Jump to content

field find woodie very rare 1 of 20?


OLDTINPUSHER

Recommended Posts

Guest Silverghost

I've done some pretty tough auto resorations over the years~

Also a fair number of tough antique mahogany wooden speedboat restorations & rebuilds~~~

Boy~ what a ambitious woodie restoration project you have picked-up !

You have much more ambition and guts than I do today !

Post some more photos as you begin your restoration ~

I wish you the very best of luck !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, that's interesting, whats the story with it? My guess is that the owner parked it there 40 years ago, and from the close proximity to the road, has been asked many times over the years if he wanted to sell it, but didn't want to. It's probably known around town as "the old woody" too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Timthemailman

I think you just made some restoration guys cringe "never could hammer a nail strait.".Isn't that stuff tounge & groove and tapped into place, being cut to exact size?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's something I was wondering about, HOW did they put those things together in the factory? And why? Wouldn't it have just been so much easier to craft sheetmetal panels for the roof/sides and doors instead of having expert woodcrafters hand cut/fit each individual piece at the factory? I would think that they were real works of art that someone put ALOT of time into as they came out of the factory. Just amazing... :o

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Timthemailman

I thought the "woodie" all came about do to the shortage of metal during WW2 and just after. Did I miss something? I looked pretty close to one once. As the son & grandson of carpenters I looked for nails or screws and it all looked tonge & groove to me. Even the headliner was of wood.

Gotta be a woodie expert around here somewhere. Hope he sets us all straight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do not consider myself an expert on Woodies, but I have owned many in my lifetime and I have alot of experience with them. I have a 47 Town and Country sedan now.

Woodies did NOT come about because of metal shortages during WW2. They were around long before that and were actually more or less beginning to be phased out AFTER the war. They were/are masterpieces on wheels and it took so much hand assembly at the factory and maintaining them, for many owners, was too much of a nuisance, which resulted in low sales. That is why they were replaced by the all metal wagons.

The wood joints were held together by finger-joints (tongue and groove if you want to call it that) and glue. There was limited use of screws and nails, too. Why they were constructed this way from the woodworkers was probably the best way to do it as they were in business doing that type of work for many, many years.

The question about why the companies did not just use metal as a form...

My only reply is that during their heyday the woody was a symbol of luxury and status as well as being a useful vehicle to many. They were made in very limited numbers, also serving as nice window dressing in dealerships, and there was a sense of pride, in my opinion, that would drive the companies to manufacture a car that most knew would not make a lot of profit. There were also words such as QUALITY, CRAFTSMANSHIP, etc that have been lost through the years as profit margins rule the day. Mass production, cheaper materials and quality, but in the end, higher prices.

The beauty of Woodies is that they will NEVER be made again.

We all heard that argument when America stopped manufacturing convertibles in the 70's. We all know that didn't last. But making a car out of wood today or in the future does not fit into the scheme of things and the cost would be astronomical.

All that said, we need to preserve as many of these cars as possible.

Joe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dave,

Nice thought, but.......

I don't think they would even use pressboard, as that is actually, almost, nearly, considered "really" wood. I mean, it does have the word "board" in it which could be misconstrued to mean that there would (wood) be real wood used in making it.

They would probably use a resin or cheap plastic (NOT FIBERGLASS - LOOK AT THE PRICES OF VETTES) and say it is a Woodie and try to market it as such.

CANNOT AND WILL NOT HAPPEN - I HOPE!!!!!

Joe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No discussion of woodies would be complete without paying homage to the excellent vinyl "wood-like" stickers on the Ford and Chrysler wagons of the '60's & '70's. You could even get this treatment on your K-car convertible! Just hope you never had to remove it.

On a more serious note, metal dashes painted to look like wood in the '40's &'50's had a very nice appearance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Silverghost

Maybe we can talk Norm Abram of PBS's New Yankee Workshop into taking this woodworking, cabinetmaking project on for next years entire season of new shows~

I too would like to see this woody saved~

I do have my doubts as to it really ever being done~

It would be a real "Labor Of Love" ; and not for the faint of heart !

Edited by Silverghost (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A while back an older woodworker and I were discussing woodies and when I asked wouldn't it have been simpler to go with metal and he brought up a point I never thought of. He said that today a woodworker is considered a highly skilled craftsman who has studied his craft. In the late 19th and early 20th century almost everyone worked with wood in one form or another and it wasn't nearly as hard to find people capable of turning out this type work as it was a much more familiar medium to work in during the earlier days of automobile construction.

Howard Dennis

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...