Woodie
Encyclopedia
Station wagon
A station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...
, where the rear bodywork is constructed of wood framework with infill panels of wood or painted metal.
After the demise of actual wood construction, manufacturers used simulated woodgrain sheet vinyl — sometimes augmented with three-dimensional, simulated framework — to recall wood construction. In 2008, wood construction was evoked abstractly on the Ford Flex
Ford Flex
The Ford Flex is a full-size crossover manufactured by Ford Motor Company. Its styling is based on the Ford Fairlane concept unveiled at the 2005 North American International Auto Show. The production vehicle made its debut at the 2007 New York International Auto Show. Sales of the Flex began in...
with a series of side and rear horizontal grooves.
1930s and 40s
As a variant of body-on-frameBody-on-frame
Body-on-frame is an automobile construction method. Mounting a separate body to a rigid frame that supports the drivetrain was the original method of building automobiles, and its use continues to this day. The original frames were made of wood , but steel ladder frames became common in the 1930s...
construction, woodies originated from the early (pre mid-1930s) practice of manufacturing the passenger compartment portion of a vehicle in hardwood. The woodie was popular in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and were produced as variants of sedans and convertibles as well as station wagons, from basic to luxury. They were typically manufactured as third-party conversions of regular vehicles — some by large, reputable coachbuilding
Coachbuilder
A coachbuilder is a manufacturer of bodies for carriages or automobiles.The trade dates back several centuries. Rippon was active in the time of Queen Elizabeth I, Barker founded in 1710 by an officer in Queen Anne's Guards, Brewster a relative newcomer , formed in 1810. Others in Britain included...
firms and others by local carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
s and craftsmen for individual customers. They could be austere vehicles, with side curtains in lieu of roll-up windows (e.g., the 1932 Ford) — and sold in limited numbers (e.g., Ford sold 1654 woodie wagons). Eventually, bodies constructed entirely in steel supplanted wood construction — for reasons of strength, cost and durability.
1950s and 60s
Woodies were produced in the greatest numbers before the end of the 1950s, before safety regulations would effectively have made them obsolete.In 1950, Plymouth
Plymouth (automobile)
Plymouth was a marque of automobile based in the United States, produced by the Chrysler Corporation and its successor DaimlerChrysler.-Origins:...
discontinued their woodie station wagon. Buick
Buick
Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...
manufactured its last woodie in 1953. By 1955, only Ford and Mercury
Mercury (automobile)
Mercury was an automobile marque of the Ford Motor Company launched in 1938 by Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, to market entry-level luxury cars slotted between Ford-branded regular models and Lincoln-branded luxury vehicles, similar to General Motors' Buick brand, and Chrysler's namesake brand...
offered a woodie, evoking real wood with other materials including steel, plastic
Plastic
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
s and DiNoc (a vinyl
Vinyl
A vinyl compound is any organic compound that contains a vinyl group ,which are derivatives of ethene, CH2=CH2, with one hydrogen atom replaced with some other group...
product). Ford offered its wood models as the Country Squire
Ford Country Squire
- Third generation :Prior to 1961, all Ford wagons used a two-piece tailgate assembly that required the operator to lift the rear window up and locking it into place via a mechanical support, and then drop the tail gate down to fully access the rear compartment.For the 1961 Ford adopted a tailgate...
trim level in numerous model ranges from the 1940s to the 1990s.
The British Motor Corporation (BMC)
British Motor Corporation
The British Motor Corporation, or commonly known as BMC was a vehicle manufacturer from United Kingdom, formed by the merger of the Austin Motor Company and the Nuffield Organisation in 1952...
offered the Morris Minor Traveller
Morris Minor
The Morris Minor was a British economy car that debuted at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, on 20 September 1948. Designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis, more than 1.3 million were manufactured between 1948 and 1971...
(1953–71) with wood structural components and painted aluminum infill panels — the last true mass-produced woodie. Morris' subsequent Mini Traveller (1961–9) employed steel infill panels and faux wood structural members.
Simulated woodgrain
After the demise of models using actual wood construction, manufacturers continued to evoke wood construction with sheet-vinyl appliques of simulated wood grain, sometimes augmented with three-dimensional, simulated framework — and later by a simple series of indented grooves in the bodywork.The 1966 Chevrolet Caprice
Chevrolet Caprice
The Chevrolet Caprice is a full-sized automobile produced by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors in North America for the 1965 through 1996 model years. Full-size Chevrolet sales peaked in 1965 with over a million sold. It was the most popular American car in the sixties and early seventies....
in its second season, added to the four-door hardtop body style a full line of models including a vinyl-wood trimmed station wagon, the Caprice Estate. Dodge
Dodge
Dodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....
also reintroduced simulated wood the same year.
Ford marketed the Ford Pinto
Ford Pinto
The Ford Pinto is a subcompact car produced by the Ford Motor Company for the model years 1971–1980. The car's name derives from the Pinto horse. Initially offered as a two-door sedan, Ford offered "Runabout" hatchback and wagon models the following year, competing in the U.S. market with the AMC...
Squire with vinyl simulated wood trim in the early 70s. When Chevrolet proposed a simulated woodgrain option for the Chevy Vega Kammback wagon for the 1973 model year, after a gap of four years of applying woodgrain film on the Caprice
Chevrolet Caprice
The Chevrolet Caprice is a full-sized automobile produced by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors in North America for the 1965 through 1996 model years. Full-size Chevrolet sales peaked in 1965 with over a million sold. It was the most popular American car in the sixties and early seventies....
, the Vega's production schedule made smooth application of the applique difficult without wrinkles and heavy scrappage — and requiring retraining by the film supplier. Subsequent rebadged
Badge engineering
Badge engineering is an ironic term that describes the rebadging of one product as another...
variants of the Vega (marketed as "Woody"), including the Pontiac Astre Safari, Chevrolet Monza Estate and Pontiac Sunbird
Pontiac Sunbird
The Pontiac Sunbird, produced by the Pontiac division of General Motors, was Pontiac's second small-car offering of the 70's. The Sunbird model ran for 18 years and was then replaced in 1995 by the Pontiac Sunfire...
Safari, also offered simulated wood trim. Chevrolet offered a simulated woodie version of the Chevette
Chevrolet Chevette
The Chevrolet Chevette was introduced in September, 1975 and manufactured for model years 1976-1987 based on GM's worldwide T platform and superseding the Vega as Chevrolet's entry-level subcompact...
in 1976, and AMC offered the Pacer
AMC Pacer
The AMC Pacer is a two-door compact automobile produced in the United States by the American Motors Corporation between 1975 and 1980.Its initial design idea was started in 1971. The car's unusual rounded shape with massive glass area greatly contrasted with the three-box architecture with "square,...
wagon with optional simulated wood trim in 1977.
Ford also marketed version of their Ranchero
Ford Ranchero
The Ford Ranchero was a coupe utility produced between 1957 and 1979. Unlike a pickup truck, the Ranchero was adapted from a two-door station wagon platform that integrated the cab and cargo bed into the body. A total of 508,355 units were produced during the model's production run...
model, a coupe utility
Coupé utility
The coupé utility automobile body style, also known colloquially as the ute in Australia and New Zealand, combines a two-door "coupé" cabin with an integral cargo bed behind the cabin—using a light-duty passenger vehicle-derived platform....
produced between 1957 and 1979 with an open bed like a pickup truck
Pickup truck
A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...
but from a station wagon
Station wagon
A station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...
platform, with simulated woodgrain siding.
Introduced in 1981, the Ford Escort and Mercury Lynx
Mercury Lynx
The Mercury Lynx was a compact car produced by the Ford Motor Company for its Mercury division from 1981 to 1987. It was a rebadged version of the Ford Escort. In 1987, the Lynx was dropped after slumping sales . In 1988, Mercury launched the Tracer as the Lynx's replacement...
four-door wagons offered optional simulated wood trim. GM
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
offered its full-size wagons in wood trim versions until their final year in 1996. As the station wagon declined in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, manufacturers offered faux wood trim on SUVs and minivans (e.g., the Jeep Cherokee
Jeep Cherokee (XJ)
The Jeep Cherokee is a unibody compact SUV. It shared the name of the original full-size SJ model, but without a body-on-frame chassis, it set the stage for the modern SUV. Its innovative appearance and sales popularity spawned important imitators as other automakers began to notice that this...
and Chrysler minivans). Chrysler offered simulated wood as an option for the Chrysler PT Cruiser
Chrysler PT Cruiser
The Chrysler PT Cruiser is a retro styled compact automobile launched by Chrysler as a 5-door hatchback in early 2000 and as a 2-door convertible in early 2005 ....
, introduced in 2000 — and aftermarket
Aftermarket (automotive)
The automotive aftermarket is the secondary market of the automotive industry, concerned with the manufacturing, remanufacturing, distribution, retailing, and installation of all vehicle parts, chemicals, tools, equipment and accessories for light and heavy vehicles, after the sale of the...
firms offered kits as well.
In 2010, George Barris
George Barris
George Barris may refer to:*George Barris , designer of custom made cars*George Barris , photographer in the U.S. Army and of Hollywood stars...
created a woodie version of the Smart Fortwo
Smart Fortwo
The Smart Fortwo is a rear-engined two-seater city car manufactured by Smart GmbH, introduced at the 1998 Paris Motor Show as the Smart City Coupé, and currently in its second generation...
, an aftermarket firm offered a simulated wood kit for the same car, and GM displayed a prototype woodie version of the forthcoming Chevrolet Spark for the 2010 Paris Motor Show.
Introduced in 2008, the Ford Flex
Ford Flex
The Ford Flex is a full-size crossover manufactured by Ford Motor Company. Its styling is based on the Ford Fairlane concept unveiled at the 2005 North American International Auto Show. The production vehicle made its debut at the 2007 New York International Auto Show. Sales of the Flex began in...
featured a series of side and rear horizontal grooves intended to evoke a woodie look — without either wood or simulated wood. Car Design News
Car Design News
Car Design News is the leading online news, picture and information service for the international automotive design community. It regularly publishes: information on new production and concept cars; design reviews and design development features; interviews with senior designers; coverage of the...
said the styling references "a previous era without resorting to obvious retro styling cues."
External links
- 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