The Accutron Woody, and those Woody cars…

We all know the woody with regard to cars, but some may not be aware of the fact that Bulova came out with a Woody of their own with this 2182 Accutron. It is known to collectors as The Accutron Woody. It came out in 1973 and I believe was made into 1975. It screams the time period when wood accents in kitchens and on cars was all the rage. They had a couple other models with wood, but this one is the best, in my opinion, because it had more wood than the other models. It had mahogany inlays in its Duchess bracelet and around its dial. I’d call it an $800 watch in great condition, but you can get them on ebay, unrestored and possibly needing service for around $275 to $500. It is a beauty and worthy of any Accutron collection.

Columbia Pictures’ top-grossing film for the 1940s, director John Stahl’s 1945 Leave Her to Heaven starring Gene Tierney and Cornel Wilde, features a “woodie” station wagon early in the film. Many other American movies from the 1940s also feature woodies.

The woodie was also closely associated with surfers and Surf-rock, e.g., “I bought a ’34 wagon and we call it a woodie” from the classic “Surf City” by Jan and Dean or the 1963 instrumental “Boogie Woodie” by The Beach Boys.

In 1995, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 15 cent stamp commemorating the woodie wagon.

Chrysler Windsor Town & Country

A woodie (or a woodie wagon) is a wood-bodied automobile, that became a popular type of station wagon the bodywork of which is constructed of wood or is styled to resemble wood elements. The appearance of polished wood gave a resemblance to fine wooden furniture and on many occasions the wood theme continued to the dashboard and inner door panels including the rear tailgate.

Originally, wood framework augmented the car’s structure. Over time manufacturers supplanted wood construction with a variety of materials and methods evoking wood construction—including infill metal panels, metal framework, or simulated wood-grain sheet vinyl bordered with three-dimensional, simulated framework. 

1930s and 1940s

As a variant of body-on-frame construction, the woodie as a utility vehicle or station wagon originated from the early practice of manufacturing the passenger compartment portion of a vehicle in hardwood. It was a modern interpretation of an earlier horse-drawn wagon called a shooting brake which was made entirely of wood used to transport hunting spoils, gun racks, and ammunition on shooting trips. Woodies were popular in the United States and were produced as variants of sedans and convertibles as well as station wagons, from basic to luxury. They were typically manufactured as third-party conversions of regular vehicles—some by large, reputable coachbuilding firms and others by local carpenters and craftsmen for individual customers. They could be austere vehicles, with side curtains in lieu of roll-up windows (e.g., the 1932 Ford) and sold in limited numbers (e.g., Ford sold 1654 woodie wagons). Eventually, bodies constructed entirely in steel supplanted wood construction—for reasons of strength, cost, safety, and durability.

1935 Jensen-Ford woodie

1938 Ford Prefect woodie

1937 Ford Deluxe Station Wagon

1946–1948 Nash Ambassador Suburban

1940 Pontiac Torpedo Special Series 25 woodie

1948 Chrysler Town and Country, a convertible woodie

1949 Packard Station Sedan

1950s and 1960s

In 1950, Chrysler discontinued their woodie station wagons on DeSoto, Dodge and Plymouth station wagons. Buick’s 1953 Super Estate Wagon and 1953 Roadmaster Estate Wagon were the last production American station wagons to retain real wood construction. Other marques by then were touting the advantages of “all-steel” construction to the buying public. By 1955, only Ford and Mercury, joined in 1965 by Chrysler, offered a “woodie” appearance—evoking real wood with other materials including steel, plastics and DI-NOC (a vinyl product). As the appearance became popular, Ford, GM, and Chrysler offered multiple models with the woodgrain appearance until the early 1990s.

The British Motor Corporation (BMC) offered the Morris Minor Traveller (1953–1971) with wood structural components and painted aluminum infill panels—the last true mass-produced woodie. Morris’ subsequent Mini Traveller (1961–1969) employed steel infill panels and faux wood structural members.

1950 Buick Roadmaster

1950 Chrysler Newport Town & Country convertible

1951 Ford Custom 79 Country Squire

1960s Morris Minor 1000

After the demise of models using actual wood construction, manufacturers continued to evoke wood construction with sheet-vinyl appliques of simulated wood grain, sometimes augmented with three-dimensional, simulated framework, and later by a simple series of indented grooves in the bodywork.

The 1966 Chevrolet Caprice in its second season, added to the four-door hardtop body style a full line of models including a vinyl-wood trimmed station wagon, the Caprice Estate. Dodge also reintroduced simulated wood the same year.

Ford marketed the Ford Pinto Squire with vinyl simulated wood trim in the early 1970s. When Chevrolet proposed a simulated woodgrain option for the Chevy Vega Kammback wagon for the 1973 model year, after a gap of four years of applying woodgrain film on the Caprice, the Vega’s production schedule made smooth application of the applique difficult without wrinkles and heavy scrappage—requiring retraining by the film supplier. Subsequent rebadged variants of the Vega (marketed as “Woody”),including the Pontiac Astre Safari, Chevrolet Monza Estate and Pontiac Sunbird Safari, also offered simulated wood trim. Chevrolet offered a simulated woodie version of the Chevette in 1976, and AMC offered the Pacer wagon with optional simulated wood trim in 1977.

Ford also marketed version of their Ranchero model, a coupe utility produced between 1957 and 1979 with an open bed like a pickup truck but from a station wagon platform, with simulated woodgrain siding. In 1973, Ford produced a minivan prototype that offered a woodgrain appearance the preceded the Chrysler minivan, called the Ford Carousel, but it was not put into production. The 1973–1976 Chevrolet El Camino Estate, 1973–1977 Chevrolet Suburban, 1977–1979 Volkswagen Rabbit, and 1970–1991 Jeep Wagoneer had simulated woodgrain siding.

1968 Ford LTD Country Squire

1970 Ford Ranchero Coupe utility

1974 Chevrolet Vega Estate

1972 Chrysler Town & Country

1972 Plymouth Fury Sport Suburban

1973 Chevrolet El Camino Estate

1974 Pontiac Grand Safari

1977 American Motors Pacer

Frank Sinatra’s Chrysler Woody