1955 Lincoln Capri Woodie Sportsman convertible - photos

1955 Lincoln Capri Woodie Sportsman convertible with wood panels. The show car was patterned after the 1946 Ford Sportsman.

Fullsize image: https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...d_fullsize.jpg
https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...capri_wood.jpg

Fullsize image: https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...1_fullsize.jpg
https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...apri_wood1.jpg


Previously:

https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...142#post134490
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...742#post128989
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...671#post118388

That is breathtaking! I can only imagine the skill it takes to get wood to follow those compound curved surfaces so well...

The 1955 Lincoln Tortoise...

One forgets just how ugly things were in the 50s.

Having NEVER seen one of these up close, is the wood just added to the pressed metal parts, or, is it a complete wooden structure as how an old stage coach was made ? :-)

"Woodies" go back to the early days of automobiles. Originally, a car manufacturer supplied a rolling chassis with cowl and fenders and coach builders would add the wooden section, from about the front windshield back. They were called "depot hacks' and used to shuttle people around, a very very early version of the "station wagon". As time went on, metal began to replace the wood, until just after WWII when the few remaining cars with wood were a metal substructure with the wood applied over the metal. This one. being a one of a kind, is likely sheet metal beneath the wood.

The Jeep Grand Wagoneer had a wood panels till 1991. Some claim that the woody sides of the GW was to hide imperfections in the stampings, because the tooling for the doors and fenders were out after decades of use. Yet, they looked handsome with the wood.