May 19, 2006

Motoring Memories: The last wood-bodied station wagons

1951 Ford Country Squire. Click image to enlarge

Story and photo by Bill Vance

Although they squeaked, groaned and rotted, and required regular refinishing like luxury yachts, wood-bodied station wagons carried a certain mystique. Perhaps it's because they traced their heritage back to the grandeur of a bygone era.

That was when horse-drawn, wood-panelled depot hacks, also called estate wagons, met the great steam trains at railway stations and transported well-to-do passengers and their luggage to the grand hotels.

As the gasoline engine replaced the horse, this conveyance also made the transition, gradually becoming known as the station wagon. Used mostly for commercial purposes, they were originally truck or large car chassis fitted with custom bodies. Demand for station wagons in those early days was so limited that automakers didn't offer them as regular models. A buyer wanting a wagon bought a car and commissioned a coach builder to fit a station wagon body.

This changed in 1923 when Durant Motors Inc. introduced a production wagon based on the popular Star car. Durant Motors was the child of General Motors founder William Durant. When he was forced out of GM for the second and last time in 1920, he immediately set about organizing Durant Motors, which he incorporated in 1921. In an attempt to compete with GM's Chevrolet and Henry Ford's Model T, Durant brought out his low-priced Star in 1922. The addition of a station wagon model was intended to broaden its appeal, although it didn't save the Star, which was discontinued in 1928. Durant Motors itself disappeared in the early 1930s.

Other companies soon picked up on the idea, with Ford offering its first station wagon in 1929. Although production was never high compared with cars, Ford became the leading wagon builder during the 1930s.

Wagons continued to be clad in the traditional wood, in Ford's case from its own forests in northern Michigan. Ford's wooden bodies were built in Iron Mountain, Michigan, in the 1930s and '40s. This ended in 1942 when the Second World War halted civilian car production.

Station wagons always carried an aura of extra luxury, and their main customers were hotels, country clubs and other commercial establishments that wished to project an image of class and prestige. While this was a limited market, it was a continuing one.

Following the war, manufacturers got back into the car business with slightly revised pre-war designs, including wooden station wagons. There were even, in some cases, wood-clad cars, such as the Chrysler Town and Country. Only one, Willys-Overland, with its 1946 all-steel wagon, bucked the wooden wagon trend in those early post-war days. Willys-Overland's steel wagon had predicted the future, but being Jeep-based, it was considered more of a utility vehicle than a "real" car.

In spite of a prohibition on the design of civilian models during the war, most companies were covertly preparing their post-war models. Ford's chief stylist Bob Gregorie had continued to do some design work on Ford and Mercury station wagons. Shortly after the introduction of the first post-war cars, which were carryovers of the 1942 models, work began on the new lines that would debut for 1949. Both Ford and Mercury "woody" wagons were offered, and to reduce twisting and flexing, the roof and inner body were made of steel. Wood was limited to the side and tailgate panels. They came as two-doors only, which also added body stiffness. If some observers thought they resembled yachts, this would not be surprising because Gregorie was a trained naval architect.

Although they were stylish and prestigious, and much improved with the inner steel body, wooden wagons still faced a limited market. They were expensive to build and maintain, and were heavier than cars, which made them poorer performers. And their expensive upkeep contributed to a steep depreciation curve.

The beginning of the end for wood-clad wagon came with the introduction of the 1949 Plymouth Suburban all-steel station wagon by the Chrysler Corporation. This car-based wagon's practicality was immediately embraced by wagon enthusiasts and others who made it an over-night success. It offered the utility of a wagon with the maintenance, handling and ride of a passenger car. General Motors soon followed with all-steel wagons.

Ford Motor Company, the old wagon master, wasn't quite ready to capitulate. It hung on to its wooden Ford and Mercury station wagons until the end of the 1951 model year. Ironically, this was the year in which Ford first used the Country Squire name for its woody wagon. It was a name that would become synonymous with wagons, even if the wood was faux.

Ford recognized the inevitable. To be competitive it switched to an all-steel wagon for 1952, although a few woody wagons trickled over into the new model year. Genuine wood was replaced by wood-grain appliques, which while more practical, somehow seemed like a sad comedown from the real thing.

For more Bill Vance automotive history, see www.billvanceautohistory.ca

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