Say When

Not so long ago we pondered this timbered Mopar. In 1946, Chrysler printed literature for five wood-bodied cars, but put only two of them, the Town & Country convertible and the Town and Country sedan, into production. According to author and historian Richard Langworth, seven "Club Coupes," which were really an early manifestation of the hardtop convertible, were built, and a single "Brougham," a two-door sedan. The "Roadster" style, according to Chrysler designers interviewed by Langworth, existed as artwork only.

Thus we wondered who built this roadster, sold at auction in Phoenix, and how and when. The answer arrived from CarPort visitors within days. Dave Duricy, resourceful proprietor of DeSotoland, sent several pertinent links. RM Auctions, which sold the roadster for $143,000 in 2002, described the car as built from a Windsor sedan (sic) by the late Town and Country collector Lloyd Mayes (1933-2003). The project took several years. The car was accurately described in the auction catalog, so the tire kickers that told Fred Summers it was one of three originals were either spinning yarns or perhaps confusing it with the brougham. In any case, thanks to Dave's web-crawling skills we now know who and how, though not precisely when.

Langworth notes that the three-passenger roadster did eventually see production, but not as a Chrysler and not with a wood body. Instead, the concept became the Dodge Wayfarer roadster, built from 1949 to 1951. The reasons for this undoubtedly involved cost. The Town & Country convertible was the most expensive non-Imperial Chrysler from 1946-48. Mopar product planners probably figured out that a premium three-passenger ragtop would not sell well. They were right. The three-passenger roadster didn't sell terribly well as a Dodge either, where it was near the bottom of the price list. Only 9,325 were made in three years (though slightly more, truth to tell, than the Town & Country sedan - 7,975 - or convertible - 8,569 - from 1946 to 1948).

Windows started this thread, and with windows we'll finish it. The Dodge Wayfarer roadster, as introduced, didn't have side windows - side curtains provided the only weather protection. Within months, vent wings and roll-up windows had been added to the roadster's doors - at no extra cost. Would the Chrysler roadster have had windows? The illustrations show a chrome window frame, so the answer is undoubtedly "yes."

Clever CarPorters are invited to tell us the next window-less American roadster, of any seating capacity, introduced after the Dodge Wayfarer.