(first posted 11/20/2016) From the 50s through the early 90s, nothing said success like a fake woodie wagon in the driveway. Like the vinyl roof on a Brougham or Limited sedan, it spoke of prewar elegance, without the cost and maintenance of genuine wood. Virtually every brand slathered DiNoc on the flanks of its premium wagon at some point in the CC era. But who did it best? And who did it worst? Before you answer, let’s take a short trip through the history of fake woodies.
Until 1949, all car-based station wagons were real woodies, but the new all-steel Plymouth Suburban proved a well-named hit with the flood of new suburbanites. And for most brands through the mid sixties, all-steel wagons were just that, with nary a hint of wood, real or fake. There was a brief transition period, with GM bodies stamped and sometimes painted to resemble wood panels, but by the mid-50s the mark of a high end wagon was two-toning and chrome, like this ’55 Town and Country.
Except for the wagonmasters at Ford, that is. Ford went all-steel with its ’52 wagons, but its top-of-the-line Country Squire featured DiNoc clad body sides with real, but non-structural wood framing, with a similar look on the high-end Mercury Custom wagon. Fiberglass replaced the real wood mid-1953 and the paradigm was set.
Still, it took awhile for the idea to spread across the industry. AMC was the first, featuring some interesting shapes outlined in chrome on its late 50s Country Club wagons, and by the mid 60s Chrysler and GM joined in as luxury became the new watchword for wagon buyers. From then the until the minivan and the SUV killed the American station wagon, fake wood told the world you’d arrived.
What type of fake wood, how it was framed, and where it was placed varied from brand to brand, and sometimes from year to year. Early 70s Dodge Monacos put it up top, while at the same time Plymouth Satellite Regents went down below. And if fake wood wasn’t enough, Mercury would gladly add a vinyl roof.
So when it comes to fake woodies, who nailed it, and who failed shop class? Fire away.
I hate to admit it, but I actually kind of like these 1968 Mercury woodies.
Late to the party, but nobody thought of this one? I’m not sure whether it’s among the best or the worst. Personally, I love it, but admittedly it’s absurd. The eye of the beholder, as they say…
In the late 1970s/early ’80s Chrysler must have had an entire fake forest that they needed to deplete based on all the fake wood they used.
Back in the early 1990s
I bought a used 1987 Plymouth Voyager woody van.. short wheel base model.
It was a med. gray color, looked pretty good with the fake wood IMO
Maybe someone can attach a picture since their is no mention / pictures of that van model seen on here ?
Sorry I have no picture of the exact color. My mom’s ’72 Estate Wagon was Copper w/ Di Noc and a Cream colored vinyl roof. The car was a fully loaded salesman’s driver. I thought is was very classy and now definitely very seventies!
Vista FTW
“Buy a car..a station wagon…a Ford station wagon, the big one The one with the wood on the sides.”
Steve McQueen as Thomas Crown (1968). If Steve McQueen said Ford, it MUST have been the coolest!
Indeed, and not once, but twice! Here’s the red ’67 they used for the first robbery, with Jack Weston – “Erwin” – behind the wheel. They used a white one for the 2nd robbery at the end of the movie.
Good call!
For the GM clamshell wagons, I like the Chevys Estate trim the best. And the warmer 73-76 tone of those.
Holy cow, I had a ’73 Monaco wagon that looked EXACTLY like the one pictured! Bought it in ’80 for the paltry sum of $30.00 (yes, THIRTY DOLLARS!!!), replaced a bad motor mount (big surprise 🙂 ) and an erratic ignition module (again, big surprise 🙂 ), drove it for a bit, then sold it for $375.00. Not too shabby IMHO.
Oh, and to answer the question at hand, there’s no doubt it was Ford that did it best. And their best was this, immortalized in “Goldfinger”, which BTW is also the Best Bond film.
Yes, and yes. On the Squire, the wooden spear on the front fender is the clincher for me.
True Confession….Was in Walmart the other day and saw that a Matchbox sized collector version of the Goldfinger Ford Wagon was available. The woodgrain detail was excellent…
Was tempted to buy it, but no room on my bookshelves for another model car.
How was the Di-Noc holding up? The “framing” of the panels on those was *interesting*.
Even tho it was only 7 years old when I bought it the DiNoc was beginning to peel, especially on the tailgate.
My mother’s 1977 Ford Pinto Squire was just like this one, only in Forest Green. It had the “deluxe” plaid cloth interior with seats featuring metal decorative trim inexplicably placed in just to right position to seer the shorts-clad legs of anyone unfortunate enough to sit on one in South Carolina’s scorching hot summers…plus I believe the air conditioning quit within two months of the warranty expiration. Not a favorite memory, but it’s the only Di-Noc clad vehicle in my family I can recall. BTW, the Di-Noc held up better than the car. It was toast by 1982.
I always liked the early 80’s Country Squire and early 80’s Buick Electra Estate wagon with its lighter woodgrain. Always classy to me.
Me too…
Yes the Buick wore it quite well!
Great with the turbine wheels as well!
If it weren’t for the center caps and tiny fins between the machined spokes(I never noticed those until now) those were identical to the Vector wheels made famous on the a certain famous orange Dodge Charger. Always struck me as a oddly cool wheel for a family station wagon, but I’m not complaining!
Seeing all these “woodies” together has made me realize how terrible they really are. This may not seem like much, but it’s really something for a card carrying member of the 50s-60s Country Squire generation. I coasted on those good associations–and ad copy–despite drawing the line when Chrysler started on minivans and PT Cruisers. Now I’m working backward from there and seeing the horror: mid-90s GM wagons, Chrysler Town and Country, 70s Vista Cruiser, and always Fords and Mercurys, all with the charm of chintzy 70s furniture. Even a rare 1954 Country Squire from back when it all began is a heavy-handed jumble of mismatched fakery. Awful.
How about some pickups?
How about another?
I kinda like this one, though I’d leave off the vinyl roof, and the color wpuldha e tone the jade green metallic offered in 73, along with the turbine wheels, and raised white lettered tires.
My favorite is the ’68 Country Squire, as in the first photo. (Full disclosure: my mom had one in navy blue, and it was the car in which I learned to drive.)
The Fords were nearly always the best “woody” examples. I really like the ’67 as well, but prefer the cleaner trim on the ’68, without all the chrome fasteners.
If I tripped across a good ’68 I’d be tempted to buy it, improve the suspension (it was an understeering pig), update the engine and brakes, and stroll memory lane.
The original is still the best. Not so practical on that ’60 Ford or some others though. How do you handle dings on such a wide car with that trim? Wife had an ’87 LeSabre with this situation. I just let it go. Wish I had the LeSabre back.
FoMoCo, Not even a contest.
Which ones and why? I stand by my 2016 comments above; best were all ’52-63 Country Squires with only a single spear of “wood” thrusting forward of the rear wheels, worst the ’80s Escorts with the plastiwood extending far too low within the wheelbase and looking unbalanced compared to the overhangs. Both Fords.
*front* wheels…
Early ’50s to late ’60s Ford, absolutely. We (Dad & Mom) had a blue ’59 and tan ’68 Squire, it was THE suburban family car to own. No one did it better. A neighbor had a black ’55 Squire with red interior, the classiest wagon I’ve ever seen.
Ford Squire 100E it was just a Thames van underneath the plastiwood sidings
The best solution was to evoke wood siding rather than to fake it, quasi-literally: as evinced by the Ford Flex, with its indented side strakes.
An interesting styling device. The ribbed look suggests strength, also maybe subtly evoking the load bed of a pickup truck, Ford’s ultimate ace in the tough-image quasi-off-road marketplace. Pretty clever really… 🙂
Ford was well-known then as being the “Wagon Master”. Not saying they were the best, but they were darn good. I also liked the Impala/Caprice wagons and the Chrysler ones.
Overall I would say the full size fords 60’s – ’91 were the most consistent in having the best “woodie look.” **
I think it was a good move for Ford to get rid of the “plank look” DiNoc on their squires and go to the Colony Park style DiNoc.
I take exception to the Country Squire trim around the DiNoc. After several years the light color wrap around wood grain aluminum trim blistered, peeled, and looked like crap.
The Colony Park did it much better with DiNoc in the middle of the trim.
Owning 3 Ford “woodies”, to me one of their best features was DiNoc’s ability to absorb parking lot dings.
Let’s not forget the 1st post-war American all steel station wagon. The body panel pressings of these Willy’s wagons seemed like they were designed with a faux woody look in mind.