On March 15, 2015 the 20th annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance will honor Chrysler’s timeless “woodie,” the famous Town and Country, on the fairways of The Golf Club of Amelia Island at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island. Chrysler was not the first to offer a wood-bodied car, but the Town and Country was the zenith of the American woodie genre. The Town and Country was the final flourish of the traditional woodie, where the wood was structural and not merely decorative.
“The Town and Country was essentially a hand-built car,” said Mark Becker, Vice-Chairman of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. “That contributed to its demise. It was the end of an era of manufacturing exuberance.
“At a time when most new cars were simply warmed-over pre-war models, the 1946 Town and Country was truly new,” said Becker. “They married post-war optimism with the pre-war concept of what a luxury car should be. The Town and Country summons images from another era in America: when elegance and dignity were more important than the ‘bottom line.’”
The 20th anniversary Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance will feature a full class of significant Chrysler Town and Country models displaying the final flourish of the American hand-built body era. Among the most sought after vehicles of the Town and Country line are the early “barrelback” station wagons. The 20th annual Amelia Concours will display the 1941 model, the “first barrelback,” as well as the 1942 model featuring different design details.
“The Town and Country had the grace, pace and presence of a pre-war luxury car. It was the perfect car to park in front of the club or one’s country estate,” said Becker. For further
information, visit www.ameliaconcours.org
