My Family's Cars & Key Industry Pivots: Wooden Roots
The subtle intersection between my families' cars and pivotal moments in automotive history - Wood gives way to stronger steel...
In the last post our Chrysler Windsor was happily pulling laughing children in an open trailer. So much for safety concerns in 1953.
A friend of the family, Parker Ward of Hingham MA., generously shared this trailer with my father. The wheels of the trailer stood out. They sported old style wooden spokes tied to a steel hub and steel rim. My Uncle Bill told me they came from a Model T Ford. Somehow Parker had fashioned axle and wheels from the remains of a Model T. Here’s a closeup of spoke wheels and axle from a Ford Model T (produced until 1927).
These wheels along with Parker’s 1946 Pontiac Woodie Station Wagon that dragged the trailer over….
…represent a last link to the rich tradition of using wood in car manufacture.
Wood and Cars
Cars began as “horse-less car-riages” and carriage makers built their works of art in this era (1890’s) of wood. Carriages and cars shared a few things in common, for example, the chassis and spoked wheels. Wood proved limited for cars as it could only bend in certain ways leaving early cars boxy and simple.
Not long after the end of the 19th century metallurgy and metal fabrication expanded and automakers started building metal chassis to replace wood. Ford’s 1908 Model T car was among the first to use metal chassis. Then fabricators learned how to turn steel into sheets and in 1914 Dodge built the very first all-steel-bodied automobile. Advances like drop- and power-hammering and drawing and stamping, which came along by the mid-30s made auto bodies stronger and more durable than ever, in turn making all-steel car bodies the standard by the late 1930's.
Wood use diminished and then disappeared when “woodie” wagons were phased out in the 1950's. Ford initially insisted on hickory spokes for their Model T’s as they were stronger than oak. These wooden spoke wheels of the trailer from the 1920’s are probably hickory.
And speaking of steel strength, Chrysler built these bumpers from the 1940’s with strength and attached them firmly as pictured.
The bumper offered all you needed to haul a trailer. So long as you kept a handy bumper-attaching trailer hitch at the ready you were set to add a trailer.
These hitches were strong enough to handle quite a load of children, all safely belted down!!
These all survived:
Morals of the Story
Old habits (use of wood) do not extinguish easily.
The arc of the industry is long but it bends toward cheaper and lighter (e.g. bumpers)
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Notes:
1946 1947 1948 chrysler C-38 royal Windsor exterior body parts diagram sheets wm. (n.d.). eBay. Retrieved December 12, 2022, from https://www.ebay.ie/itm/372650520014
Admin. (2015, January 13). The evolution of the car body... Fuel Express. Retrieved December 12, 2022, from https://www.fuelexpress.net/blog/general-information/evolution-car-body/
Anderson (Hope), H. (2010, November 15). Ford model a – Under the Hollywood sign. Under the Hollywood Sign. Retrieved November 19, 2022, from https://underthehollywoodsign.wordpress.com/tag/ford-model-a/
picture of Model T wooden wheel here:
Brooks, B. (2020, September 28). The biggest milestones in the history of automotive manufacturing. QAD Blog. https://www.qad.com/blog/2019/12/the-biggest-milestones-in-the-history-of-automotive-manufacturing
Connors (Carlo), C. (n.d.). 1948 chrysler Windsor. Connors Motorcar Company. Retrieved November 19, 2022, from https://www.connorsmotorcar.com/vehicles/833/1948-chrysler-windsor-fastback-sedan
great pictures of restored Chrysler Windsor just like Jack and Helen's
History of the automotive wheel |. (2019, May 3). |. Retrieved December 12, 2022, from https://thewheelsmith.net/history-of-the-automotive-wheel#:~:text=Ford%27s%20Model%20T%20used%20wooden,spokes%20with%20stamped%20steel%20discs
history of auto wheels
New Ford V8 “I always feel safer in a Ford”, 1934. (n.d.). adbranch.com. https://www.adbranch.com/ford-ads-from-1930s/ford_v8_i_always_feel_safer_in_a_ford_1934/
all steel body
Technical - When did auto manufacturers quit using wood for structure? (n.d.). The H.A.M.B. Retrieved December 12, 2022, from https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/when-did-auto-manufacturers-quit-using-wood-for-structure.1255394/
history of wood in cars
Vintage bumper Mount trailer hitch bumper Mount camper tow hitch trailer ball. (n.d.). eBay. Retrieved November 19, 2022, from https://www.ebay.com/itm/284961319741?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=284961319741&targetid=1645685073568&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=1018240&poi=&campaignid=16730423415&mkgroupid=135815925780&rlsatarget=pla-1645685073568&abcId=9300841&merchantid=6296724&gclid=CjwKCAiAmuKbBhA2EiwAxQnt7y8c4tWqIP9UcO26rkLaIwLAEOvHdyvm4UuOcCHoTzbjGv8lQPXEhBoCWEQQAvD_BwE
Old Bumper Hitch
Zal, P. (n.d.). 1948 chrysler (USA) Windsor Sedan full range specs. www.automobile-catalog.com. https://www.automobile-catalog.com/make/chrysler/full-size_chrysler_1gen/full-size_1gen_windsor_sedan/1948.html#gsc.tab=0
source of mpg, weight, etc. by Pawel Zal