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1947 Mercury "Woody" Station Wagon
Chassin No. 1597660
Miles 25,049NEW PHOTO GALLERY
The wood has just been refinished and a new top installed by preeminent Woody expert Nic Alexander to the highest Concours standard!REQUEST A printable PDF document with Photos
30 years ago, this car was owned by Mr. Hamond of Los Angeles and was used as a display in his restaurant; at that time it only had 21,000 miles on the odometer. The president of the early Ford club at that time, Mr. Foote, performed a complete “nut and bolt” restoration on the car for Hammond. This included a full rebuild of all mechanical components on the car and the installation of a New Old Stock, (NOS) engine supplied by Dennis Carpenter. The wood was stripped and re-varnished and a complete show quality re-paint to original colors was applied. The odometer was "zeroed" and now indicates only 4,049 miles of use since the completion of the restoration.
Hammond kept the car for about 3 yeas and hardly drove it. It was sold to an airline pilot who kept it stored in his a hanger and very rarely drove it. A major west coast collector purchased the car in 1986. At the time of purchase he had the wood refinished with multiple coats of hand rubbed Spar varnish, and general maintenance performed. In the past 22 years he has only driven the Woody 2000 miles! It is in show winning condition and is mechanically perfect.
Today the car is in immaculate condition ready for show or tour. With the freshly refinished wood and new top fitted, it is absolutely stunning!
About the Woody
In the 1930s and 1940s, few cars had more prestige than the Mercury “woody” station wagon. Nearly always the highest priced model in the Ford line, it carried as much status as a Chris-Craft speedboat.
While Ford led the industry in wooden-body wagon sales, production was always low, due as much to limited production capability as to the small demand. Woodies of all makes were sought after by hotels, resorts, country clubs, stables, and movie studios, and Ford’s woodies were owned almost exclusively by country squires long before its wagons were ever called that.
There was something about the Ford woodies that made them slightly magical. To understand why Ford built woodies in the first place, you must understand the peculiar nature of Henry Ford. He believed that his company should be completely self-sufficient, from mining ore and operating rubber plantations to growing maple, birch, gum, and basswood for Model T floorboards and body frames.
In its quest for self-sufficiency, Ford Motor Company bought vast forest reserves on the rugged Upper Michigan Peninsula some 500 miles northwest of Detroit, and constructed a plant there, at Iron Mountain, in 1920. Ford grew its own trees, cut its own timber, ran its own sawmill, and cut and formed its own wooden body parts.
Popular journalist of the day, McCahill enthusiastically wrote: “The ‘47 Mercurys have more pep than last year’s cars and they are much better at hill climbing. Their top cruising speed is a little less than before, but there’s nothing else around of similar price that can beat them... For every owner swearing at his Ford you’ll find a thousand swearing by it.”
Prices started at $1,448 for the Sedan (Mercury’s name for the two-door sedan), rose to $1,729 for the woody wagon. The 1947 Ford and Mercury engines were identical, developing 100 bhp at 3500 rpm. Improvements included four-ring, cam-ground aluminum pistons; new tri-alloy bearings; and a high-pressure radiator cap that increased coolant pressure for higher-temperature operation.
Other advances included “Self-Centering Brakes” with increased lining area, a rear stabilizer bar, and reduced-frequency transverse springs. The last, called “Slow-Motion” springs by Mercury, promised a “Full-Cushioned Ride.” They rode outside the wheelbase, providing a 129.38-inch “spring base,” thus resulting in what Mercury hyped as a “luxury ride.”
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