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1940 Pontiac Special Series 25 Woodie

A woodie is a type of car, more specifically an early station wagon (US) or estate car/shooting brake (UK), in which the rear portion of the car's bodywork is made of wood. Frequently this wood is visible, since it is covered in a clear finish, either over the entire wooden area or sometimes just on the framework with the interior panels painted.

[edit] Description

It is a derivative of the body-on-frame method of car construction. Earlier cars generally had aluminium or steel panels bolted on top of the wood framing. Woodies were originally cheaper because they didn't need these panels and their fitment and painting. So railway stations used them for hackwork of luggage and petty shipments; hence the name, station wagon.^[1] The tradition of the woodie remains in the woodgrain decals and plastic beams attached to a structural steel body of many station wagons.

This car body style was popular both in the United States and the United Kingdom. Woodies were produced from all kinds of cars, from basic to luxury, but the most popular conversions in the US were large, powerful but not highly luxurious models. By contrast, in Europe early woodies were usually built on luxury car platforms such as Rolls-Royce.

By the 1960s and to some degree the 1970s, California surfers, among others, realised the potential of these cars; they were cheap, large enough to carry a good number of people, surfboards and equipment, and could be fixed up with woodworking skills. Thus, the woodie became the archetypal vehicle of the surfer; the popular surf-pop group The Beach Boys directly referred to them in several of their songs, as did Jan and Dean in their (1963) #1 hit, Surf City.

[edit] History

1951 Ford Custom 79 Country Squire

[edit] 1950s and 60s

The vast majority of woodies were produced before the end of the 1950s at which time safety regulations and changing automotive fashions meant the effective end of the style. Woodies were generally not produced by the original car manufacturer, but were third-party conversions of regular vehicles. Some were done by large, reputable coachbuilding firms, while others were built by local carpenters and craftsmen for individual customers.

In 1950 Plymouth discontinued the woody station wagon in its line and converted to all steel bodies; and because it was too coincidental to the Chevrolet Suburban. Buick was the last automobile manufacturer to produce a station wagon with a true wooden structure in 1953.

By 1955, only Ford and Mercury offered a woody-like model however the look was accomplished with steel, plastics and various materials, such as DiNoc (a vinyl product) to simulate broad expanses of wood. Known as the Ford Country Squire, this heavily-trimmed full-size wagon was a staple of the Ford line from the 1940s to the 1990s. In the 1960s the Morris Minor and Mini Traveller were more basic vehicles factory built in woodie style.

Reintroduction of woody decorated station wagons by other makers in America began in 1966 when Dodge offered the look for the first time in 15 years. By 1967, simulated "wood" decoration was used exclusively on top line models, with unadorned vehicles denoting lower price and status models.

[edit] 1970s to present

1974 Chevrolet Vega Kammback Estate

In the early 70's the first American subcompact wagons were introduced. Chevrolet and Ford soon offered them in woody styles. The Chevrolet Vega Kammback Estate and Ford Pinto Squire were two-door, four-passenger woody wagons. They featured vinyl simulated wood trim and were marketed as upgraded models with deluxe interior appointments. The woody version of the Vega Kammback was introduced in 1973 and advertised as "A neat little Woody". The Vega and its variant Pontiac Astre and their 1978 replacements the Chevrolet Monza and Pontiac Sunbird wagons were offered as woodies until the end of their production in 1979. The Chevrolet Chevette two-door hatchback was offered as a woody in 1976. The Ford Pinto and its variant Mercury Bobcat wagons were replaced in 1980 by the Ford Escort and Mercury Lynx four-door wagons that were available in woody trim as well. AMC offered a compact woody-styled AMC Pacer two-door wagon in 1977.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, the idea of "fake wood" became archaic and most manufacturers dropped the option. GM, however offered its full-size wagons in woodie trim until their final year in 1996. With the introduction of the retro-styled Chrysler PT Cruiser, aftermarket firms began selling faux woodie kits designed to evoke a sense of nostalgia.

[edit] See also

• Station wagon
• Surfing

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Woodies

• National Woodie Club
• Old woodies page
• "The Life & Times of Waterloo's Own Legendary Wooden Body Company", by Karl Bernhardi as told to Roger Mack