(first posted 4/5/2011) CC Cohort contributor Davo posted this 1950 Plymouth wagon with impeccable timing. I’ve been wanting to find one for ages, but no luck so far. This is a very significant historical milestone in the evolution of the modern station wagon indeed; or let’s just say it’s the granddaddy of them all.
Until it arrived, wagons were built in special shops or by sub-contractors out of wood. Quite the operation too; Ford held vast woodland tracts to supply his army of carpenters. But let’s face it, as romantic as the genuine woody wagon seems now, it was a royal pain to maintain. The splinters in a crash weren’t so hot either. But the biggest factor was cost: woodie wagons were quite expensive, and not surprisingly so, given the labor involved. The only question is, what took so long?
Plymouth took the plunge with their new 1949 models, and the writing was on the wall. This wagon was a big hit, as Dad didn’t have to be sanding and varnishing the wagon every spring like the boat (fiberglass took care of that). Within a few years, Ford and Chevy ditched their wood shops and joined the steel brigade.
This wagon also has sentimental value to me: When we arrived in Iowa in 1960, my Dad’s new boss and his wife drove up to the Cedar Rapids airport to pick us up. He drove a beautiful ’56 DeSoto Firedome sedan; she drove one of these, in the ubiquitous navy blue. In 1960, that made it an elderly car already.
As we walked to the two cars in the parking lot, I headed for the powerful and handsome DeSoto, but was redirected to the plump Plymouth wagon. I vividly remember every detail, and though I resented it then, I learned to appreciate these cars.
Strictly speaking, the Plymouth wasn’t actually the first all-steel wagon, just the first one in the mainstream of the market. The Willys Jeep wagon beat it by three years, arriving in 1946. It solde well, and undoubtedly influenced the Plymouth as well as some others:
At least one European company was very inspired by the Plymouth and/or Willys. I always wanted one of these Volvo Duett wagons. They were very cool in the late sixties-early seventies, when they could still be found readily and cheaply. Very roomy back there indeed; perfect for a cross-country jaunt with a friend or two. Just about as big as the Plymouth, actually, which was a fairly compact car.
To put that in perspective, the Plymouth wagon’s dimensions are almost identical all-round to 2017 Toyota RAV4.
Here’s the details.
Now if that had been a white gen1 Xb behind the Plymouth, I would really have been impressed!
What a very beautiful picture of that Volvo. If you haven’t forgotten, the Duett, or 210, née 445, was my very first car, given to me as a family hand me down. Though it wasn’t beautiful like that, and it wasn’t two-tone. Though, it had its engine swapped for a B20 from a 144, so it was quick indeed. I wrote about it at TTAC.
The Duett debuted in 1953 as an in house design, though the bare ladder frame chassis had been available since 1949. It was very common in those days for the manufacturers to offer bare chassis for different specials, like hearses, ambulances, trucks, and so on. The Volvo chassis came equipped with hood, front wings and torpedo, but no wind screen. It became so popular that Volvo finally relented and made an all steel bodied station wagon in house on the ladder frame. Those station wagons that had been outsourced before usually had vestigal rear wings designed into the body moulding, but Volvos design was very clean, so that’s usually the tell tale between them.
Though, I think it was more similar to and inspired by the Willys Jeep Wagon. Except for the Jeeps rugged looks, they were very alike in size and execution.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willys_Jeep_Wagon
Yes, your comment jiggled that memory of your Duett wagon. And to tell the truth, I shortchanged the Willys wagon; I was running up against a very rigid cut-off time last night. I’m going to add that though.
wow.
I’ve heard “elders” talk about how cars are going back to the 1940s — more upright — but that xB next to the Plymouth just sealed it for me. Reallly, are there no new ideas in car design?
I take it more as we’re returning to what worked before with today’s upright CUVs.
Ecclesiates 1:9.
I know this car! Growing up in San Bernardino, CA this was/is? a frequent site, I now live in DC so I havent been back for a few years but this art store where I would shop for hard to find drafting supplies was next door to one of my favorite mexican restaurants. Makes me homesick.
Wood can be a problem for mass-produced products; according to Henry Petroski’s “The Pencil,” manufacturers resorted to more abundant incense cedar as stands of red cedar disappeared. Despite the name, they had to add the scent back in synthetically.
I highly recommend any of Petroski’s works, such as “To Engineer Is Human.”
I’ll second you on Petroski. My favorite of his is “The Existential Pleasures of Engineering”.
“Why did it take so long” is a good question. Some of the commercial sedans around 1930 were exactly station wagons. Side-opening rear door, removable rear seat. But they faded out.
All sedan deliveries could have developed into station wagons by replacing the side panels with glass. But they didn’t.
I suspect the wagon became necessary in the ’50s because the low-roofed three-box sedan was no longer flexible enough. Regular sedans of the ’30s could hold extra kids or extra luggage in the middle. Postwar sedans had no middle room.
The commonly stated “fact” that wagons were needed for big Boomer families doesn’t work. ’50s families were smaller than before, not bigger.
The 50s set a modern record for children per family in the US, peaking in 1957 at almost 3.5 kids per family. The source I looked at indicated that the late 1950s rate was higher than any time since 1911, when that chart started. Fertility rates dropped all through the 20s and really plunged during the depression.
Nice, sharp looking wagon. I have an old promo model of one in practically the same color. An innovative Mopar design that pretty much ended the era of “woodies”. As a painter, I can appreciate that an artist supply shop has one. If I`m ever in the neighborhood,I`ll definately buy some supplies there.
*VERY* nice ! .
My Stepfather bought one new in 1949 , he was a Sailor and raced Cat Boats , said it was just the thing to haul ’round sail bags , rope and all that crap Sailing requires , in a weather tight , good handling , economical car that was pleasant looking too .
I know where one is sitting in a Garage here in So. Cal. , I keep meaning to stop in and look at it .
-Nate
Hard to imagine saying it, but that rear fender is much too stylish and graceful for the rest of the car.
And think how many more they might have sold had they gone with 4 doors instead of 2.
Great, I didn’t know they were the first steel wagon.
The first car I remember was my parents 50 Ply in Navy blue. But it was a two door with the aero back. Pretty good basic car. They traded it in 57 for another 2dr Plymouth. Now that was a POS. Three years later they got rid of it. Ended up with a 60 Plymouth with the first slant six. Only because the Ford and Chevy dealers refused to take the 57 in on trade. The 60 turned out to be a pretty good car tho.
all Metal Station Wagons came from the high cost and high maintanence of Wooden Wagons. Wagons were always the most expensive model in a car line in 1930s.
I like the slogan on the back of the car about serving the artist since this car was new. Quite clever.
Cool old car, but I imagine that the fender skirt is an aftermarket add on. Just not a fan when they were not part of the original design.
How about the wire wheels (or fake wire wheels)?
I love 2-door wagons anyway, and with the historic “first” of this one, what’s not to like? Great color for the car too.
These wagons had two drawbacks that prevented Chrysler from really capitalizing on them in a big way. First, they were a bit small for the era (IINM, they were built off of the short-wheelbased, almost compact-sized body that Chrysler experimented with for some lower-line Plymouths and Dodges from 1949-52); second, they came only with two doors. GM had steel Chevrolet and Pontiac wagons that were normal-sized and four-doored soon after the first of these Plymouths appeared, and Ford had them as well starting with the 1952 model year. It took Chrysler until 1953 to upsize these wagons onto a normal sized body, and until 1955 to get a four-door version in showrooms.
DeSoto and CHRYSLER had4dr all steel wagons and woodys in 1950. had a wag li8ke this, same coloer, in my yoth, towed a Airstreasm Bambi exploring Cal. wire wheels and skirts were factory and dealr optiond from early 50’s.
Wagons. From a semi-commercial vehicle (Ford Taunus, Opel Rekord, Mercedes W123) to a “lifstyle”-vehicle (Audi 100, BMW 3-series) to a very popular and widespread option these days; from B- to E-segment.
This CC’s Plymouth is just wonderful, never seen it before.
Paul, I grew up in postwar wagons, so this is a topic dear to my heart .
I don’t know if it’s clarification or nitpicking to bring up the distinction of “has some structural wood” vs. the all-steel bodies (but still with the bolt-on real wood trim). A quick peek online found Chevy serving up its 1949 wagons both ways–kind of a transitional year?
FWIW: Mid-1949 article re station wagon changes affecting Michigan’s U.P. lumber operations (from a FoMoCo perspective):
Thanks for the article. IIRC the old St. Louis Corvette plant was originally a wooden body factory that supplied the adjacent main Chevy plant. Corvette production moved from Flint in late 1953, right around the time that GM stopped offering wood bodies (by then only on Buicks) and wood trim on steel bodies.
This ad for the 1949 Chevrolet wagon states they were available in either all-steel or natural wood body. (And 4 doors to boot.)
A bit of further research does indeed show that 1949 Chevy wagons were available in two versions; a genuine (partial) wood body, and an all-steel bod, which had wood graining paint to look like steel. By 1950, they switched to only the steel body.
First time I saw one of these was in a junkyard owned by a friend of my grandfather’s in the early 70s. Love at first sight. No, I didn’t drag it home for restoration as about all that was left was the body, powertrain long gone, and that resembled Swiss Cheese, thanks to Michigan road salt.
The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn has one, due to it’s significance as a steel bodied wagon. It’s on display next to an 84 Plymouth minivan.
Unlike the one owned by the art supply, no chrome tailgate hinges on this one.
Very reasonable instrument panel, with proper round, white on black, instruments, as nature intended.
Yur, fthfl svnt, at the wheel of a 50 Plymouth, some years ago.
The hinges are very furniture style for a car. Not even modern furniture style but more like Colonial Revival.
thru 1956 mopars had large external hinges omn wags
Sorry, I have a 1948 Crosley wagon that’s all steel! So Plymouth was NOT the first American made all steel station wagon.
Where did I say it was? I called it “The First Modern Wagon”. The 1946 Jeep wagon alone had it beat by three years. I made that very clear. Did you actually read it?
I wonder about the second-generation Chevrolet Suburban that had all-steel station wagon body in 1935 with option of rear panel doors or tailgates. That seems to precede Jeep Crowley by eleven years.
Perhaps Suburban didn’t qualify since it was built on pickup truck chassis rather than sourced from passenger car chassis. Yet Jeep is mentioned in the article. I suppose it is safe to assume the scope of this article is the station wagon based on passenger car.
Ford had an all steel wagon starting also with their new postwar design in 1949, but it seemed to only come with wood appliques. The lighter colored outer framing was real wood but the darker panels were fake. It’s odd that they were so committed to the wood wagon look that they didn’t offer a lesser model without the applied wood. And that after woodie station wagons were always four doors, the Ford also went with only two, but somehow passengers could make their way back to the third row.
In 1950 they started calling them Country Squires. The rebodied 1952’s came in a two door Mainline (base) model “Ranch Wagon” or a four door with the real wood framing fake wood again. A midlevel four door Customline “Country Sedan” version does show up in just one version of their brochures, and judging by the sliding third side window could be an eight passenger version. Then, still with the same body in 1954 the wood framing finally turned into fiberglass. Finally the pattern for the next decade or two was set.
Would I have wanted a Country Squire treatment on my Forester Touring? Hmmmm….
My family never had a MOPAR wagon, though a ’56 Plymouth was my father’s first car, it was traded in on a ’61 Rambler wagon (first of two) ..and after that our primary family car was always a wagon up through ’78 (which was kept until 1984) after which my father went back to sedans….our family aged out of needing the extra space just as minivans were taking the place of wagons (then SUVs doing it to minivans).
Despite never owning one, I’ve liked the idea of minivans, more so than SUVs, but I admit I’m big on space efficiency, which minivans seem to have the advantage of. I kept buying hatchbacks instead, not really needing that extra space, though I admired them and wish they stayed popular. Now wondering if I’ll be able to find a hatchback when it comes time to replace my current one; seem to be driving everyone to SUVs, don’t need the size nor the complexity (specifically AWD). Just want to buy similar to what I’ve been buying, but maybe not available as new car.
We “helped” Doug Rickert (Bud’s son) get the 1950 Plymouth Station Wagon starter problem handled. It was about 10 years ago (I think 2011 or so) at San Bernardino Valley College. Help was mainly just getting what tools he needed to un-stick a stuck relay that was rapidly draining the battery. I don’t remember all the details but it seemed he knew exactly what to do and got it done quickly enough to stop any serious damage. He explained it was all stock, still using a 6 Volt battery (with a positive ground system), so it was a bit of luck for us to spot it and get him quickly enough to stop the potential damage and get it back to working well enough for him to get home.