Woodie in the news again

[wayfarerstranger]

1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe

4-Door Woodie

By Roger Lee Randles

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Who says a thing of beauty must be perfect? Some things are beautiful in spite of their imperfections, others possibly because of them. Take the ’49 Plymouth “woodie” pictured here. Would it be more beautiful restored to its original luster with a new paint job and a redone interior? Or does this antique automobile possess a classic beauty akin to a cherished armoire or sideboard from a bygone era whose finish may show wear and aging which exhibits a patina, the removal of which the true collector would find almost criminal?

Yes, some would refurbish a classic vehicle such as this, but this is not just any antique automobile. This is a true woodie conjuring up images of Jan and Dean, the Beach Boys, “The Endless Summer,” and that warm California sun! It actually spent several decades in a garage — from around 1970 until the late ’90s — and for that reason, has only 83,000 original miles on it today.

The current owner, Chance Moore, says he had wanted a ’49 Plymouth woodie for quite some time. He loved the body style, the dash, everything about this model basically. “I searched and searched and couldn’t find anything that wasn’t rotted to the ground or restored ... so I got tired of looking and bought a ’51 woodie and started working on it, and about six months later I ran across a ’49 Dodge, which is rarer than the Plymouth. Since it was pretty close, I bought it.” About a year later Moore got a magazine in the mail and this particular car was advertised in it. He says he didn’t let himself get too excited because he had called about several woodies in the past that had already been sold.

When he finally made the call, it turned out that he was the first to inquire about the car. Then he couldn’t believe the price, which was around half what he thought it should have been. After being assured that the price was correct and looking over some pictures that the owner over-nighted him from the car’s location in New England, Moore made the deal. He was now the proud owner of exactly the 1949 Plymouth woodie model that had been his favorite car all along.

And has he ever thought about restoring his prize possession? The answer is no, and folks who see his woodie have convinced him that his decision to leave it as it is was the absolute correct one. “People are amazed at the condition of it, and they love that. For some reason, it’s just the right amount of decay. Every person says the same thing: ‘Don’t touch it. Leave it like it is ’cause it’s so friggin’ cool.’” He says that the old Plymouth wagon is actually worth more money in its non-restored condition.

Moore, who is a singer/songwriter and guitar player, actually drives the car to gigs regularly. He has already driven the car from Nashville to Myrtle Beach and plans on a cross-country trip to California in the woodie. He has been to Wavecrest — the biggest woodie-meet on the planet — and will no doubt see that his really “bitchin’” ’49 takes its rightful place there beside all of its wood-adorned siblings. (Ed. note: in case you are under 50 or possibly just forgot or somehow missed out on surf lingo, Bitchin’ is an old-school term first used by surfers in the ’50s to signify that something was: cool, top-notch, excellent.)

The official Wavecrest Web site says this about the gathering: “Wavecrest is the world’s largest gathering of wooden-bodied automobiles. Once a year, usually on the third Saturday of September, woodies gather at Moonlight State Beach in Encinitas, Calif., (15 miles north of San Diego). 242 woodies attended Wavecrest in 1998.”

And just what goes on at Wavecrest, you may wonder. Again from the Web site: “Participants at Wavecrest Woodie spend the day admiring the wood, swapping stories, surfing and barbecuing. The event begins at 7 a.m. and is officially over at 3:30 p.m., but the die-hard woodie owners hang out at Moonlight Beach until past sunset.”

Since this monthly column is all about nostalgia, this article begs the question: what could be more nostalgic for today’s 50- 60- or 70-somethings than a real, wood-sided station wagon, or, for that matter, a woodie meet in California where the whole surfing thing began and the woodie became such an integral part of surfing lore?

The first Plymouth woodie was built in 1934 when a chassis was shipped to the U.S. Body & Forging Co. in Tell City, Ind., where a station wagon body made of cottonwood panels was installed on a Deluxe PE Chassis.

These wood bodies were not wood over a metal frame, but were constructed entirely of wood to include the doors, roof pillars, side panels and upper tailgate. The body framework was built from white ash and all panels were made of either Honduras mahogany or, as is the case with our featured woodie, maple plywood.

The last year for the Plymouth woodie was 1950. For 1949 3,443 woodies had been produced, but just 2,057 units were built in 1950 of what amounted to essentially the same vehicle as the 1949 model pictured here. With the woodie’s demise came the end of an era — their would be no more wood-bodied cars manufactured in America. •

Wheelbase 118”

Length 164”

Width 6'

Height 5’8”

Weight 3,341 lbs

Engine 218 CID L-head six “Flat head”

Bore 3.25”

Stroke 3.375”

Compression 7.0:1

Horsepower 97 HP @ 3,600 rpm

Electrical 6 volt

Tires / original 6.70X15 AA

Super Cushion

Transmission 3-spd manual shift

Price / new $2,372

Owner Chance Moore

— Home — ©2010 AutoGraphic Publishing Co.

Edited June 4, 2010 by wayfarerstranger

[randroid]

Chance,

Growing up on the SoCal coast during the '50s and early '60s, all I can say is that is bitchin!

-Randy

[BobT-47P15]

Yes.....I've seen the wagon up close and personal, and it's a good

one. Great article, Chance. Here's Chance and the woody in his

driveway in Tennessee.

[BobT-47P15]

You never know when having a wagon will come in handy.

That ladder sticking out the tailgate - he found lying in the

middle of the highway on his way to the Lane Auto Museum

in Nashville a couple years ago. Chance, Don Coatney and I

toured the museum, which features foreign cars of all shapes

and sizes. An interesting place.

Don was just about bigger than some of the cars in the museum.

Edited June 4, 2010 by BobT-47P15

[1947PLEVY]

Chance:

I'm glad "WOODROW" has gotten the recognition he deserves..As Bob said, I've seen this car in person and it's a great survivor..(He hasn't let me drive it ..YET!!) He gets many questions asked about the car at the local cruise-in on friday nights in Hendersonville,Tn..

See ya tonight Chance and God Bless Us All.. John

[Don Coatney]

I should have swiped his keys and that woody would still be sitting in front of my house. Was this article in the Tennessean Newspaper?

[wayfarerstranger]

HELLO DON , BOB , JOHN & everyone else on here the article is in a paper called AUTOMOTIVE REPORT it goes all over the south it can be seen on line just Google NASHVILLE AUTOMOTIVE REPORT u can view the entire paper and also see the other regions the paper goes out to.. THANX CHANCE

Edited June 4, 2010 by wayfarerstranger