1970 Chrysler Town & Country 9 Pass Wagon

I have a friend of a neighbor that recently passed, and spouse is looking to sell a 1970 Chrysler Town & Country 9 Pass Wagon, Beige/ Tan with Wood Side Panel. All Original Paint & Interior, Garage kept, One owner. Hoping to go by this weekend and take a close look at it maybe get some pictures and more information. Not sure what engine, but assume it is the 383. Will find out.

Question 1: What is the Desire/ Demand for one of these Cars, as well as the Selling Price Range they should look at.

Question 2: What should I look at in particular to help Value the car ?? Milage, Color, Condition, etc.. Any Special Features to look for or options to check for ??

ANY and ALL help would be appreciated, also They are looking to Sell it to a GOOD HOME, someone that will Value it and Keep it in Shape and Enjoy it most of all...

Any questions, feel free to ask me....

Thanks for the Help !!

Neat but limited market. Top original condition I will say 7500. Go down from there. If it needs any work then much much less.

The Town and Country for 1970 could possibly have the 440 in it. That will make a huge difference as to it's worth. I would love to own it, but it is way too far away and out of my financial range.

Wagons in general are pretty hot in the market right now. With luxury wagon, the more toys it has the better.

I answered this in the Chrysler column (duplicate question posted) but repeat here as a matter of general interest.

It would be a very desirable car to me, and to other Mopar fans. The Chrysler Town and Country was the top of the line station wagon in the Mopar show rooms, basically a Chrysler New Yorker with a station wagon body.

The standard engine was a 440 cu in 375HP job, shared with Imperial and New Yorker.

Old Cars Price Guide sets a price of $2500 to $5000 depending on mileage and condition. If it was in tip top shape and needed nothing, it would be at the higher end. If it has been out of commission and needs new tires, battery, and other repairs to put it on the road, it would be at the lower end.

Pretty much everything was standard equipment on those cars. The main thing to look for is condition and completeness. Damaged or missing parts are hard to get, for bodies, upholstery and trim. Such things as engines, suspension, brakes were shared with other models and are mostly available from your local parts store or Chrysler dealer.

I like the "fuselage" style Chrysler was featuring then, and feel the station wagon carries it particularly well, with a sleek powerful look quite different from the utilitarian looking wagons others were making.

Unfortunately to the general public, station wagons and sedans are not as desirable or valuable as the Road Runner, Charger, or Chrysler convertible type of cars.

( This car would be desirable to me, for pulling a vintage Airstream trailer. Can't you picture it?)

My books say that the 383 was the standard engine for the Town and Country.

I too would like to own it. But do be aware that many of the Chrysler cars from that era has marginal brake capacity. Even in good shape stopping power was sometimes not what you would expect. I had a 1970 Plymouth Fury with the police option package and heavy duty brakes and I still sometimes got into a little trouble because it did not stop as I expected it to.

Thanks for all the Info & Insight...

guess that car would be a BEAST with the 440 in it !! From the info I have I agree that the 383 was the STOCK engine. Hopefully will get a chance to get over there this weekend and take a look at it. Maybe get some pictures. Will also find out when the last time it was driven and/ or run. Take a good look at outside look for dings, dents, rust, etc... as well as the inside and the upholstery and instrumentation. Pop the hood and take a look underneath and see what is in there. Look at the under carriage and see how that looks.

will talk with her and see what she wants for it and maybe work a deal and at the least will help her unload it to a GREAT HOME :!)

Keep in mind that these beasts were much heavier than regular cars. The 1970 Chrysler New Yorker Wagon weighed in at between 4,500 pound and 4,700 pounds, plus passengers and cargo. They needed the bigger engines just to get them down the road so they are not entirely comparable to muscle cars with similar sized engines in terms of acceleration and top end speed.

There are many questions that would need to be answered to come to a value. Has the car been sitting for a long time? If so there could be problems in the engine including sludge and rust that could require the engine to be taken apart and overhauled. Even if not, an engine of that age with that amount of mileage is going to be getting to the end of its life and may need some serious rebuilding. And there are many other parts of the powertrain that would likely need some work to substantial work to make it reliable and safe since this is basically a high mileage used car that has only recently moved into the vintage car category. Is there any rust anywhere? If so, that can be anything from a fairly easy and moderate cost fix all the way to a very expensive fix. Has it ever been in an accident, is the frame perfectly straight, is there a lot of bondo?

It sounds like it could be a fun car to own and restore but the cost of the restoring could be anywhere from minimal to many times the cost of the restoration.

If the car has been out of commission it may not have many miles on it, and if it was stored inside paint, upholstery might be good.

Still, it can cost a lot of money for new tires, battery, brakes etc. About 15 years ago I saw a pristine 1975 Mercury full size wagon at a garage, it looked showroom new and had less than 10,000 miles because it had been sitting in a garage since it was 1 year old. Estimate to put it back on the road, $3000.