1985 Chrysler LeBaron Town & Country convertible

 photographed at the Antique and Classic Car Club of Canada’s

 2009 Concours d’Elegance.

    The other day, while my 1947 Frazer Manhattan was being given the inspection my insurance company now demands every three years, I asked the appraiser if he thought 1983-86 Chrysler Town & Country convertibles ever would be collectable.
    “They are already,” was his reply.
    In one way I was pleased to hear that, because it means I’m not alone in liking these oddball cars.
But in another way I was disappointed because it means the prices are only going to go up.
    I never owned one of these cars, but did have a brand new 1979 Town & Country wagon for a while. I bought it because its fake wood trim looked less phoney than the vinyl that was slapped on other “woody” wagons of the era.
    Real wood was last used as decoration on the 1953 Buick station wagons and its use as an integral part of a car’s body structure was doomed when Plymouth came out with an all-steel wagon for 1950.
    But wood wasn’t limited to wagons and appeared on many special-bodied convertibles in the 1940s from automakers such as Nash, Ford, Mercury and, of course, on Chrysler’s famous 1947-49 Town & Country models.
    Those cars take tremendous effort to restore, simply because of all that wood, and regularly sell for well into six figures.
That makes the 1980s models look like real bargains because a good example should be obtainable for under $10,000.
    Town & Country trim was optional on 1983-86 LeBaron convertibles, often in conjunction with attractive Mark Cross leather interiors. The LeBarons was built on the 100.3-inch wheelbase platform of Chrysler’s ubiquitous K-car compact, which had saved the company from financial ruin in 1981.
    The car’s plastic woodgrain trim was meant to evoke memories of the 1947-49 models, and – call me crazy – but to my way of thinking it did just that. I find the “marine teak” vinyl siding and “ash”-coloured surround mouldings quite attractive.
    When introduced in 1982, the LeBaron became the first production American ragtop since 1976 when Cadillac had stopped building the Eldorado (billed back then – wrongly as it turned out – as the “last convertible”). The T&C package was optional the next year.
    Only 1,520 Town & Country convertibles were made in 1983, just 1,105 in 1984, 595 in 1985 and 501 in 1986. With a list price of $15,595 in ’83 the T&C was almost $5,000 more than the standard LeBaron convertible.
At first these front-wheel drive cars were powered only by a 95-hp, 2.6-litre “Silent Shaft” inline four made by Mitsubishi, which was mated to a 3-speed TorqueFlyte automatic transmission. A 146-hp, 2.2-litre turbocharged four built by Chrysler became optional in 1984.
    They were very well equipped for the day with power windows and locks, air conditioning and front bucket seats. They also had Chrysler’s Electronic Voice Alert, infamous for the warning that “a door is ajar.” An accessory continental kit added to their retro look, but according to some reports didn’t do anything to improve handling.
    The LeBaron Town & Country convertibles don’t appeal to everyone, which means prices never will go stratospheric, but they do have excellent parts availability (other than the plastic wood bits) and are a nice size that will fit in any garage. Plus, the power top folds down for open-air motoring and they were built in limited quantities.
    A T&C LeBaron station wagon was made from 1982-88, and the convertible’s “wood” trim was derived from this model. But the wagon isn’t nearly as collectable.
    The Town & Country name survives to this day on the top end Chrysler minivan – but without the fake wood trim.

Write to Glen at glenwoodcock@canoemail.com