Photo: Harwood Motors
The days of the woodies are long gone. The quirky looking (by today’s standards) station wagons with wood body panels were all the craze back in the 1930s, quickly becoming a symbol of suburban America and the families that lived there. This reality lasted, in some cases, well until the early 1960s. As a major player on the market, Ford too had its share of woodies.
And here’s one of them, a model called Country Squire produced by the Blue Oval from 1950 to 1991 as its top of the range station wagon. Because of the long life of the nameplate, the Squire went through several shifts in design, called for by whatever was hip at one point or another.
It is generally agreed that only the Squires of the first generation (1950-1951) were woodies in the truest sense, with wood panels put together by Ford itself. The ones that followed, including the one here, dropped wood in favor of simulated woodgrain covering various parts of the body.
Despite this, the model retains its status of family hauler on long trips across America, but also on shorter journeys to and from school or work. This one did it all in California, and that helped retain most of its original glow. That, and the fact it went through some restoration work not long ago.
Sporting fiberglass with woodgrain tone, the car looks right from another age, much more so than, say, the luxury vehicle of the time. Partially wrapped in Colonial White over a red and white vinyl interior, the Country Squire can still perform its duties thanks to the 272-ci (4.4-liter) V8 under the hood, it too rebuilt and detailed.
Linked to a 3-speed automatic transmission, the engine animated the woody for close to 1,400 miles (2,253 km) since restoration work was completed. It will probably continue to do so for many more miles, provided someone is willing to pay $47,900 for it and go back to driving an old-school family car.
It is generally agreed that only the Squires of the first generation (1950-1951) were woodies in the truest sense, with wood panels put together by Ford itself. The ones that followed, including the one here, dropped wood in favor of simulated woodgrain covering various parts of the body.
Despite this, the model retains its status of family hauler on long trips across America, but also on shorter journeys to and from school or work. This one did it all in California, and that helped retain most of its original glow. That, and the fact it went through some restoration work not long ago.
Sporting fiberglass with woodgrain tone, the car looks right from another age, much more so than, say, the luxury vehicle of the time. Partially wrapped in Colonial White over a red and white vinyl interior, the Country Squire can still perform its duties thanks to the 272-ci (4.4-liter) V8 under the hood, it too rebuilt and detailed.
Linked to a 3-speed automatic transmission, the engine animated the woody for close to 1,400 miles (2,253 km) since restoration work was completed. It will probably continue to do so for many more miles, provided someone is willing to pay $47,900 for it and go back to driving an old-school family car.
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