Woodie Wagon Day is today and since a lot of us are heading to the beaches, what better time to explore the world of woodies.
CLASSIC OR JUST COLLECTIBLE?
So, are those polished and shiny Ford woodies from 1949 classic? Technically, no. The Classic Car Club of America has a list of approved models, and there are no Fords, Chevys or Dodges. The club’s definition of a classic is a fine and distinctive automobile produced between 1915 and 1948. That means there are a few woodies that make the list – say, a Chrysler Town & Country made between 1941 and 1948. It’s technically a classic, and you could also say it’s cherry and boss.
This 1948 Chrysler Town & Country is technically a classic.
CARRIAGE-LIKE CARS
In the 1920s, cars with wood paneling were mostly done by custom shops. Henry Ford bought 400,000 acres of forest land in Michigan in 1920 and shipped the wood out to be milled and assembled until Ford began milling in 1934.
General Motors used a separate company to make its woodies. The 1930 Ford at right sold for $30,800 this month. Trains, boats and cars were mostly made of wood in the 1920s and 1930s. The earliest woodies looked a lot like the wagons and coaches they replaced. By 1932, during the Great Depression, General Motors was selling about a third as many cars as it had three years earlier. Consumers began to regain confidence by 1935 and sales of woodies picked up, including luxury models like Packard’s wood-bodied cars for a premium price.
The original SUV
This ad for a 1939 Ford states the station wagon combines beauty with utility.
1940 Fords came in Standard and Deluxe models; this changed to Deluxe and Super Deluxe for the 1941-1948 lines. The structural framework was mostly maple, birch, mahogany or gum wood panels. Basswood was used for the longitudinal roof slats. In 1940, Ford built over 500,000 passenger cars, and of those about 8,700 were wood-bodied station wagons. Ford never used ash wood, but GM and Chrysler did. During World War II, domestic car production was essentially on hold. After the war, car companies began to produce new cars and since wood was readily available more wood-bodied cars came off the production line in the first few months after the war than in years past.
The look of woodies changed a lot in the late 1940s, not because of the wood, but because of steelmaking advancements. The all-steel roofs replaced the fabric roofs of the past. End of the production line By 1947, woodies had started to become unprofitable because of the labor needed to produce them. Chevy’s eight-seat woodie was its most expensive model and did not sell well. By 1951, Chevy stopped making wood-bodied cars. 1949 was the last year Oldsmobile made woodies. They were high-end family cars with a list price of $3,295, equivalent to about $34,000 now. Approximately 1,355 were built. A restored 1949 model sold for $78,100 in 2006.
This 1953 Buick recently sold for $55,000. It is one of only 1,830 made and has a V8 engine. It was made in the last year Buick constructed cars with real wood.
The downfall of wood
The wood that made the cars desirable was also their undoing. The demand for woodies declined rapidly in the 1950s because the wood panels required a lot more maintenance than steel bodies.
In my woody I will take you
By the 1960s, young surfers who needed a cheap car to transport their 10-foot boards latched on to the discarded wagons that were no longer mainstream. One man’s trash became the surfers’ treasure.
1960s SURF MUSIC
“Surfin’ Safari”
Early in the morning we’ll be startin’ out Some honeys will be coming along We’re loading up our woody With our boards inside And headin’ out singing our song -Released in 1962, the song was the Beach Boys’ first release with Capitol Records and first hit single, peaking at No. 14. Woody or Woodie? The Beach Boys used woody, but the National Woodie Club says they spelled it wrong.
“Surf City”
I bought a ’30 Ford wagon and we call it a woody (Surf City, here we come) You know it’s not very cherry, it’s an oldie but a goody (Surf City, here we come) Well, it ain’t got a back seat or a rear window But it still gets me where I wanna go Written by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and Jan Berry of Jan and Dean, the song became the first surf song to hit No. 1 on the charts, in 1963.
This 1952 Mercury was estimated to sell for $70,000 to $90,000 prior to it being auctioned in 2013. The car wound up being sold for $135,000. Some woodies can fetch more than $150,000.
Sources: Classic Car Club of America, Barrett-Jackson.com, Classic-car-history.com, Southern California Woodie Club, National Woodie Club, RM Auctions, Photos: Staff and Wiki Media Commons
