CarBrandLogos archive · Chrysler · 1941

ChryslerTown & Country

A prewar woodie wagon whose name ended up on America's luxury minivan.

Photo: MercurySable99 · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Chrysler history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Chrysler Town & Country, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The original Town & Country appeared in 1941 as a wood-bodied wagon with a distinctive curved barrel-back tail, and after the war Chrysler applied the name to wood-trimmed sedans and convertibles that were among the most expensive cars the company sold. Through the 1950s, 60s and 70s the badge settled onto Chrysler's full-size station wagons, complete with simulated woodgrain flanks, until the wagon itself died out in 1988.

2nd-Town-and-Country · IFCAR · Public domain

Design and engineering

Its second life began in 1990, and mattered more. Chrysler had created the modern minivan in 1983 with the Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager, and the Town & Country was the luxury version — leather, wood trim, more equipment and, from 1991, all-wheel drive. It gave Chrysler something no rival had: a genuinely premium people carrier at a time when the alternatives were converted vans.

2nd-Chrysler-Town-and-Country · IFCAR · Public domain

In production

The Town & Country accumulated most of the segment's real innovations. Dual sliding doors became standard practice, power operation followed, and in 2005 Stow 'n Go seating allowed both rear rows to fold flat into the floor without removing them — a packaging achievement that competitors took years to match.

05-07 Chrysler Town and Country LX 1 · IFCAR · Public domain

Legacy

Production ended in 2016, when Chrysler replaced both the Town & Country and the Dodge Grand Caravan with the Pacifica. By then it had become one of the longest-serving names in the American industry, attached to two entirely unrelated kinds of vehicle.

Technical specification

The Town & Country, in detail.

Class: Minivan
Manufacturer: Chrysler Corporation (1990–1998); DaimlerChrysler (1998–2007); Chrysler LLC (2007–2009); Chrysler Group LLC (2009–2014); FCA US LLC (2014–2016)

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Badge at launch