Have you ever noticed how often the word “Tin” turns up in a car’s description? Pontiacs were known way back as “Tin Indians”. Going back even further, Ford’s ubiquitous Model T earned the moniker “Tin Lizzie”. And as the 1950s dawned and real wood station wagon components gave way to faux wood trim and Di-Noc veneers, the term “Tin Woodie” came into vogue. Today, for your review, we have just such a station wagon in the form of a 1951 Chevrolet Styleline DeLuxe station wagon. It’s located in Los Angeles, California and is available, here on craigslist for $14,000, OBO. T.J. gets two thumbs up for this discovery!

According to Hot Cars, 1950 was the first year that Chevrolet went “woodless” with their wagons. And in the case of this Styleline DeLuxe, less was more for ’51. As opposed to being fully slathered with imitation wood paneling and trim, the application was more restrained covering just the upper parts of the doors and quarter panels. The tailgate, however, still got the full monty. Sales were fair with a bit over 23K finding new owners.

The seller of this Styleline suggests that it could use “full restoration” and that appears to be the case. The rear pontoon fenders, in particular, are pretty rotted out. The exterior images are poor and not well aligned so it’s hard to make an objective assessment regarding the overall condition but the seller claims that this wagon is complete and that looks to be the case. An interesting collection of wheel covers adorn this Chevy’s corners, the ones on the front look like an aftermarket four-way spinner design – I’ve seen similar ones before but I can’t place them, any suggestions?

The non-running engine is a 92 gross HP, 216 CI, in-line six-cylinder arrangement that is connected to a three-speed manual transmission. It too looks complete but again the images aren’t very telling. It would be nice to know if the engine will turn over by hand but no particulars are revealed. A six-volt electrical system is still in place.

The interior is about what one would expect. The dash is surface rusted and the headliner is doing a disappearing act – the seating upholstery is in similar disarray. Typical for the era is the heavy chrome-plated center grille. It serves as a central focal point as well as housing the heater/defroster controls. I wonder how long it has been since that high-mounted analog clock has worked?

These early ’50s Chevy station wagons have probably not come into their own yet, at least when compared to the popularity of the Tri-Five trio but these are still notable cars with potential and station wagons are certainly a real draw. This example, as complete as it is, will require a lot of work to make operational and presentable. I’m thinking the $14K ask may be a bit high unless the seller has a lot of leeway on the OBO part, wouldn’t you agree?