The last year for the wood-bodied Town and Country, 1950 was also the first year for Chrysler’s Hardtop Coupe. This example, one of 698 produced in 1950, has enjoyed a comprehensive frame-off restoration and offers a highly-detailed undercarriage and engine bay, with its interior restored to correct specifications and exquisite black paintwork with painstakingly detailed wood elements. the 323/135 HP inline 8-cylinder engine and Fluid Drive transmission, the car features a bench seat, pushbutton radio, full-size wheel covers and wide whitewall tires among other great details. Finding another example in such exquisite condition would be difficult at best. These early postwar Chrysler products have long been in the shadows of so many other cars, unappreciated largely from a design standpoint, but have recently been showing quiet increases in desirability indicating a renewed interest in these cars. Interestingly, one of the hallmarks of the Chrysler Corporation was its nearly obsessive interest in forward engineering, developing products and automobiles that offered customers robust and unique concepts providing owners with vehicles that had a certain aura of advancement over the competition. The Fluid Drive transmission and self-oiling chassis components were part of that movement; the Hemispherical combustion chambers, which provided not only more efficient fuel usage, but more power; disc brakes that were tested in 1939 and offered as an option on cars in early 1948—all these and more helped Chrysler products earn a reputation of being hugely advanced vehicles. With the exception of a few prototypes built in 1946, this model was the only wood-bodied Chrysler hardtop coupe ever produced. Finding one as remarkable as this one is a rare treat—especially considering the low number of examples produced to begin with, the opportunity to acquire this Town and Country Newport Hardtop is extraordinary. There are a few things that don't work. The radio, dash lights, cigarette lighter to name a few. This is not a museum piece, it is not priced as one either.
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