For just two years, Chrysler produced a sedan/wagon hybrid that was officially called the Town & Country, but it eventually became known as the Barrelback.

The man responsible for the birth of the Chrysler Town & Country series of 1941-50 was David A. Wallace, who started in the industry as a mechanic, was awarded dozens of patents, and rose to general manager of the Chrysler division in 1937. For the first Town & Country woody of 1941, Wallace envisioned a station wagon, but with up-to-date construction and smooth, modern lines—thus creating the distinctive wagon/sedan hybrid known today as the Barrelback.

Based on the Windsor six-cylinder chassis and front doghouse, the Barrelback borrowed the one-piece roof stamping from Chrysler’s long-wheelbase sedan, providing an all-steel roof, a significant advance in wagon construction. The wood components, seasoned white ash for the framing and Honduras mahogany for the panels, were milled at Pekin Wood Products in Arkansas and shipped to Chrysler’s Jefferson Avenue plant in Detroit for assembly into complete bodies in a special department, then installed on Windsor chassis.

To give the T&C wagon-like utility with the sedan roof panel, a pair of center-opening clamshell rear tailgates of all-wood construction were devised. In the photo above, it’s easy to see how the name Barrelback stuck. The interiors were fully trimmed in leather in the station wagon tradition and all the Chrysler amenities were offered, including Fluid Drive. Both six and nine-passenger models were offered, and they look identical on the outside except that the six-seater has mahogany panels instead of glass in the quarter-window openings.

For 1942 the Town & Country recieved new front-end styling and hidden running boards along with the rest of the Chrysler line (below). Reportedly, 997 Barrelbacks were built in ’41 and another 999 in ’42 before the lines were halted as the industry converted to arms production. Of those, only 200 in ’41 and 150 in ’42 were six-seaters—the nine-passenger with jump seat was the popular choice among affluent T&C buyers. There were also one or two long-wheelbase, 8-cylinder factory prototypes.

According to Town & Country experts, surviving Barrelbacks may number only in the dozens—due, no doubt, to their fragile wood construction. Chrysler recommended re-varnishing the woodwork every six months, an unlikely proposition. When production resumed after World War II, the Town & Country line continued, but with convertibles, sedans, and hardtops. The Barrelbacks were the first and last Town & Country woody wagons.