In the 1930s and 1940s , few motorcar had more prestige than the Ford / Mercury " woody " station Plough . Nearly always the high price model in the Ford business , it was about as practical as a backyard summerhouse but convey as much position as a Chris - Craft speedboat .
Classic Cars Image Gallery
While Ford go the industry in wooden - body wagon sales , production was always low-spirited , due as much to modified production capability as to the modest demand . Woodies of all make were sought after by hotel , recourse , state clubs , stable , and picture show studios , and Ford ’s woodies were owned almost exclusively by land squires long before its Charles’s Wain were ever called that .
Though extremely Laputan , there was something about the Ford woodies that made them more or less magical . They invariably squeaked , rattle , and groaned as glued and chicane seams come liberal , and their bodywork required at least as much maintenance as a boat ( owner ’s manuals recommended annual stripping and revarnishing ) .
But the country gallant seemed to accept the responsibleness that fail along with woody possession . Hired supporter did most of the study anyway , and besides , the ritual of annual revarnishing was always a special part of the woody mystique .
To understand why Ford built woodies in the first space , you must interpret the peculiar nature of Henry Ford . He believe that his company should be altogether ego - sufficient , from mining ore and operate rubber plantations to growing maple , birch , gum , and basswood for Model T floorboards and body frames .
In its quest for ego - sufficiency , Ford Motor Company buy vast forest reserves on the furrowed Upper Michigan Peninsula some 500 miles northwest of Detroit , and construct a plant life there , at Iron Mountain , in 1920 . Ford grew its own Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , cut its own woodland , ran its own sawmill , and cut down and work its own wooden body office .
But no matter how many Lizzies the assembly line turned out , they never seemed to exhaust the society ’s woods . Typically , Henry wasted nothing : even sawdust and leftover wood composition were turned into Ford Charcoal Briquets . It was almost inevitable that the Iron Mountain surgical procedure would be tapped for production of Ellen Price Wood place beach waggon bodies .
Go on to the next page to watch about intention and production of the Ford Mercury woody .
For more information on cars, see:
Design and Production of the Ford Mercury Woody
During the efflorescence of the Model T Depot Hack and other commercial , Ford had depended on outside provider for its Sir Henry Wood bodies , firms such as Seaman , Columbia , Martin - Parry , Mifflinburg , and York . It was only when Ford introduced its first " real " place Plough in 1929 that it began to use Iron Mountain . Even then , the wood for the Ford Mercury woody was only cut and form there .
Actual body assembly was conduct out by Briggs or Murray of Detroit or Baker - Rawling in Cleveland . These Model A patrol wagon bodies were made of maple with birch or gum panels . They were four - doors , with piano hinges at the A- and C - pillars so that the rear threshold opened " suicide style . "
Only the windshield was shabu . All other window opening had canvass curtains with small plastic openings that modified visibleness . Just a few Big Dipper were built in 1928 . The first year that Ford mass - produce wagon was 1929 , when it make 5200 in all . From that degree on , Ford was America ’s unquestioned " wagon master . "
product of Ford woody Plough uphold through 1951 . Ross Cousins , an artist in Ford Styling from 1938 through 1948 , recalls with entertainment , " It was not a very pragmatic venture , but it was always interesting . I ’m sure they lose money on it , though I do n’t call up they ever knew how much . "
apparently , the party discovered that it was n’t very economical to produce its own wagons , because it contract the Mingel Company , a article of furniture manufacturing business in Louisville , Kentucky , to build wood beach wagon parts from 1932 to 1935 . Briggs and Murray still assembled the body in Detroit .
In 1933 - 1934 , the wagon body was altered somewhat , and both front and rear doors were of the suicide type . For 1935 , Ford go back to produce its own body parts at Iron Mountain , with Murray doing the assembly .
The 1935 - 1937 body were virtually the same . All doors now close at the B - mainstay , as they had done from 1929 through 1932 . However , the torso changed substantially from premature year , and all the ribbing was now horizontal .
For the 1935 example , crank - up chalk windows were newly sport in the front threshold , though sheet curtains with great charge plate panels were used for the rest of the openings . Also for 1935 , the spare tyre was mounted on the tailgate . It had previously been carried on the left ( 1929 - 1931 ) or right ( 1932 - 1934 ) front fender .
Late-1936 wagons could be rate with chalk rear windows as an choice , and Ford scored a first with a baseball swing - out rearward windowpane for 1937 . For 1938 the body again alter slightly and the trim incite inside , mounted behind the driver ’s prat . For 1939 there were two Ford woodies , Standard and DeLuxe . Up to this point , the woody had been considered a commercial vehicle .
Between 1937 and 1939 , all the firm ’s wood - body operation were go to Iron Mountain . Timber now literally go in one end and came out the other as a complete woody body , including metal cowl , instrument panel , and trading floor .
For 1940 there was another young body design , less angulate than before and with rearward threshold hinged at the B - pillar . The bare tire come back to its premature tailgate climb up , which would be retain through 1951 . The body was altered again for 1941 , becoming more solid and simplified and now with mahogany jury and maple or birch rod frame .
Go on to the next Thomas Nelson Page to learn about the phylogeny of the Ford Mercury woody .
Evolution of the Ford Mercury Woody
Ford Mercury woodies figured hard in FoMoCo ’s program for its first Modern postwar mannikin , but the need to save and a last - minute modification of focusing meant woody sedans and convertibles did n’t stand a chance .
By this time it was a woody Earth . Every GM division except Cadillac had a factory woody model , and a particular Cadillac woody sedan body could be order from Coachcraft in California . Studebaker , Hudson , Packard , Plymouth , and Dodge all had woodies , many for some time . Chrysler insert its striking fresh Town & Country wagon that year , extend in six- and nine - passenger versions .
Ford now carried its station paddy wagon body over to the Mercury line of products , where it appear as a alone - eight piston chamber mannikin . There were four woody wagons in the Ford line : a Six and an Eight in both the DeLuxe and Super DeLuxe series .
Iron Mountain bear on twist out woodies until World War II stop all U.S. civilian car production . Wagon output for 1942 was a bare 1222 Fords and 900 Mercury s.
The 1942 dead body returned unaltered for 1946 - 1948 except for the intimate postwar font - rhytidectomy , and the DeLuxe wagon was dropped . Up to this detail , all Ford woody wagons had been evolutionary .
But the 1949 manikin was quite revolutionary . It marked the last time the firm would be financially unsuccessful at building wagons . The 1949 - 1951 design genesis would also see the last Ford and Mercury wagons with material wood bodywork .
The origins of the 1949 police van can be traced as far back as 1941 , when the styling group under E. T. " Bob " Gregorie set about work on the 1943 models that never appear because of the war .
By 1943 there were a figure of clays that clearly outlined the basic shapes of postwar Mercuries and Lincolns . Among them was at least one mock - up of a new estate car body , plausibly envision as being all - Grant Wood .
The atmosphere at Ford Motor Company in this period was chaotic . Edsel Ford died in May 1943 , and sure-enough Henry was becoming more and more senile . Whatever postwar preparation could be manage was gestate out in complete secrecy from Charlie Sorensen , Ford ’s right hand man , and the U.S. Government , which prohibit any new ware development during the state of war .
Yet some brilliant oeuvre went forrard , some of it undercover , include an autonomous front temporary removal for Ford and Mercury and a new torsion - bar suspension for Lincoln .
Engineering projects proceeded under Larry Sheldrick , whom Sorensen eventually fired , while design efforts were supervised by Gregorie , who relinquish but presently yield . Given the cloak - and - dagger conditions , it ’s a miracle that anything at all emerged from this wartime work .
From the source , woods wagon consistence had been squeaky , draughty and , above all , dear to ramp up . Any postwar police wagon would have to be inviolable , quieter , more durable and fashionable and , most of all , more profitable .
These requirements lead to Gregorie ’s wagon design of 1943 - 1944 . In its final form , it had an all - steel body with a steel top . Natalie Wood was used only for the outer panel and lower tailgate section .
Two doors were employed instead of four , because two - threshold models are trashy to build and furnish outstanding overall structural strength . Ross Cousins still has a drawing he did , date 2025-05-20 , and it is distinctly the same station waggon figure introduced in former 1948 for the 1949 Ford and Mercury lines .
At about the same clip , Cousins rendered a convertible sport station wagon , essentially the same car without a top . Cousins says both these ideas were Gregorie ’s ; he only rendered them . While he does n’t recall a clay modelling of the raw Plough , he does remember doing a full - size blackboard drawing of it and believes a prototype was done later that Gregorie repel .
Go on to the next pageboy to learn about the development of the postwar Ford Mercury woody .
Development of the Postwar Ford Mercury Woody
As recently as early 1947 , Ford ’s postwar planning did not just let in the Ford Mercury woody ; Ford visualise four disjoined car line . Besides a compact " light gondola " there was to be a stock Ford on a 118 - inch wheelbase , including Gregorie ’s wood / sword two - door Plough and convertible .
A brace of Hg on wheelbases of 120 and 123 inches was also schedule , again with these trunk styles , though the wood / steel Sportsman sofa bed was more tight related to to Mercury ’s production 1946 - 1948 woody ragtop than the newfangled wagon .
ultimately fall Lincoln , with a standard wheelbase of 125 inches , Custom or Cosmopolitan model on a 128 - column inch anatomy , and a 132 - column inch - wheelbase Continental and limousine .
A sport - eccentric sofa bed was target for the standard Lincoln series , while the Cosmopolitan line would get a bright Sir Henry Joseph Wood / sword sedan , both apparently mean as replies to Chrysler ’s 1946 - 1948 Town & Country offerings .
With all this , woodies figured very intemperately in Ford ’s postwar thinking . Yet except for the coaster wagon , none of these mannikin ever appeared . What happen ?
In 1945 , freshly install ship’s company president Henry Ford II brought in Ernest R. Breech from Bendix and GM to be his second in command . Breech was never very well-off with Gregorie ’s Ford designs ; he feel they were much too dense and ponderous .
In August 1946 he told Ford ’s insurance commission that the new Mercury should be based on the proposed 118 - column inch - wheelbase Ford and that the two Mercurys should be combined to shape the smaller Lincoln serial . The Cosmopolitan would stay at the top of the Lincoln line .
He also recommended a wholly new Ford be designed from scrape on a 114 - inch wheelbase and announce it should be the company ’s top priority .
The citizens committee bought all of Breech ’s proposals . Both Gregorie and an external chemical group head up by George Walker now present marriage proposal for the new 1949 Ford . Except for minor detail , their blueprint were quite standardised because a very tight package had been set down .
Ultimately , the Walker chemical group ’s model was select . Gregorie again leave alone the troupe because of this and other differences with Breech , though his divergence was an amiable one .
The 1951 Ford and Mercury wagons place an all - time high-pitched in FoMoCo woody production . They were the most expensive models in their lines , but they also had the piteous resale economic value .
Engineering work for the 1949 Ford now move in the lead at full speed , a crash campaign unprecedented in the industry at that time . Everything else was lowly in Dearborn , and a plenty of plans were leave by the roadside , including the compact Ford , a coupe , and a whole fleet of fastbacks .
The Continental project was table indefinitely , and there was no hope for the woody sports wagon , convertibles , or sedans . The reason give in each display case was cost effectiveness : Ford Motor Company was lose almost $ 10 million a calendar month at the time , so the need to economize was obvious .
The only woody projection to reach production was Gregorie ’s station wagon , his basic body design being produce for both the 114 - inch - wheelbase Ford and 118 - inch - wheelbase Mercury chassis that come out for 1949 .
Go on to the next page to learn about the production of the postwar Ford Mercury woody .
Production of the Postwar Ford Mercury Woody
It has been sound out that the Ford Mercury woody Big Dipper looked rather like boat . This may be due in part to Gregorie ’s sexual love of racing yacht . He was trained as a naval architect , and when he left Ford in December 1946 , he give to designing yachts .
It has also been said that the 1949 woods - wagon body was so heavy that it must have been in the first place intended for Mercury . This is quite right . As noted , the 1949 Mercury was suppose to have been that yr ’s Ford , and it turn out to be the better - performing of the two wagons . The Ford reading has some peculiar timber .
For example , its rearward section is so heavy that the front feel quite weak , and the car handles almost like it has power steering . The 100 - H.P. Ford flat - forefront V-8 is couple up in the wagon with the 3.91:1 Mercury rearward end alternatively of the 3.73:1 frame-up used in other model .
The engines are well-nigh identical , of grade , but a 0.25 - inch longer diagonal gives the Mercury 10 more HP than the Ford . And the Ford really needs that , because it weigh 3543 pound , a simple 83 pounds less than the Mercury .
The only body difference between the two is that the upper portion of the Mercury ’s front room access is tuck in at the hood to take on its lower fenderline .
staring steel bodies for both 1949 wagons were shipped to Iron Mountain , where the wood outer panel were added . Whereas the earlier trunk framing was made from solid pieces of maple , the 1949 frames were constructed with an luxuriant electrobonding procedure .
room access frame , for example , were forge by a radio - frequency bonding pressure utilise pressure sensation to a at large parcel of rosin - coated wood plies , then radiation - Energy Department laminated into a skeleton column blank . The process utilized eighteen 75 - ton laminating presses .
At the time these car were built , trader were supplied with replacement woodwind . The melodic theme was that as the wood frames and panels deteriorated , owners could replace them with novel wood from bargainer .
But few owners stockpiled wood , and finally bargainer just threw out the honest-to-goodness stock . Thus , restorers may have a difficult time get hold new - old stemma wood today . Replacement pieces can be made , but they will not be laminate .
Go on to the next Thomas Nelson Page to learn about the legacy of the Ford Mercury woody .
Legacy of the Ford Mercury Woody
Were there any alone versions of Ford ’s last postwar woody ? Yes . A prototype of the transformable sports wagon or Mercury Sportsman was reportedly construct , and Siebert of Toledo , Ohio , constructed a few 10 - rider Wagon on a stretch wheelbase . The latter , sport four doors and a 4th rear end , may have been build as 1949 Fords only .
As for differences between the three model year , there are quite a few among the Fords but very few among the Mercurys , apart from the expected front - end styling change shared with their linemates .
Beginning about mid-1950 , the wood tailgate on both models was replaced by a brand gate embellish with woodgrain decals , and the removable center bottom was replaced with a define fold - down seat .
The Ford ’s attractive woodgrain instrument panel give way to a jury simply painted in a impersonal color , its chrome windshield molding was supersede with a caoutchouc clay sculpture , and its woodwind interior panels were abandoned for cardboard that simulated Grant Wood .
For 1951 , the Ford wagon retained the 1949 - 1950 legal instrument control board while all other framework had a completely Modern elan , and the wagon ’s extra tyre cover was no longer offered . Interestingly , most of these nice custom touch were retained on the Mercury for all three year .
Ford could offer a little more in the Mercury because it charged more for it . But the company really hold the line on wagon prices in all three class due to the highly competitive marketplace of the time . In fact , prices actually turn down a bit for 1950 - 1951 .
For 1951 , Ford turned over all forest - wagon organic structure gathering to Ionia , in all probability for reasonableness of cost efficiency . It is a paradox that the name " Country Squire " first appeared on the Ford wagon for 1951 , when the mannequin was much less a fancy " Squire " than in old years .
The name was emphasized commence with the new all - blade 1952 models , adorned with mere decals and a token natural forest border .
Go on to the next page to watch about Gordon Buehrig and the 1949 - 1951 Ford Mercury woody .
Gordon Buehrig and the 1949-1951 Ford Mercury Woody
The Ford and Mercury woody wagons derive to an destruction with the 1951 editions , which achieve an all - time high in FoMoCo woody yield . Though they were still the most expensive models in their respective lines , they had the poorest resale economic value .
in the meantime , Plymouth , Chevrolet , and others were tapping into a whole new mart with all - sword wagons , and Ford was not about to be give obscure in its own woodwork .
For 1952 , Ford introduced its first all - steel wagons , two- and four - door exemplar in three distinguishable series . Mercury also switch to metal bodywork that year , but propose a single four - door wagon with six- or nine - rider seating .
Famed designer Gordon Buehrig , who created the 1952 wagon bank line , explain why FoMoCo ’s real woodies in the end disappeared :
" I was in charge of a small group called the Body Development Studio . What we had to work with was a 1952 sedan with two doors on one side and four door on the other .
" From this good example , it was our designation to design all the others using maximal interchangeableness of piece , and this is when we total up with the [ Ford ] Ranch Wagon and the Country Sedan and the Country Squire .
" That 1949 - 1951 post wagon had the worst resale of any gondola in the line of work . It was the most expensive car in the line , and it had the miserable output . [ in reality , the Ford Crestliner and clientele coupe had lower bulk . ] GM and Chrysler both had all - steel wagon . They were outselling us , and their wagons had better resale .
" The all - blade wagons that we come out with , that first year they built all they could build [ the Korean War put restrictions on all 1952 product ] and by the third year [ 1954 ] they got up to 145,000 .
" The Ranch Wagon had the best resale of any car in the line , which was a consummate reversal from the older wood job … I was never very sympathetic towards the 1949 - 1951 - model wagon because it was an economical floating-point operation , and I design something to supersede it . "
If FoMoCo woodies were now history , they were n’t forgotten . For a fourth dimension they were fad vehicle favored by California surfers and beatniks , while a few were loved and cherish by owners who religiously varnished the wood every leaping . And even before most models of the 1940s and fifties became collectible , the woodies had achieved a sure " special interest " position .
Today , the 1949 - 1951 patrol wagon have survived in the greatest numbers because they had the highest original production and because of their uncompromising steel inside panel and tops . unluckily , it is hard to find an unrestored specimen from any of these class with " everlasting " original Sir Henry Joseph Wood .
