Dreams

This is the remains of a 1936 Ford V8 wagon.  These wooden-bodied cars have been called by various names: “Beach Wagons”, “Depot Hacks”, and the most popular “Woodys”.  It was built at a time when the automotive design was transitioning from the vestiges of carriage coachwork to the streamlined form.

When I see an object of beautiful and superior design, I see the dreams that brought it into being.  I see the designers and persons that envisioned, drew, modeled, experimented, and hammered out the prototypes and final products.  After the Woody was built and shipped to a ford agency, it inspired more dreams.  On the showroom floor, customers imagined the places they would travel in this streamlined coach.  Later, as a used car, it could have fulfilled the dreams of a tradesman or shop owner as a sturdy hauler of materials or goods.  In its automotive old age it may have been some college student’s “cool ride” . . . more dreams.

Over the years I have restored other autos from the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s.  This one may yet come back to life, and that may be its final dream.

Photo Credit: Jack Snell (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jacksnell707/4639682821/in/photolist-84ZAqe-853J4G-cry9Bd-cry8Fw-84ZA4p-cryazS-84ZV6z-cry8uC-crya2S-cryanN-cry97W-cry8aJ)