1949 Ford Woody Wagon with Surfboards — Handmade Metal Model

A woody wagon with two surfboards on the roof — the single most concentrated piece of mid-century California iconography available in metal.

Handcrafted in iron with rolling metal wheels and hand-painted finish, including two separate surfboards.

Details

• Handcrafted iron frame and body
• Metal wheels that roll
• Hand-painted with wood-panel effect and applied detail
• Two roof-mounted surfboards included
• Grille, lamp and bumper detail
• Ready to display

The story

Woody wagons had real wood bodywork — ash and mahogany framing that had to be sanded and varnished annually or it rotted. By the mid-1950s buyers had lost patience and manufacturers switched to painted panels and, later, stick-on vinyl.

That is exactly why surfers ended up with them. Ten-year-old woodies with peeling frames were nearly worthless, big enough to sleep in, and long enough to carry a board. A car nobody wanted became the emblem of a subculture, and now sells for more than the luxury sedans of its own era.