{"id":27825,"date":"2019-09-03T14:39:41","date_gmt":"2019-09-03T18:39:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=27825"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:24:17","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:24:17","slug":"a-beautiful-accent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/heritage\/2019\/09\/a-beautiful-accent.html","title":{"rendered":"A Beautiful Accent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NOT MANY\nVEHICLES HAVE EARNED THE RIGHT TO BE CALLED WOODIE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the\nhistory of automotive design, aside from perhaps the hood ornament and\ntailfins, very few exterior adornments have captivated car buffs quite like\nwoodgrain. When utilized correctly, wood (or any facsimile of wood) has\nprovided an added element of earthiness to the machines we love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While wood was a primary material used for early automobiles (remember, most carmakers started by making horse carriages), the use of the material for the exterior body faded because steel was more readily available and easier to manipulate and mold than wood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"dodge<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the\n1930s, automakers hit their stride meshing wood and steel to create some of the\nmost beautiful and iconic vehicles ever to hit the road. Incorporating even\nmore wood into the exterior (and interior) design became even more prevalent\nduring WWII when steel was at a premium for military use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually,\nthe high cost of creating wooden bodies and maintaining the pristine look never\nbecame advantageous for designers, manufacturers or buyers. Factories feared\nthe elements, such as termites, fire and dry rot, would leave the wood less\nthan desirable, if not constantly combated with treatment (bug spray, fire\nretardant and a good lacquering). Maintaining real wood \u2013 and repairing it\nafter an accident \u2013 put a lot on the owner. And that amount of responsibility\nlikely meant the end of the popularity of the Woodie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to\nallpar.com, \u201cIn 1941, Chrysler came out with the first steel-roof Woodie wagon,\ncalled the Town & Country.\u201d In 1947, however, Chrysler stopped using real\nmahogany for the inner panels of the doors but they kept using ash wood on the\noutside panels and body framing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the\nyears, Woodie vehicles have continued to intrigue car collectors \u2013 and some car\nbuyers. All the while, manufacturers have found alternatives to actual wood\nsiding in the form of vinyl applique or stained metal. Ensuring the \u201cWoodie\u201d\nhas never quite gone away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After near\ndemise in the 1940s, the 1950s saw a slight resurgence in the use of wood as an\naccent. Some car manufacturers even discovered that wood siding on an\nautomobile emitted unique color opulence that new luxury car buyers\nappreciated. The California beach blanket surfin\u2019 safari culture that grew in\nthe \u201950s (and well into the \u201960s) created a newer, younger audience for\nwoodgrain siding on the automobile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most\niconic of the woodgrained vehicular phenomenons may be the Jeep\u00ae<\/sub> Grand Wagoneer.\nIn the 1960s through 1991 (the last year it was built), Wagoneer offered\nwoodgrain as an option on most of their models. The wood, however, was plastic \u2013\na vinyl applique \u2013 the most iconic of which was Marine teakwood-grain with\nsimulated white ash molding. The vehicle didn\u2019t just spark the SUV craze, it\nbrought new interest to woodgrain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1970s\nsaw a resurgence of the family station wagon and a sudden appreciation for wood\naccents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nChrysler, Dodge and Jeep Brands have used wood paneling sparingly throughout\nthe ages. But, every once in a while, woodgrain makes an appearance on a model.\nThe most recent example was the 2002-2004 PT Cruiser that had simulated wood\npanels down the side and around the rear hatch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, in 2003,\nDodge created quite a buzz at the auto shows with their Kahuna concept. It had\na canvas top, it seated six and it captured the attention of the press, as it\nwas a tribute to the Woodies of years past. The vehicle was never built for the\npublic, but the interest in its wooden exterior had show-goers giddy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the\nbeauty of woodgrain paneling on the automobile. Nothing conjured up scenes of\nsurfing the Hawaiian Islands quite like a little woodgrain on your car. And\nwhile it\u2019s difficult to cite any examples in the current market, few automobile\nbrands have embraced wood paneling or cladding over the years quite like FCA US\nLLC.\n\n\n\nPerhaps, someday, woodgrain cladding will, once\nagain, become a common styling option on the vehicles we love. Until that day,\nwe\u2019ll just have to settle for good, old-fashioned sheet metal.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NOT MANY VEHICLES HAVE EARNED THE RIGHT TO BE CALLED WOODIE In the history of automotive design, aside from perhaps the hood ornament and tailfins, very few exterior adornments have captivated car buffs quite like woodgrain. When utilized correctly, wood (or any facsimile of wood) has provided an added element of earthiness to the machines we love. While wood was a primary material used for early automobiles (remember, most carmakers started by making horse carriages), the use of the material for the exterior body faded because steel was more readily […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":27832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2622],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-heritage"],"acf":[],"custom_fields":{"post_thumbnail_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/feature-39.jpg","icon_selection":"article","external_link":"","featured_article":[],"upload_background_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27825"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27825"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27890,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27825\/revisions\/27890"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}