Wood-bodied station wagons were often called “Woodies” and were popular in affluent American communities. So, you would often find them at hotels, lodges, country clubs, and national parks. But they were expensive to build and not big moneymakers for car companies, so they were phased out after World War II. This 1950 Ford Custom Deluxe Country Squire (the seller just calls it a “Woody Wagon”) looks like a viable project, located in National City, California. It’s available here on craigslist for $27,000 OBO.
Henry Ford had a thing for these kinds of vehicles, and he owned 400,000 acres of woodland in Michigan’s Iron Mountain Forest as a source for lumber. While the competition used outside vendors to manufacture their wood bodies, Ford’s did their own. While a restored “Woodie” station wagon can be a thing of beauty, they required a lot of hand assembly. Ford stuck it out longer than other builders, with their “Woodies” being all wood from the cowl back through 1948, and then real wood attached to steel doors, sides. and tailgates until they stopped making them in 1951.
We don’t know a lot about this Ford. It belonged to the seller’s father-in-law and has been covered up in a garage for what may have been a long time. The body looks decent from what we can see, and the wood may need some coaxing to be lustrous again. Inside the passenger compartment, a fair amount of cleaning is also going to be needed, along with a new headliner.
The seller says the engine and transmission are both out of the wagon but doesn’t say if they’re still around and if they come with the deal. Ford’s flathead V8 would be the logical assumption, paired with a 3-on-the-tree manual tranny, although the seller says it’s an automatic. We can’t tell how much work is going to be needed here, and the woodwork is the most costly element if in trouble anywhere. At the asking price, it does need to be solid.
27K for an unfinished chassis and no engine or transmission? Give me a break here. These are neat rigs as long as you don’t pony up and buy one from anyone in a purple haze mode.
7-10k as is. You will spend 25-50k restoring it if you are lucky.
Dreamer… Give me a break !!!
Once again a owner falls victim to the dreadful Pickers / Barrett-Jackson disease that has spread across our land.
Pipe Dreams!!!! No way is this car worth the asking price, in none running and no motor or trans. condition. His best bet would be to pay someone to haul it off. Considering the cost to restore it $1K to $2k is all it would be worth as is.
Automotive restoration show called Fantom Works follows a shop in Norfolk VA. They restored one of these and the work they had to put in to restore the wood was amazing but seemed like it would be expensive. To me it seems like with a good metal fabricator you could get it changed to metal and painted to look like wood cheaper. This still looks like a fun ride to have and the seller does say or best offer.
If it was running and you could drive it home, maybe 5 grand, due to the cost of restoring that type of Woodie. After market steering wheel, no radio, even the gear shift knob is gone. Attention to detail is very important with these Woodies, you need to start with a complete car at least. Many hours will be needed to do the finishing work. If it was not a Woodie, you could overlook the “missing parts”. At one time Woodies were VERY desirable cars, but that market is diminishing today, and it is difficult to find buyers that are interested in investing lots of money in cars of that age that will show a BIG loss when you decide to sell. It must be a person who loves that type car. They are fewer by the day.
Prices are starting to drop on a lot of old vehicles lets see how far the go in the future I think it hit its peak some are just not selling at all
In 1976 I bought a ’40 Ford Standard woodie for $75. No engine or transmission, most of the wood was there, but not good. Towed it home behind my Pontiac Bonneville. Seats were there minus upholstery. All the sheet metal and trim were there and in decent shape. A woods find in NH. A task far beyond me, 3 year old son cried – thought it was going to be our primary car – “it’s all broken”, he said. Wife’s friend consoled her by saying, “at least it is not another woman”. Sold it for $225 two years later. This is another $75 car, corrected for inflation, $750.