1972 Chrysler Town and Country Wagon Junkyard Find 

Circa late 1971- early 1972, a man with mutton chops is reading the local newspaper and says to his wife, "You know with our growing family, we really should get a wagon. I hear that Mid City Chrysler-Plymouth at 671 106th Street in Arlington, TX has them on sale. The new 1972 models" As the wife closes the Harvest Gold Sears Coldspot (made by Whirlpool) refrigerator door and pours coffee with sugar for her husband, who eats white bread toasted with butter, she says, "Ok, sounds good. Does it have air conditioning? You to have to drive the kids to football practice, Scouts and the like, we need it. Plus, we're going to be taking that vacation we talked about last year, so we'll need a good driving car". So, off to the dealer the couple went. The kids sat in the car and marveled at how roomy it was. The salesman, donned in his plaid sports coat and wide tie, smoking a cigarette, makes the couple an "offer you can't refuse". Out go the Smiths with their new 1972 Chrysler Town and Country wagon with all the features: Power steering, power disc brakes, 440 engine, cruise control, air conditioning, AM/FM radio, tilt steering, power seat on the driver's side, power windows, power locks and third row seating. The kids wave to everyone as they pass by and eat their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the back seat. But Dad cares for this one as he takes old scraps of carpet and uses them for mats (notice them in the front floor). The sticker from their vacation is stuck on the back---or perhaps its the sticker from one of the kids' schools, after all, by 1982, the car is passed down to the kids to pile into to take out friends and go to the mall and everywhere else. They test the speed and burn out power of the big 440. Then, by the mid 1980s, after surviving two gas crisis (one in 1973 when it was almost new, and another in 1979) things start to go wrong. A little dent here, a little dent there, mom and dad don't need it anymore and to fix those items, the mechanic says will be "X dollars and it's probably not worth it right now, it's an old car". No one had an interest in fixing it themselves, so the car sits under the tree near the garage for a number of years. Branches fall on it. It never sees a hose or a coat of wax. After a while, the family tires of it. They try to sell it, but to no avail. Finally, someone makes the choice that the old wagon has to go. A few dollars given by the junk man to haul it away and it sits waiting its final fate. But, it once was the family haulster and took the family everywhere. Every once and a while, a sibling remarks now on Facebook that they "used to take a ride on vacation in their family's early 1970s Chrysler wagon and how huge it was". Rest in peace, good old CP46T2C122027 (C for Chrysler, P for Premium price class, 4 for four doors, 6 for three seat wagon, T for 440 4 barrel engine, 2 for 1972 model year, C for Jefferson Assembly (which is gone but a Jefferson North assembly plant is nearby), and 122027 is the production sequence). The stories that this car could tell us would be repeated all over the American landscape.

I love wagons definitely the big ole tanks like this. Wish they still made wagons

Can't believe that I am writing a comment on a 50 year old scrapyard find........but I always liked the shape of the rear of the fuselage era wagons. The slope of the rear glass combined with the tumblehome of the greenhouse, along with the signature grab handles on the pillars and the air deflector that was designed to keep dust from accumulating on the rear glass......a sleek design that graced suburban driveways starting in 1969.

My mother drove one exactly like that back in the mid-70s. Ours was blue. In. 1976 I rode from Rhode Island to California and back in that car on a cross-country trip and never once put a seat belt on. it was great growing up in the 70s I was the 6 yr old in the back reversible seat while my older brother and sister sat in the back seat...had great memories of that trip.

loved these wagons - my dad bought them at Holley Motor Company in Tyler, Texas. One very “cool” option this wagon has that wasn’t mentioned in the video is the H52 factory Dual Air Conditioning system which was mounted in the ceiling between the second and third seats. This was a Chrysler Corporation exclusive option for full sized station wagons - also available on the Plymouth Fury Suburban wagons and the Dodge Monaco and Polara models. ‘72 was also the first year for the 3-way tailgate swung open like a door with the rear glass up or down or dropped down like a tailgate. Great wagons - they were beautiful vehicles when new

Thank you Benny I love watching your wonderful videos I am from South Africa

I rode from California to Arkansas in the rear facing seat. When I was a kid. Fun times! 👍

I love wagons 🛠

I used to love watching videos like this from "Jay Smart" when he worked at a recycling center. So many awesome old cars getting crushed...

That was one cool old wagon. Imagine the road trips that things been on.

I love those old wagons. I had a 73' imperial Lebanon. Looked the same from the front. Mine had hide-away headlamps. I called it the imperial battleship. The car was huge!

I rescued a 1977 Ford LTD station wagon from an auto wreckers. It’s rust free from California but the guys at the wreckers dented it up pretty bad but I’m going to get the body work done at eventually. Sad to see them get crushed there’s not too many left.

At the time, Chrysler Town & Country was one of the largest and best riding with all the options. This one was loaded. Must have been awesome when new

Damn, that is COOL!!!

this is my favorite video on the internet

We had a '72 Chrysler Town and Country wagon identical to that when I was growing up. I remember when we first got it we had to walk a few times. It would just die. My dad took it to the local dealer a few times but then eventually took it to a bigger dealership in the city for an upgraded ignition module. I was only 4 at the time so I only know this from later discussions. In 1976 my mom who was the primary driver of the car traded it to for a '76 Camaro. I never saw the car again. That could have actually been it although I think tan with woodgrain and a 440 were pretty standard on those old wagons.

It's like something out of a horror movie and I absolutely love it 😍😍😍 it almost looks like a hurst. Tire tuck it and slam it on bags.... It would look terrifying and awesome 😎

Love the old dragon wagons!! Learned to drive at 12 yrs old in a 1975 Impala wagon!!!👍😎

Damn shame, I've been looking for a 69-73 for a long time. I'd really like a 73, I just love the front nose on them.

Love old station wagons..especially the chevys

I came over here from the Gold Duster video - & I was not disappointed. Well, actually I was...someone let a 440 wagon get away from them?! Were they high or something? I would've loved a bruiser like that! I drove a '76 Caprice Estate Wagon w/a 454 in it(the guy I was holding onto the car for wanted the engine & trans. for a hot rod project - I don't know if he ever finished it), & a '92 Buick Roadmaster Wagon w/a 350(but not the Corvette engine). Both of my "Iceboxes" were white, had the "wood" veneer, rear facing seats, power everything & the dual purpose rear door...What was wild about the Chevy was what I told kids was her "magic trick": the rear glass slid up into the roof & the door would go down when you wanted to use it as a gate. Kids - & some people who apparently didn't get out much - loved watching that happen. And while the 454 wasn't the firebreather it would've been during the musclecar era, she outran a 460 powered Lincoln Mark VII at 3 in the morning a lifetime ago. Some kids out w/their Dad's Lincoln thought they'd challenge us to a race: they lost by a car length. Good times! Thanks for sparking the memories!

They offered a rear air conditioning unit in that wagon that year. A friend of mine had one and I never have seen another one !

I remember these as all wagons when I was a kid. Been so long I had forgotten the cruise control was on the steering column, I had so many cars including my Town Car the cruise control buttons are on the steering wheel. Yes too bad this one was never saved.

The Brady bunch never had it so good!

isnt that 440 worth money and i presume that gate also. someone should of hoarded that car

The Brady Bunch Station Wagon! Some wagon Lover PLEASE SAVE HER?!!11/30 19.

That's a rare find kool

I sure hope someone saved this wagon!

Should've been saved or parts out! There are so many pieces on that car that are literally impossible to find. The trim around he back of that car is in tact and straight!!! It would be a shame to crush so many expensive useable parts.

In those days they installed the 440 mopar in the big wagons. You got what you paid for.

That's the "Rim Blow Horn".....rare option

There is a pretty 1969 version of this car in the early part of the movie "out of towners"

Radio, column, skirts all money there.

If you could save one thing, save the radio! It's worth saving since the knobs are still there!

Proof that you could get a MOPAR with a Quadrajet Carb.

Just by seeing the tailgate open says that mopar wagon is salvageable. Looks like good bones for a driver.

This should have been saved the body looks pretty solid, the inside would have to be redone. It's a shame another one gone. I have a blue 69newport 2door hardtop with 80,000. Miles on it second owner, I'am never going to sell it owned it since 1999.☺☺

Top of the line 440 wagon. I would have taken the motor for sure plus a lot of good trims partd etc.

Dude anytime you find fender skirts grab them no matter what they come off from those things cleaned up are high-dollar ticket items for somebody that's restoring one.I can't believe you toss them back in the car.

telescopic wheel too

I grew up in this same car, but in green. Used to get car sick in the rear facing 3rd row seat.

Those power window switches are worth getting. They are interchangeable with some of the high dollar, late 60s, early 70s, MOPAR muscle cars.

Tank & Country

I could see it now on 20 inch mob steel wheels with air bags 😍

Had to shut it down halfway through - was making me sick to my stomach to see this once-glorious car in this horrible shape! I drove a '72 New Yorker (the 4-door model of the Town and Country station wagon) from 1977 to 1982 and it was one of the best cars I've ever owned. It's just not right to let these beauties get crushed !

Just like Pam Stewarts car!

that is sad to see junked out. 😞

This car was loaded. It even had dual air !

Did the engine get saved at least!

Looked like a Dealer Maintained car! Not to many cars keep the factory battery. I'm sure that engine probably ran.

Someone was just talking about this car on a Chrysler facebook page, did you grab the engine and trans?

What a real shame and a total waste....this one really should have been saved, restored and kept alive at least for archival purposes and for the sake of current and future generations to understand and hopefully appreciate! Funny, but I just can’t see anyone..and I mean ANYONE, feeling as nostalgic or sentimental over todays Prius, Odyssey, ANY Tesla, or pretty much anything we have 40-50 years from now. How many late 60’s- early 70’s pony cars, muscle cars, basic two-door mid size and full size sedans, coupes and convertibles does the world really need anyway and for what, tens to hundreds of thousands in price...it’s time to wake up and appreciate old station wagons and luxury four door .sedans/hard tops of this era because there won’t be any left to remember, appreciate, and enjoy!

man I'd like to have that engine in my dakota!

I just saw a video …. John Lennon owned a car just like this when he lived in NY. It still exists.

I have a original green on green 72 chrysler t&c wagon 400 motor beautiful surviver air in front 6 pass. luggage rack handles on the back. This thing is loaded mine doesnt have tilt wheel, power locks or windows except the tailgate window, no cruise control. Mine has the bench bucket buddy seat.

Anyone else see the 4/12 battery sticker?

Too bad that one vehicle can’t be save :/ not easy to come by these days

damn it got squeezed?

this car is calling me save me please and i like too

Damn the space inside that car is H U G E

Would Make a sweet low rider

1972= station wagon 2020=minivan did i miss something here?

You did a great documentary,,,if I had the money I'd buy the whole car and restore it!!!! Betcha the yard crushed it if they did they are dumb!!!!

I would love to have a rim blow horn!

Looks like some good parts on it. Hope it gets stripped before it gets crushed.

Don't crush it i want this car it's a treasure to me I'm sad. 😢

2004 gmc envoy xuv

She can be save

Man I wish people would just sell the car instead of letting them go to the junkyard......... Someone dies and the family doesn't want to be bothered and on it goes see it all the time.

440's in that year had 345hp-410hp

Did you ever finish your wagon ?

Where was this at?

I'm guessing the old girl has been crushed.

Where is it I need parts?

What state are you in.

That is alot of meatal

Very sad

This buety here. Got by . Islam women deserve land ethics chance. We are the only ones . Those statues and God. You and us understand now Felix also statues. We are proceeding with glow plugs.

Recycle that thing, you could make 10 new Chinese cars out of all that metal

Little further. Get attention wearing head dress. No matter what the sermon. They don't know . Everyone shows up no$500 and says that is ready to go take from here. Not so. You 56 divorce agony.

Stop doing these your saying all these things you have but you don't even work lmao

Those old chrysler wagon getting hard to find their beautiful wagon too bad they do save old cars lot of good parts and classic shame

Lovely airfoil fuselage design, deserves restoration. These run 69-73. I knew a kid whose mom had one in fifth grade.

That was a survivor. Was...

its rare in indonesia