Vehicle Description
West Coast Classics are proud to present an absolutely exceptional
and beautiful example of this no expense spared and stylishly
customized all American classic Woody hot rod wagon - a 1940 Ford
Deluxe Woody Station Wagon, customized, crafted and built by the
late, and an absolute legend in the southern California Woody
community, Doug Carr of the renown 'Wood N' Carr' shop of Signal
Hill, CA shop, and reportedly one of his very last, if not the
last, Woodys built. With only some 335 miles on the build the wagon
boasts all new wood, a fuel injected crate 302 Ford racing engine
matched to an Art Carr 4 speed automatic performance transmission,
Vintage AC amp; Heat, Power windows, Power steering, Power electric
brakes, all new suspension, soundproofing, Walker radiator, all new
smoked glass windows amp; windshield, all new 12V wiring system and
stunning paint in its original factory color and an all new custom
leather interior!The build was finished in 2019, and completed at
the renown Doug Carr's shop in Orange County,CA with with all new
wood crafted reportedly at over $100k invested in wood alone!The
first woodies were manufactured in the early 1900s by local coach
makers. As was customary for all coach builders they bought chassis
without bodies and then constructed and crafted the bodies out of
wood themselves. The coach makers would then sell these bespoke
creations to local business owners who would use them to transport
guests to and from the train stations and local resorts and
attractions and later airports. These wagons were multi-seat
transporters, with room for up to 8 passengers plus luggage and
this early usage led to the vehicles being known first as depot
hacks, referring to the depots and the old horse-drawn carriage
nickname of "hack".The woody continued to grow in popularity, until
finally in 1929, Ford released its own version of it. Ford marketed
the cars as all-purpose utilitarian vehicles with a low initial
cost, as wood-bodied cars were at that time less expensive to build
than steel-bodied cars. Through 1939, Fords station wagon bodies
were assembled by Murray Corporation of America, from wood grown in
Henry Fords very own northern Michigan forests. That year, however,
relations between Ford Motor Company and Murray soured. This led
Ford to consider in-house production of the station wagons.
Discussions with the management of the Iron Mountain operation,
then providing the wood parts to Murray for assembly, resulted in a
proposal for all body assembly to be done in the northern Michigan
locale and the bodies would then be sent to assembly plants fully
finished and trimmed. The change took place at the beginning of the
1940 model year.The bodies then took on a much different
appearance. The roofline was subtly altered, becoming more rounded
at the windshield header. Panel spacing was changed, such that the
lower panel became narrower, and the rear quarter panels were
consolidated into one piece. The rear doors, formerly hinged at the
back, suicide style, now swung toward the front. The spare tire,
housed inside in 1938 and 39, on the back of the drivers seat, was
returned to the tailgate, where it had been located from 1935 to
1937. Deluxe wagons were given the option of maple or birch
framing, while Standards came in maple only. Darker-colored gumwood
began to be used for panels, in addition to birch, in both series.
The choice of material was random. Bodies were given three coats of
varnish, hand-sanded between each application. Three engines were
available: the popular 221 cubic inch 85 hp V-8, the small 136
cubic inch 60 hp V-8 (installed in just two Standard wagons), and
the larger 239 cubic inch 95 hp V-8 from the new Mercury, which was
fitted to 354 Deluxe station wagons.The model year 1940 came with a
number of changes to Ford's station wagons, which, just two years
prior, had their internal classification shifted from commercial
vehicles to passenger cars. Riding on a carry-over 112-inch
wheelbase, their wood-intensive bodies, no longer built by the
Murray Corporation of America, were now assembled in-house by
Ford's Iron Mountain plant. These wagons sported a flatter roofline
and two-piece tailgate, and each car incorporated 445 board-feet of
lumber, primarily maple or birch for framing, mahogany for panels,
and basswood for the roof slats. The fact that they were largely
hand-built explained their extraordinary $947 cost, the highest in
the Ford line at the time and the cost explained why no more than
8,730 DeLuxe Station Wagons were built for 1940, despite Ford's
total domestic production of nearly 600,000 automobiles!By the late
1940s, it became apparent to auto manufacturers that the woodies
were becoming too increasingly expensive to produce and although
still very popular in appearance, they were no longer a viable
option for most buyers combined with the inconvenience and high
cost of cleaning and maintaining the wood, so the manufacturers
started making wood-paneling instead as an option for their
higher-end models, another reason why today these rare all original
woody wagons are arguably Ford's finest and most desirable model
for 1940: the DeLuxe Station Wagon.This particular Deluxe woody
wagon was restored and customized with no expense spared by one of
the foremost woody experts and craftsman in the country and is a
phenomenally well built custom which still holds true to its roots
and which obviously sounds and drives absolutely magnificently -
see the video on our You Tube Page on our website for visuals. The
floors are all new metal and rock-solid, with no signs of any
repairs ever performed. All of the sheet metal is original,
rust-free and very straight.In summary this must be one of the
finest examples anywhere of a fully operational and turn-key ready
tastefully modern and customized 1940 Ford Deluxe Custom Woody
Wagon which still has a classic original look as well as all the
modern day custom upgrades and technical advances with a terrific
stance; a wonderful example of an all American 1940's hot rod woody
wagon!