1977 Chrysler Town & Country - Low Mileage West Coast Wagon

1977 Chrysler Town & Country Description

This is a very low mileage Town & Country wagon that is both showable and drivable daily. It is not a garage queen or concours d'elegance trophy winning car--but one you can use to take the whole family to car shows in style. There were very few 1975-77 Chrysler wagons made; these simply did not sell well in competition with the Country Squire at the time. There are very few of these big C-body wagons left, and this one is an excellent west-coast example. It has no rust anywhere. The car was originally purchased near Portland Oregon and was driven by one family until 1986 when it was garaged due to a fuel tank issue until being repaired in 2015. We are the third owners (the second owner flipped it).
When the car was pulled out of storage, it was painted in the correct "Russet Sunfire" metallic brown and the woodgrain was replaced with the appropriate 3M material. The rest of the car is all original, and is as clean as you would expect of a car with 60k miles. Because it's a station wagon, it was used as a family hauler and has some scuffs and carpet wear inside, but overall survived very well. There is a popped stitch on the edge of the driver's center armrest and a small tear in the driver's sunvisor--but other than that no significant flaws with upholstery. The trim panels along either side of the cargo bay are a little sun bleached, but the rest of the interior is excellent.
The powertrain is also in very good condition; the car runs excellent. The thermoquad carburetor and "Lean Burn" system were not working well at all when I bought the car several years ago, and after several carburetor rebuilds the performance was still substandard--and the car wouldn't pass California emissions--so I put in a Holley Sniper TBI fuel injection system and a new catalyst. This absolutely converted the car overnight--not only does it pass smog but the car makes much more power and is infinitely more behaved on cold starts and in traffic, etc. I can't emphasize enough how much the 440 came alive with fuel injection. It runs much cleaner, idles smoother, and still looks all original (unless you remove the air cleaner, but smog inspectors don't do that). If you have questions on the TBI conversion contact me, but trust me it turned this car into a real driver. The Torqueflite 727 trans shifts perfectly. The engine's rear main seal is leaking and should be done sooner than later, it drips a little during each drive.
The cause of the original car's storage was a fuel tank that had rusted from the inside out. The car had a temporary fuel tank when I bought it; I removed it and put in a restored fuel tank from a donor wagon. The donor fuel tank was flushed, acid etched and then coated inside out with modern fuel system coatings so that the tank will last as long as the car. The sending unit is a new old stock part. Both the tank and this sender were nearly impossible to get, but it's done.
Among the enormous list of work done to get this car roadworthy over the last couple years (we take it on road trips), here's a very abbreviated list of the most important work that's been done: Front brake pads, rotors, wheel bearings, hoses. New engine belts and hoses, radiator and thermostat. Driveshaft U-joints and rebalance. Limited slip rear differential flush and reseal. New catalyst and muffler. New shocks, front and rear (rear OEM-type load leveling air shocks). New transmission mount. Tires are nearly new with full tread depth. Lots of other items as well.
The climate control (Auto Temp II) works correctly in the different modes. A/C blows cool, it's been converted to R134a. The heater core just started leaking, and I cannot find one anywhere. If I keep the car I'll have to probably take it out and have a custom replacement fabricated. Until then it's bypassed. The power door locks, power windows, dual front power seats, and rear power window work fine. The rear load-leveling shocks work but when there's no load in the car the system bleeds off air and the shocks can rattle on rough roads, I haven't figured that one out yet. The easy solution is to just put in conventional shocks but my intent was to keep the car original.
The factory original 8-track radio has been converted internally with an Aurora Design MP3/Bluetooth/iPod/Aux digital stereo. This was an expensive conversion that keeps the external controls and functionality of the original stereo but adds in modern performance. Combined with 4 new speakers, the sound system is fantastic. Bluetooth call quality is excellent. The 8-track still works as well and has a new belt.
Of the 30+ classic cars I've owned, this one is a show stealer by a country mile. We literally get stopped every time we drive it by people wanting to look and ask questions. It draws small crowds at car shows (or in any parking lot) and everyone always wants to see the third row seat.
It is currently registered and smogged in California, and we drive it weekly. I'd prefer not to sell it but we could use the resources for a different family purchase. With that said, we know the car's reasonable value and if it can't sell in that price range we'll keep it--I won't be accepting lowball offers sorry. I am happy to help with coordinating transportation if you need to have the car shipped. I am also happy to schedule viewings/test drives at your request. Thanks for looking!