83 T&C Convert, A Classic?

When & or will the 1983 T&C Convert become a "classic" and appreciate above the $1400 Kelley value? Mine's a cream puff, but becoming high maintenance...

If you study the collector car market carefully, you will notice that cars generally become collectible when a child who remembers them as contemporary dream cars grows to the age where his own children have grown, completed college and gotten married. Most generally, that is between 30-40 years. There are few exceptions to that case, notably the Corvette phenomenon and the 1955-57 Chevrolets. On the other hand, there are no guarantees, notable examples being early Ford Thunderbirds and convertible Lincolns, which never seemed to reach their potentials. Since the '83-86 T&Cs have not already piqued collectors' interests, I would have to say that you are in for a long wait!

Hello Mary Ellen. I own a 1984 T&C convertible. I don't think you'll have to wait very long for this model to become worth keeping up. The old rule of thumb is in fact 25-30 years and thi sappplies certainly for classic car status. In fact many of teh motor vehicle offices set a time period when you can applay for historic car licence plate and in many cases it is the 20 year mark.I'm trying to learn how to figure out what options my car may be missing. It was a theft recovery purchase and the dashboard was damaged heavily. I haven't seen another T&C like mine so I'm at a loss as to what mine should look like. The dealership couldn't help me much although they did tell me about a metal tag inside the engine bay near the battery that has info about the options. I guess i'll have to compare the tags with other owners and figure out what mine's missing.Pat

I'm sorry that I have neglected to check this site, for a while. Yes, you are definitely correct in saying that the '83-'86 T&Cs are worth keeping up. My answer was intended to reflect the time in the future when I would expect these cars to attain their highest value. Wooden convertible T&Cs did not achieve values beyond $20K until the early '90s, when they were 40 years old, but now they typically sell at $85K and far beyond. In fact, all indications are that they have still not reached their zenith, as a few restorers hve spent over $200K on restorations, alone.<P>I would like to address our situation. The Town and Country Owners Registry recognizes the '83-'86 T&Cs, and we have assembled quite a bit of information about them. I don't know your identity or where you live, but we will be sharing a national meet with the WPC Club, in the Wisconsin Dells, this July. Perhaps we are near enough to entice you to visit. There are usually at least a dozen excellent examples of cars like yours present at that meet. We also offer back issues of our magazine, which can be chosen from a subject index. If you are interested in joining our club, look for the Application Form in our website, or contact me at tandcregistry@cs.com.<BR>John Slusar<BR>PS: One of our members recently wrote to me about his efforts to convert an electronic dashboard to the simpler style used on K-cars.

I don't know if this is still applicable since these posts are almost 3 years old. I also have an 84 T & C convertible. I do not think these are ever going to be on a par with the late 40's & early 50's T & C's. As for Classic status they will never be rated a classic as in the definition applied by the CCVA. That said, my theory is if you like it then own it and drive it. It will attain

collector, and antique status. that applies to any car that has acheived 25 years of age. collector status to me means that someone out there wants to collect them and that is proven by this forum. They will be somewhat high maintenence due to the jumble of electronics in them but then old cars have their expenses as well. Enjoy it.

Pat

From what I can tell from mine and the fact that the Chrysler T & C convertible was the top of the line at the time, therefore everything was pretty much standard and I don't believe there were many if any options. For the big bucks they were getting you got it all. An owners manual which I just purchased from E-bay may shed some light on the issue. I have access to two 84 T & C ragtops

all complete and all there with servicable tops with the chrysler engine. If you might be interested in one of them and you are not to far away something might be able to be worked out. They both run as long as you keep pouring gas down the carb. So it looks like the electric fuel pump might be shot, but the rest...............