meant that my lunch would be making a return appearance within 10 minutes, tops! I dreaded it. That attitude must have been contagious, since my brothers didn't like riding in the "penalty box" either!
The old wagons helped develop the west just like the covered wagon. Hope your coming back soon .may God bless you steve and give you good health.
What great perspective.
Your the man Steve! hope you feeling better
Steve, hoping you're healing well!🍀🌞😄
Hoping for another update soon. 🙏
Those cars were great trailer towing platforms! I'm surprised that whoever snagged the engine didn't take that nice 727 trans.
I owned that in the late 1970s. By that time these gas hogs were worthless. I think I paid $200 for it and I had to wait while the seller siphoned 10 gallons of gasoline out of it. It was a comfortable highway car. I just needed something to get to work and college until I could afford something that got better gas mileage.
An expensive car in it's day
ALWAYS THANKS FOR YOUR GREAT WISDOM
So nice of you
I think the 73 and 74 essentially looked the same. I worked in a Chrysler dealership over that time period, and we sold a surprising number of those loaded Town and Countries. I got to drive them all, fresh off the transport trucks, about as new as you could get. Loved those big 440’s.
i have a 72 Fury wagon w a 360 2V , and i ordered a complete new exhaust for it last month, cant wait to put her back on the road- She is a great old car and it brings people back to a better time whenever i drive her somewhere
Hope you put her back on the road very soon and you get to enjoy her for many, many miles.
We purchased a used 1971 Chrysler Town & Country equipped as follows : 6 passenger, green (with woodgrain), 440 4 bbl AVS), power steering, power brakes, cruise control, posi rear 3.23), air conditioning, power windows, power door locks, 60/40 bench seat (driver & passenger power; fully recliner passenger), tilt/telescopic steering with rim blow horn, am/8 track (I replaced with a factory am/fm 8 track), rear window washer, roof rack (I added a step bumper from a 1970 T&C). I was getting ready to install dual exhaust (had the system from a 70 T&C 383) but never got around to it. One other project that I was going to do was try to install a dash from a 1971 Imperial so the car would be equipped with ‘factory gauges’ the donor dash did not have the cutout for the 8 track so my plan was to use a factory am/fm stereo with the cassette player/recorder. I wanted to make this one of the highest optioned car available (it was pretty close to that when I started.
I really loved the car and my brother used to take it (fully loaded with people and luggage) on long trips with friends I remember him telling me that while in Wyoming, the cruise control was working at the outside temperature which he claimed was 110 degrees!
Glad to see you back!!!
Boy, do I ever remember that first gas crunch back in ‘73. We had a 67 Country Squire wagon and a ‘71 Super Beetle. My dad had just sold the Super Beetle about a week before the gas crisis hit and all we had left was the big, thirsty Ford wagon. Pop was really kicking himself for that lousy timing!
These were awesome station wagons. An option not mentioned was rear air conditioning 😎
Keep on Swinging Mags. Love the "Station Wagons" Cheers 🇨🇦
More to come!
Completely ignored these back in the day. If it wasnt a cuda, challenger, or charger i wasnt interested. As they say... too soon old, too late smart. Only thing is, that rear facing seat was probably a motion sickness vomit generator. I remember getting carsick on almost every ride in my uncle's country squire for family trips. Used to call me "Ol' Pukey"
I was twelve years old in 1973, and if I could go back to that era, even at my age now, I would have been gone long ago. The cars were great and the people were outgoing, extroverted and very colorful. The music was at its peak and the police state was in its infancy. Very low crime and so much to do. People lived a real face to face life, the ladies were hot and not obese and we didnt hide behind a screen in our box/home. No globslists trying to destroy the little people and narcissism and greed were somewhat rare. Now we have today to deal with...😢!
Crime was not low in New York City where I lived in 1973. 😎
@@LongIslandMopars Yep, plenty of crime and drugs in the cities and over a decade of inflation was well on its way ( Nixon had already enacted a temporary wage and price freeze in Aug. of 1971 ) Then there was the Oct.'73 oil embargo, due to a war. The 55 mph speed limit in Jan. 1974. Lots of trouble all over the world, and in America. The beginning of the malaise era, and the losses of hundreds of thousands of manufacturing iobs and office jobs.... But, the ladies WERE hotter then.... As an 18 year old in 1973 that's what I noticed. 🤔
@@burthenry7740 Yes, it was a tough time to be looking for a job in the 'Great Lakes Area'. Soon to be re-named the 'Rust Belt'. Once the most powerful manufacturing center in probably the whole world, would be dealt one devastating blow after another.
Not to be a Debbie Downer, but plenty wrong circa 1973: inflation, recession, gas crisis, Watergate, emission laden slow vehicles, the beginning of the malaise era, manufacturing shrinking, crime, and in NYC, things were coming unglued to the point that the city was nearly bankrupt in 1975. The saving grace was that the civil servants of NYC lent NYC their pension money to float the city. It was the only way out at the time. This led to NYC establishing the Fiscal Control Board.
@@googleusergp dark time in NYC history. Not great nowadays either.
Hey Steve-O, once again tremendous insight fella'. ---- That 15% increase in sales you mentioned for these 1973 Town & Country models during the Arab OIL embargo was directly attributable to drastic markdowns by Chrysler Corp. on the vehicle's MSRP. It was quite simply the only way the dealer network could move these behemoths off of their lots. In fact, TWO grand off the sticker was quite common. Many Thanks Yo ! 🚘🔍. 💸
The bumper bumpers were great for pushing a stalled out chevy down the road. Did it all the time, when your buddies cars would stall just had to push them back home.
What an awesome land yacht!
Even as a little kid I really liked the sta wagon my dad brought home. It was a slightly used, very nice 1969 Oldsmobile Cutlass wagon. 350 310hp 4bbl dual exhaust and Oldsmobile Rally Wheels. I would love to have that car today!
How are you doing Steve? I hope your getting better each Day . Good video I had a Neighbor in Tulsa ,Oklahoma early 70's they had this Wagon & it was really nice Family car in its Day Thanks for showing it.
My family never owned a wagon, but one of my aunts and uncles did. It was physically bigger than the 3/4 ton 4×4 my Dad had bought for the farm. Yikes!!!!
Great stuff from a day past. Kids can't imagine now how cool it was to ride in the third row looking out the back window
Wishing you well!
I love it!!! I had a 1973 New Port 2 door as my first car in high school in the same color and that happened to be 1992. It only had the 400ci that I gave to my friend who still has it in his 1968 Coronet. That was such a fun car.
sweet ride for sure, I had a 68 Charger with a jazzed up 440 and similiar 2/73 gears and when you would mash the pedal at 55 she would downshift back into 2nd and not shift into 3rd till around 100 mph, then the front end would start getting light and floaty till you backed off. Great Times.
That wagon's body looks great . Maybe someone will save it . even if you put a small block in it !
My favourite station wagon!
i like 1969-1973 town & country. thanks steve.
Back in the 1980's when I was in Jaycee's we were given one of those as a donation. We cut the roof off, added some bucket seats in the rear and threw a quick paint job on it to use as a parade car. A 10 year old station wagon wasn't really worth much back then. The original owner was able to get more out of it as a donation then what they could have sold it for.
DanE!! Where are you??
My mind ran off somewhere...
@@DanEBoyddude!
I believe the 440 4 barrel in a 73 C body was 215 or 225 horsepower net. My mothers 73 T&C was green with green interior. 440, AC, power windows, door locks, and seats. Cruise control, luggage rack. My mother loved that car. Finally got traded in the early 80s with a 140k miles in it. My fathers only complaint, it made the oil companies rich. 10 mpg around town, 14 on the highway.
Still working the algorithm Steve
Hurry back
Great find on this one!
Very cool segment. The fenders are almost as long as my Mazda 3...
that Chrysler station wagon reminds me of the 1970 Plymouth sport suburban station wagon we had back in the day.
The seat were so much more comfortable back then
Driving down the street and I see an old or abandoned car on someone yard I expect to see Steve M. looking at the vin number and looking at his camera man talking. You have made me far more aware of the older cars I see. Best wishes Steve, we miss you
My Dad gave me his '71 T&C! I went camping in it!
~
Another great Wagon Week episode Steve!👍
That was what they called "large and in charge", That was the best of the best Chrystler in its day. Get your health back Steve!!!!
We had a 1974 blue with wood grain 9 passenger Plymouth Fury wagon with 360
Great car!!! Also, the video was great because you weren't doing NEARLY as much "sniffing".. guessing you took an allergy pill before filming started.
As usual, the big block power train has been harvested 😊
Another video, another day closer....as stated last time:
Yes, and no. The first oil crisis came in October 1973, so by then the 1974 models were coming out, the 1973s had (mostly) been sold. The "shortage" was in response to nations that supported Israel in the Yom Kippur war.
Yup, with the VIN, we win: C for Chrysler, P for Premium price class, 45 for six passenger wagon, T for 440 V8 with four barrel, 3 for 1973 model year, C for Jefferson Ave, Detroit, MI assembly and the rest is the production sequence. The Jefferson plant that assembled this car operated from 1925 to 1990 and then was replaced in 1991 with the "new" Jefferson Ave plant which still operates today under Stellantis. No, that's not correct. The 55 MPH speed limit was enacted on January 2, 1974 by Richard Nixon, not in 1976.
Yes, we did not learn our lesson and it was repeated in 1979. It was the reason my parents put off buying a Trans Am and by 1980, the Pontiac 400 and Olds 403 were both gone from the option list, and the 301 turbo V8 was the top engine (which is what we got).
We got the tag, we can brag: H51 for single heater and AC equipped, V5X for black body side moldings, G11 for tinted glass, all windows, P31 for power windows, P41 for power door locks, (J)Y6 for Golden Haze exterior paint, N51 for maximum duty engine cooling, R48 for power antenna, L31 for hood/fender mounted turn signals, D8X9 and X9 for black interior trim combination, P44 for power lock tailgate, E85 for 440 V8 with four barrel, D34 for Torqueflite automatic transmission. A16 comes back as a "Spring Special" code in some of the earlier years, but I believe it was reassigned to something else by 1973. My guess on M45 is some sort of trim code. The right-hand lower corner of the tag has the same VIN as the dashboard VIN plate. No, D31 is a light duty Torqueflite A904 automatic transmission. D91 is Sure Grip differential.
Those books are indeed handy, but sometimes additional research is needed as some older information can be faulty and years later, new information surfaces that supplements what was published in the past. Factory literature is always the best when available. GM did a better job with putting RPO codes in all of their parts books and explaining them. Chrysler did a decent job, but GM was more "code" oriented even in the early years.
22!!
I had great luck with the wagons. A big block car for pennies on the dollar. Often with the towing pakage. (Heavy duty everything!)
Thank you Steve!👍
Oh for the longroofs to come back. I bought last December an aussie falcon/futura 2003 BA wagon. Ford Australia 100% LPG/propane system on the Aussie 6 cyl Barra engine, fold down rear seats, you can camp in it! Went to the hardware store on the weekend, bought some 6ft timber, the young guy was amazed when we opened the rear and I folded the seats down and loaded up!
We had the 71 Plymouth Sport Suburban, with a 383 / 727. I took my driving test in it and the range officer passed me when I parallel parked that behemoth, even though my 3 point turn had 5 points. 😂
From what I have learned from your videos, Steve, I suggest there’s another way to tell what motor a big Mopar station wagon left Detroit with, without checking the CIN or door tag - just look under the hood. If there’s no motor, it was a 440…
MOPAR for life 🇦🇺👍🏻.
My dad always bought them. The last one he bought was a 1975 Town and County wagon which had the third row seat. If I remember right you can put the door key in the tailgate lock cylinder and lower the glass that way. It had the 440 in it and of course I got it over 100 mph a few times!
Land Barge for sure, Detroit Iron👍
Drop in the truck version of the V10 and make it a freeway rocketship to do a Drag n Drive event, plus hide a battery bank under the rear floor and use a hybrid power adder between the trans and the driveshaft, switching off the V-10 once up to speed on the freeway.
Heck, a Tesla Plaid swap in to that would mess with peoples heads.
🏆🍀Steve 👀✌️
Soccer games?
Huge as it looks, that thing weights about 1,000lbs less than a modern Suburban.
As a kid during that era I can tell you that riding in third row sucked, especially on a hot summer day.
The air conditioning never made it back there, there was no airflow at all, and you had sun hitting at you from three sides. This combined with sitting backwards behind the rear axle was enough to make you beyond car sick.
As always I will take the word of the expert Steve!
Families needed wagons
My dad had a couple of these through the years ,440 tnt, 68 Chrysler town & country way ahead of its time, got my license with that car
Our neighbors had one. Good looking car!
i would take this car in a heart beat
had a 72 the same coloration growin up 400-2 w/a highbeam floor button that had rusted sort of off so the headlights would flash on and off loved that car
Hello.
When I was growing up my parents had two of those cars (bought new). Both were 3-seat models. The first one was a red `72. Then three years later they bought a `75. It had the optional 400, and it had terrible carburetion problems, almost from day one. That car was the brochure color. They got rid of it in 1979, the year before I got my license. I loved that car, and would love to have one today. I remember the family trips in that car, with me and my brother sitting in "the way back", sometimes giving the hand signal to truckers to blow their air horns.🙂
What a whale 😄
Those were such great cars for families, and they always had a pretty hot engine
It's great you're recovering, hope to see you back soon!!!!
Those things are huge!
Hope your recovery is going smoothly, Steve.
This car actually looks saveable
Bought a 9 passenger72, with air shocks, back in the early nineties. Used it to tow cars that I was flipping and to take my family to church. The children still remember the big wagon. At the time I lived in Yonkers NY and my cars were getting broken into weekly and even at that time the glass for the Chrysler was hard to find. So I used to leave it unlocked hoping that would solve the problem. Unfortunately the thieves didn't bother to check, they just broke the windows routinely. So I ended up junking it. It was a cool car!
Awesome! Good stuff!
Thanks Steve!
Thanks for sharing this video with us enjoyed it
Love. Any. Chrysler. Wagons. Thanks
And up to 140K subscribers!!
I loved this is the original Carmageddon :D
🖖
We're all pulling for you Steve. Hope to see you back in the Junkyard soon!
The '72 looks so much better than the '73.
Thanks Steve !😊
My mom had a Town and Country exactly like this , I remember riding in it as a kid
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Liking and Sharing, Take Care Steve ☺️
Thanks again Steve....keep getting better
You are a man of talent thank you for your great content
I took my driver's test in a 1973 Plymouth Fury III Station Wagon. Passed first try. I think the guy administering the test gave some leeway, especially on the 3-point turn, which I did in 5-points, lol. Good memories.
Thanks for sharing
Hey Steve, I hope your feeling well today, where is this junkyard with the 1973 station wagon? I seen something I want to buy, with my ears I can't catch the name....thank you Dean
Bernardston Auto Wrecking, Bernardston Mass.
Dale Hastings is the owner. Good luck!
im 63 & i kno i dont kno everything but i sure have learned alot watching ur vids. Thx & Godspeed to you & urs
Great memories of riding in the fold-out seats in the "way back" of my parents' '74 Grand Safari!