The car that historian Donald Narus once dubbed “Chrysler’s Wonderful Woodie” went out with a major splash in 1950. The Town and Country Newport was new that year and, aside from a couple of prototypes produced in 1946, was the only wood-bodied Chrysler hardtop coupe ever produced. It featured an exclusive all-steel body with ash framing overlays, which were assembled prior to being fitted to the body. This required extensive hand-formed contouring of the compound-curved frames so that they would mate to the metal body correctly. Unlike earlier Town and Countries, the ash framing was the only wood used, with the side panel inserts painted the body color. Inside could be found more beautiful wood trim and finely detailed Streamline Moderne touches, as well as an unusual but stunning marbled steering wheel.

Offered only with the 135-horsepower Spitfire straight eight and Fluid-Drive transmission, the Town and Country Newport retailed for $4,028, making it Chrysler’s most expensive car outside of the big Crown Imperial sedans. Only 698 were built; after which, the luxury Town and Country, once the favorite of movie stars and country club founders, became a thing of history.

The Town and Country Newport offered here represents a key part of the late Jim Miller’s collecting philosophy; he sought only the very best, which often meant finding not only a very low-mileage, original, and well-maintained example, but also the lowest-mileage, most original, and best-maintained car.

This car is what he found, and, indeed, it has only 9,300 actual miles and is, except for a single quality repaint in the original Tobacco Brown, exactly the same car built by the factory in 1950. The bumpers show minor scratching and denting, the armrest on the driver’s door was worn by his forearm over those 9,300 miles, and the paint on the dashboard faded during the car’s early life on the West Coast. Otherwise, the car remains in excellent condition and virtually as-new, including satiny wood that has never been shellacked and must be seen to be experienced. The original owner’s monogram is still painted on the driver’s door, and a maintenance sticker from a later owner’s favored Pennzoil station in Santa Barbara is still intact inside. It has long been reported that “G.W.” was none other than revered film studio executive George Warner; however, no proof exists of that connection.

Jim Miller had a well-earned reputation for honesty and integrity. Nowhere is that reflected more strongly than in this excellent, original Town and Country, which has those qualities in spades.