Continuing with this series we’ll look at what Pontiac offered up in 1948 as a woody.
In a previous blog entry (Project Pontiac 1949 Silver Streak Delivery Van http://wp.me/pKHNM-Bx) I gave you a look at a Silver Streak owned by a co-worker.
1949 Silver Streak
Well one year earlier Pontiac offered the Silver Streak as a woody.
Side view...love the big fenders.
That is a lot of wood on that woody.
These were low production cars with most being build on the 6 cylinder chassis.
1948 Pontiac 6 cylinder power plant
These were the most commonly used power plants mated with an Automatic Hydra-Matic transmission. It spec’d out as follows:
Cubic Inch Horse power 1bbl carb
239.2
93 (68.45) @ 3400
Carter WA-1 (1)
A very limited were built with 8 cylinders engines. Interesting enough these 8 cylinders were called “Silver Steak”. It boosted the specs:
Cubic Inch Horse power 2 bbl carb
248.9 cu in (4,079 cc)
108.00 (79.5) @ 3700
Carter WCD 630 (2)
Total Pontiac production for that year was only 333,957 cars.
Does time fly or what? I started this series last year and this is the next installment.
As you know the US government asked and eventually forced the auto industry to contribute to the war effort. This series is to highlight some of the major contributions. This time is Nash.
As many know, Nash was a premier car manufacturer prior to the war.
Here is their 1942 Nash Ambassador
During the war Nash used it plant in Kenosha, Wisconsin to produce engines for (among others) my favorite aircraft of all time…the Corsair.
The WWII Corsair.
Nash build the Pratt & Whitney engines that powered this awesome aircraft.
Nash produced Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Engine
Their work force consisted mainly of women.
Here they are being sworn in at the WI Plant
Later on Nash would morph into the American Motors Company (AMC).
The 1948 Bentley Mark VI with the wood body was dubbed the Countryman.
1948 Bentley.
The body build by coachbuilder Harold Radford and was aluminum over ash framing with wood paneling on the sides. The rear is mahogany veneer on alloy panels. There were only eight bodies built between 1948 and 1949.
No way I’m going to not mention the engine. Here are the specs:
4257 cm3 / 259.8 cui displacement with advertised power kW / hp / PS ( ) / and Nm / lb-ft / of torque. Dimensions: this model outside length is 4877 mm / 192 in, it’s 1752 mm / 69 in wide and has wheelbase of 3048 mm / 120 in. The value of a drag coefficient, estimated by a-c, is Cd = . Standard wheels were fitted with tires size 6.50 – 16
I got this idea from our friend Joe in Florida. Thanks, Joe, for the pictures and the reminder of some these great iconic cars.
I’ve always admired the workmanship that went in to the older cars that had wood components and have always disliked the simulating wood on cars with plastic molding and contact paper stuck on the horrible quality 1970’s and 1980’s station wagons was supposed to be a retro look (but only at 15 feet away) and cool (well as cool a station wagon was back then). I recall working in my father’s body shop and how much “fun” it was to put that contact paper back on Ford station wagon. In this mini series “Gorgeous “Wood Vehicles” I’m going to pick a year and toss you a few facts about the cars that came ‘in wood’.
Wood was used a lot in the auto industry, from all wood wheels to just the spokes to entire frames and interiors (like dash boards and steering wheels). Some of the best uses known uses were on the outside and truck beds. They were often referred to as ‘Woodies” either correctly or incorrectly, be most of us know that the term relates to cars with real wood on the outside. These are the cars I’m going to look in this series. For no particular reason, other than this was the first picture Joe sent, I’m starting with the year 1948.
A major reason for using wood was the shortage of raw materials and labor issues for producing steel/sheet metal. This was the case in 1948, just a few years after the end of World War II.
Nearly all of the major producer had models that had external wood components. This 1948 Chevy was one.
1948 Chevy.
This is the two door Fleetwood Aerosedan, but Chevy also made an 8 passenger station wagon the Model 2109 Fleetmaster. This year’s model set the record for Chevrolet woody production with 10,171 wagons built. Both Cantrell and Iona built bodies to fill the demand for the last Chevrolet wagon with structural wood. The 1948 Chevrolet Fleetmaster Station Wagon was the last true woody (structured wood) from Chevrolet. What type of wood was used? Ash the wood used for the structural base, while mahogany was used for the panels. Leatherette was stretched over a wood frame to provide the roof. Approximately 10,171 were built between February 1948 and January 1949.
Most of these cars were powered by the Chevy Straight 6, 216 CID engine.
The 1948 Straight 6 216 engine (The 235 was very similar).
Engine specs:
Bore and stoke 3.5 x 3.75 (in); Displacement 216.5 (CID); Compression 6.50:1; Max Brake Horsepower 90 @ 3300 RPM; Max Torque 174 Lbs.ft. @ 1200 RPM
Packard was another manufacturer that produced woodies. They released their Twenty-Second Series cars. They were Packard’s first totally new models were since before World War II. The wood used was northern birch for the frame and maple panels. This was purely for looks, because the overall structure was braced by the metal body shell which actually was modified from the Standard Sedan Body, only the upper rear quarters which were removed from the sedan body used the wood as actual bracing. On the door sides and window frames the regular sheet metal was cut away in order to allow the wood to be inlaid, rather than just bolted on top. These were powered by the Packard’s L-head straight 8.
Some engine specs:
Bore x stroke 3.50 x 3.75 (in.); Displacement 288.64(cid); Horsepower 130 @ 3,600 rpm; Torque 226(lb-ft) @ 2,000 rpm; Compression ratio 7.0:1; Main bearings 5; Lubrication full-pressure; Carburetor Carter 2-bbl
automatic Choke; mechanical Fuel pump
We have Chrysler’s, and Pontiac’s 1948 woodies as well as a Bentley woody and Willys coming up next in this series.
You are going to like this pics from Red Stripe Adventure’s blog. The lowered Lincoln in stealth black and you have to agree that Hudson looks great – in spite of the WWII aircraft theme.
Thanks for reading.
As you know, the US government asked and eventually forced the auto industry to contribute to the war effort. This series is to highlight some of the major contributions and first up is Crosley.
Crosley produced cars from the 1930s until the 1950s. Interestingly, before Powell Crosley produced cars, he was the owner of the Cincinnati Reds. Their first car, what we would call a subcompact these days, was a convertible.
1939 Crosley Convertible
For the war effort Crosley supplied its power plant the four-cylinder CoBra. CoBra was short for Copper Brazed and often refered to as the “The Might Tin” it was used aboard PT boats and and the B-17 Flying Fortress bombers mainly to power generators, refrigeration compressors, etc., and were widely praised for their successes in the war effort. The engine was made from sheet metal rather than cast iron like most other engines.
CoBra Block – the thin walls reduced hot spots.
Crosley CoBra this one was set up for vehicle use
Crosley stayed in business after WWII and eventually closed up in 1952. Their last attempt to save the company was to production a utility vehicle called the Farm-O-Road which was used on farm and ranches.
