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From the 30s onwards, the wood gave place to metal, which was then much more economical, and the wood became a luxury item.
The Station Wagon became the Estate Wagon; vehicles bought by the richer classes who used them in the running of their estates.
Although they were conceived as vehicles for transporting merchandise, other versions were also built such as the "sedan" and convertibles such as the "sportsman" and the "Town and Country".
After the war the Woodies began to be seen as family cars, however, it was now many years since wood was the cheapest and best raw material available, and the hand craftsmanship of these vehicles turned them into a luxury, affordable only by the very few.
In 1949, Packard brought out a model with folding rear seats.
The end of the Woodies came between 1949 and 1953.
By the 1960s, the Woodies were already history, and as usually happens: some were sold, others were left forgotten in the garage, others went to the scrap yard. The problem was that the world of the motorcar was advancing and the care that these wooden vehicles required took time and money.
In the United States, the surfers, who were searching for large cheap vehicles, began to buy them up, and so, rescued from the scrap yards the woody came to life again.
The climax of the penchant for Woodies is to be found in The United States, where there are many clubs dedicated to the organisation of rallies and to the promotion of the Woody cult. Countries such as England, France and Holland also have many Woody Clubs.
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