Boards on Board

The boxy shape and warm woodwork of this Ford Model A Station Wagon make it look a little like a garden-shed on wheels. Many of these workhorse Ford station wagons were used as farm vehicles. Metal was strictly rationed during World War II, so the domestic automotive market substituted wood for needed vehicles used stateside. This was not an ideal solution because wood is so much heavier than metal, but war dictated supply availability. If you look closely at the inside roof of this Woodie wagon, you can see strips of wood covered by a leather top to lighten the total body weight. Woodie wagons from the war era found new life as surf wagons in the post-war era.