Bob Adler brings up a good point regarding the authenticity of a wooden
panel. Cost and maintenance would be likely to deter all buyers in need of
a panel truck. But often, woodies were a selected for the image they
provided, without practical consideration. Exclusive inns and lodges
utilized large woodies to transport guests, when a steel Suburban would have
offered lower cost and maintenance. Motion picture companies often used
custom-built woodies to transport stars to remote sets. A woodie panel
truck would certainly offer high profile transport for a company delivering
exclusive products. Some affluent neighborhoods refused access to delivery
trucks, but allowed sedan delivery types, a woodie express might have been
acceptable.
In the mid fifties, the woodie was no longer popular and the resale value of
woodies plummeted. Tattered woodies were purchased for very little money by
surfers --- more than one were rumored to have provided dry wood for fires
on the beach. With woodies so cheap, someone needing a serviceable panel
could buy a woodie and replace side glass or curtains with plywood for very
little. A woodie's glass is vulnerable to breakage due to the flexible
nature of aging woodie bodies.
A canopy express, which had a limited utility for most users, also would
have provided a good base to build an ersatz woodie panel.
Ford was the only company to mass produce their own wood bodies. There were
dozens of wooden body manufacturers. Some were just furniture manufacturers,
others had experience in boat building. Coachcraft, located in Hollywood
California, was the last of the classic American coachbuilders. They
specialized in customized wood bodies. Their clientele included stars,
motion film companies, photographers and naturalists. A woodie panel truck
would have been a natural for them.
David Miller - 1940 GMC woodie - Nashville, TN
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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