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Nothing says
surfing & beach like woody wagons. A cross between a
sedan and a panel truck, nearly any kind of wood paneled station
wagon might qualify as one. First known as "Shooting Brakes"
or "Estate Wagons" used for grouse hunting on Great Britain's
country estates, they were called "depot wagons" in the United
States. Used to transport passengers and luggage at the
railway depot, they became "station wagons" when we later went
to the train station.
Early station wagons were
custom built vehicles. Ford offered an optional station wagon
body on the Model T frame in 1922, but customers still had to
order the body separately. The first ever production station
wagon was the Star Station Wagon, built by Durant Motors in
1923.
Popularity of the these
vehicles reigned for several decades until the postwar years saw
the demise of structural wood bodies. Too expensive to make and
maintain, ash or oak frames were complex, precisely milled
shapes that required furniture grade craftsmanship. The wood
had to be varnished every year or two and did not compare with
the durability of increasingly popular steel bodies.
Wooden panels gave way to
laminates used for ornamentation and the prewar station wagons
became embarrassing old wrecks, sold cheap as a utility vehicle
to haul surf lumber to the beach. Today, the woody is a classic.
You may see one in a garage or protected under a cover. Rolled
out for special beach festivals and car shows, the vehicles are
collectible and worth much more than they originally sold for.
Most have been restored with thousands of dollars poured into
them to provide the look and feel of an era when wood provided a
statement of wealth and luxury. Likewise, the accompanying
classic surfboard you'll often see displayed with a woody has
run a similar course in history. But that's another story.
