Vehicle Description
1948 Chevrolet Fleetmaster Woody Pristine all original restored
13,000 miles since restoration Canoe bottom headliner 3 Row leather
seating The finest anywhere One of the last of the wood bodied
station wagons manufactured by Fisher Body for the Chevrolet
Division of General Motors for the 1948 model year. Fisher Body
produced the wood bodies for Chevrolet and Oldsmobile from 1946
to1948 only. Two colors were available for these vehicles from the
factory: Oxford Maroon and Live Oak Green. The maroon color was the
more popular choice. Based on statistics from the National Woodie
Club, it is estimated that less than 100 1948 Chevy 'woodie' wagons
are in existence today, out of only 10,171 produced .The bodies are
framed in ash with mahogany side panels and were factory finished
with varnish as a protective coating. The wood bodied wagons were
labor intensive to build by hand and were discontinued in favor of
all-steel bodies during 1949. Wood bodies require high maintenance
when exposed to weather, and as these wagons aged, few received the
care required which accounts for the low survival rate. These wood
bodied station wagons when equipped with three rows of seats from
the factory were chosen by buyers such as hotels and educational
institutions to transport more passengers than the available
sedans. The front seat and rear most seats held 3 passengers each
and in the middle was a 2 passenger 'jump' seat that was shorter in
width to allow passenger entry to the rear seat. As the rear two
seats were easily removable, one or both were often lost after
removal, especially if both were removed to allow for carrying
cargo. This vehicle has all three of its original seats as well as
the metal cover over the spare tire attached to the rear lift gate,
which also was frequently lost when the spare was used. This
vehicle is also equipped with the rarely ordered factory option of
directional signals, which makes for safer driving in modern
traffic.
