Vehicle Description
Fully restored 4-owner Woodie Station Wagon that stayed in dry
storage from 35 years before a 3 year long, professional
restoration completed in 2016! Only 200 miles on the final
assembly, and always museum stored! Remarkable, hard to find 1942
pre-war Ford Woodie Station Wagon! Woodie Station Wagon Background:
Ford Motor Company had been in the wood-bodied station wagon
business since the Model A was introduced in 1928. Not only
involved in the complete production of the wooden framework, Henry
Ford had purchased hundreds of thousands of acres of hardwood
forest in Northern Michigan, which became known as Iron Mountain,
in the early 1920s. This sawmill was already providing the wood
necessary for building millions of Model Ts, and the crates they
were being shipped in all over the country. Ford would to turn the
Murray Corporation to finalize the assembly of the Ford Station
Wagons, who would do so from 1928-1939. Although, Ford had Mengel
Body based in Louisville, KY actually prepare the wood planks for
Murray to use to build the bodies. Mengel was already the leader in
wood production components for a number of American automobile
manufactures, and had the craftsmanship to produce top quality
parts for easier assembly. Unfortunately, this process lead to
inefficiency between the three plants during production, not to
mention some turbulence between Ford and Murray beginning in 1939.
This would inspire Ford to move complete production of the planks
and final assembly all in-house for 1940. They decided the very
source of the wood would make for the perfect place to prepare it
for ultimate assembly, the Iron Mountain plant itself. Given this
extraordinary opportunity, the employees of Iron Mountain were
eager to prove their worth. With soaring enthusiasm, they not only
achieved production anticipations, executives at Ford found the
efficiency and quality at Iron Mountain far surpassing
expectations! It was quoted from the Ford News newsletter No other
automobile model requires in its manufacture the amount of
experienced hand labor expended in the finishing of every hardwood
Ford V8 Station Wagon. Here one finds hand craftsmanship raised to
the highest level of efficiency. Unfortunately, this craftsmanship
of restoring such a splendid vehicle has become a lost art today.
So while just finding a surviving Woodie on the market is a
challenge in itself, most have required some professional
restoration along the way. Woodie Station Wagon Info: We are very
happy to offer this rare 1942 Ford Super Deluxe Woodie Station
Wagon finished in Moselle Maroon over Dark Red interior upholstery!
This example was stored for some 35 years in a basement garage,
until gifted to the nephew in September 2002 as hopes of ever
restoring were slipping away with years gone by. It would finally
be moved from one garage to another in 2004, with a quest by the
nephew to study the restoration cost, and opportunity. After
gathering enough historical data over several years, he would
finally commence the complete restoration in 2013 with the help of
Schulzes Classic Car Restoration, LLC based in Silex, MO. The
sympathetic restoration began with the intention of retaining as
much originality as possible, and saving as much of the original
wood framework as possible. All of the factory components were
still fully intact, so the restoration consisted of only original
equipment including all sheet metal. Excellent attention was giving
to photo documenting this stunning Station Wagon from inception
through restoration. Power comes from its original 221ci Flathead
V8 and 3-speed column-shifted manual transmission, producing a
factory rated 90 horsepower. Features include full dash
instrumentation, Ford AM radio, dash clock, Stewart Warner South
Wind heater/defrost system, front bumper guards, rear-mounted spare
tire with Ford-scripted vinyl cover, safety glass, Firestone Deluxe
Champion 6.00-16 wide whitewall tires, among other creature
comforts. It would be difficult to cover the extensive amount of
careful labor hours given to this special Woodie from 2013-2016,
coming at a restoration cost of over $125,000! The engine was
professionally overhauled by Flathead specialist Travis Wood of
Precision Engine Rebuilder located in Wentzville, MO. This included
boiling and magnafluxing the block & heads, resurfacing the heads,
resized rods that were re-bushed & honed to fit, grinding
crankshaft .010-.010, new crank gear, replacing the rear main seal
oil slingers, new pistons & rings, pin bushings, main bearings, rod
bearings, cam bearings, cam gear, new valves, exhaust valve seats,
rebuilt connecting rods, and fresh gasket set. All new water pumps,
boiled & repaired radiator, new radiator hoses, fuel pump, rebuilt
starter & generator, and fan belt complete the outstanding running
capacity! The body was carefully removed from the chassis to allow
for a complete restoration of the suspension with rebuilt Houdaille
shocks; all new braking system with fresh hoses, shoes, &
cylinders; new exhaust system; and all new wiring from front to
back. All exterior chrome was re-plated by Gateway Plating, new
body welting installed on freshly painted steel body, and fully
restored maple & birch hardwood body that were stained to very
impressive color tones! New Super Deluxe emblems, lenses for the
turn signals, parking lamps, and taillights bring an impressive
finished result to the rarest of Ford Station Wagons! With 1942
production halted early with the United States entry to World War
II, no Fords were built after February 10th, 1942. This example
represents one of only 5,483 Super Deluxe Woodies built, and likely
one of only a small percentage that remain intact today! Recent
sales of such opportunities include the example from the Dingman
Collection reaching a $176,000 sale result at the RM Auction in
2012. We feel this 4-owner example showing just 47,743 miles on the
odometer is priced very aggressively for the serious Ford
collector. Call with any questions, but act quickly!