When I stepped outside this morning, this is what I saw parked on our street corner: a classic Woody, clean and nice looking, shimmering in the sunlight. Immediately I felt the throwback into the 70's. Not the 70's of my own memories, of course, since it was a different time and place from my own childhood, but rather a fantasy, composed mostly of watching America on TV from 1980's Europe, where my actual childhood took place. Yeah, we didn't have these kinda cars over there back than...
Family Holiday Mobile from my Dreams
I've always marveled at the monstrously big vehicles built for American families, and this kind of wood-paneled station wagon may be the epitome of this trend. Massive as it is, it offers plenty of stowing space, not only in the back, but on the roof rack as well. That's how mommy, daddy, Tina, Timmy, and Sgt. Scruffy would go on long drives, exploring their national parks on summer vacations. I can literally see them...
The Only Good Wood
As I found out later, this seemingly eternal image is far from being timeless, especially what the Woody is concerned. In fact, anything newer (or smaller, which seem to go hand in hand) does not even deserve the fake wood grain appearance. In any case, it would make it seem stupid. I guess the designers from Detroit may have noticed this too, and so this trend was abandoned to make a car seem like carved out of wood. Even in its heyday I have to admit, it only looks proper with a brown, beige, or tan paint job, which seems to have been the norm in the 1970's anyway. At least, that's how I imagine the decade before my birth. And this is definitely one of the things that got me excited about this specimen.
What Is This Car Actually Called?
The only identifying marks on the vehicle I could find is simply the LTD decal, made of course by the Ford Motor Company. An image search, however, revealed that it's most precisely a Country Squire, probably from 1974. Good to know. Later models started including hidden headlights (which personally I find a bit corny), just before starting the trend of becoming smaller ... and eventually shifting shape to grow into minivan and SUVs, at a much later stage. So this example is precisely the car from my own (possibly exaggerated) imagination. At that it was not only the right color, but it seemed surprisingly good in shape. Just beautiful!
That Ridiculous Fifth Door!
My favorite feature of this stereotypical 70's Woody is its trunk door. It doesn't open downwards like a tailgate, or upwards like a hatchback, both reasonable designs, but instead sideways, turning on a hinge. WTF?!? Good luck unloading when you're parallel parked by a curb! But hey, Americans don't do that anyway, so why bother? Funnily, this example of a highly inefficient waste of space has become one of my first analogies to understand the American way of life.
Surf's Up, or Going Home?
I know, I know... Old Woddies have long been associated with surfing. I can totally understand, after all there is more than enough space to transport boards on the roof (or probably even inside)! Though I'd say the stereotypical Surfer Woody would be the predecessor of this station wagon by maybe another 20 years, used by teenagers to drive to the beach to catch a surf. This particular car is suggesting a different story: That of a hard working Mexican immigrant, who saved up to buy a car that would transport him and his family back home to Mexico for the Christmas holidays. Much later, one of his kids (or grand kids) went to great lengths to restore this classic relic into its old shiny shape. All in all a beautiful job, I must say.
