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People often use the terms Town Wagon and Town Panel interchangeably.

Even though Town Wagons and Town Panels share the same basic body, they were built for different purposes.

Though these trucks look very much like each other they are not the same and should be called by the correct names.

These two vehicles share many characteristics, but they have significant differences. Learning the different features of these two trucks will make it easier to use the proper terminology and therefore prevent potential confusion.

Town Panels:

In 1954, Dodge produced the first in the Town series of trucks, the Town Panel.

Pictured is a 1954 Town Panel.

Most Town Panels have no windows in the sides of the body, but some do.

Some TPs came from the factory with one window per side, two windows per side, one window on one side, or almost any combination you can think of. But most TPs with windows had them on just one side.

The windows in Town Panels are flush with, or slightly protruding from the body of the truck, and the windows on a Town Wagon are recessed.

Here is a picture of a 1961 D100 TP with two windows on each side, note how the windows are fixed, and are both similar in size and shape. This is one indication of a TP vs. a TW.

Town Panels came from the factory with fewer interior accruements than the Town Wagon. The TP came standard with a drivers bucket seat, a headliner over the drivers area, a driver's side arm rest, and a drivers side sun visor. Optional was a passenger side seat, sun visor and arm rest.

Town Wagons came from the factory with much more standard, they had a split bench seat, headliner over the whole interior, dual visors, dual arm rests, and your choice of one or two rear seats.

Town Wagons:

Town Wagons were produced beginning in mid year 1955 or early 1956. I have been unable to confirm either date.

Town Wagons originally came with two slightly recessed window openings on each side, with each opening containing one fixed, and one sliding window.

Here is a picture of a 1957 D100 Town Wagon.

As you can see from the picture above, the Town Wagon has a vertical line in the middle of the windows, this in the weather stripping for the sliding portion of the window. The rear window is slanted in the back to match the rear line of the truck. This detail is generally not found on TPs that have windows. 

Some Town Wagons have had the two panes of glass replaced with a single pane of glass, this is usually due to the fact that the windows leak once the weather striping has aged.

Here is a picture of a 1964 W100 TW with the sliding windows replaced with solid panes of glass. This is still a Town Wagon.

Note how the windows are recessed, and how the rear window slopes in the same manner as the rear of the body. This particular truck now has the original sliding windows in it.

Below is the same truck with the correct sliding windows in it. Note that the sliding windows are open.

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