There are just 1,728 miles on today’s Nice Price or No Dice Chrysler woody wagon, as it’s claimed to have been in safe storage for nearly 30 years. Let’s see if its price makes it worth the wait.
Yesterday’s 2006 Toyota Tacoma X-Runner missed Taco Tuesday by a day and based on the truck’s $26,500 asking price, many of you felt that the seller may have imbibed too much on Margarita Monday. That Tacoma’s low miles and nice appearance couldn’t sway the vast majority of you to think any differently and we saw the truck fall in a massive 97 percent No Dice loss.
Vinyl siding seems to be a popular choice for home cladding all around the nation. The imitation clapboard is supposedly more weather resistant than real wood and is less expensive to boot. Should you live in such a vinyl-sided house, apartment or upscale shanty, you might very well be wondering to yourself just what your automotive options are for an appropriate companion.
With its own wood-grained vinyl cladding, this 1986 Chrysler Town & Country is the perfect car to pair with a plastic paneled home. Amazingly, that’s just the start of this K-car wagon’s myriad of attractions. Let’s get one thing out of the way first, however. The seller calls this wagon a “Shelby” after Carroll Shelby, the legendary tuner who didn’t look anything like Matt Damon. From what I can tell, there’s nothing “Shelby” about this car other than the sticker on the back glass. Hell, it doesn’t even look as though Shel even autographed the glovebox door, making this one of the few cars he didn’t. If you can come up with some tangental Shelby connection here, I’m all ears.
Aside from that bit of funkiness, the rest of the ad is pretty straightforward, even if the car’s history isn’t. According to the description, the car was originally purchased by a couple for the wife to drive. She passed away shortly thereafter and the car went into climate-controlled storage where it sat for almost 30 years. Now with just 1,728 miles already under its belt, the car has been brought back to life with new fuel components feeding its 142 horsepower 2.2-liter turbo four. That, along with the column-shifted automatic is claimed to run like new.
Aesthetically, this Town & Country looks new too, with shiny paint and the aforementioned wood-grain cladding appearing to be in showroom condition. The interior is notable for still having the plastic protective film on the door controls which is amazing but also serves as evidence of poor dealer prep upon original delivery.
This is also a car from the ’80s, which was the last era when cars of this size could be had with front bench seats. Here that’s a split-bench that doesn’t really look set up for three-across seating, but it’s old-school cool nonetheless. A large load area in the back and a roof rack make this Town & Country a practical choice as well.
Add-ons include a number of garish decals announcing the turbo 2.2 under the hood. There’s also what appears to be a set of Marchal fog lamps under the bumper. Aside from those, the car appears to be all stock, right down to the fake wire wheel covers and whitewall tires. The car carries a clean New York title and according to the seller is one of only 690 to have been produced in 1986 with the Turbo I engine. Think for a moment how many of that number are still around today. Imagine then how many might be in this nice of condition.
Should you want a vinyl-clad Town & Country K-car from the ’80s this is probably the one to have. Hell, the model was even good enough for Frank Sinatra, so it should be good enough for any one of us. For that honor, the seller asks $13,500. That’s a lot of cheddar, but then consider this car’s uniqueness. Those decals on the hood may be tacky, but they probably aren’t making them anymore so even they may just add to the value.
What do you say, is this blast from the past a good deal at that $13,500 asking? Or, nice as it is, would you have to be nuts to pay so much for any K-car wagon?
You decide!
Long Island, New York, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to whatsupdohc for the hookup!
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