Alex Patterson’s woody wagon is a restored classic that’s been passed down from father to son.
For a few decades in the last century, a woodie wagon represented a life of leisure in America. In the 1940s, the affluent population cruised to the country club in their woodies. A decade or two later, surf bums would load their boards on the wagons and head out to catch a wave. Alex Patterson’s restored 1949 Ford Woody Wagon is fun too, but there’s a special story behind it.
In a video for the Holley YouTube channel, Patterson talks about the woodie at the 2022 Intergalactic Ford Festival in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
A Rescued Woodie Stays All In The Family
Alex’s dad pulled the Ford woodie from the woods back in 1979, three years before Alex was born. A sapling was growing out of the engine bay, and the wagon’s signature wood sides were missing. His dad worked hard on a full stock restoration to bring it back to its former glory.
Alex has fond memories of riding around in this maple-paneled wagon as a boy and driving it as a teenager. When he took ownership as an adult, he made changes that improved it but didn’t compromise its character. For example, he added more horsepower to its 239 cu. in. 8-BA Flathead V8 mated to a three-speed manual on the column. He also lowered the car by five inches.
Details That Bring Out The 1949 Ford Woodie’s Unique Features
Alex cranked up the surf theme by topping the wagon with surfboards and plastering its windows with retro surf stickers. But these embellishments don’t detract from a classic 1949 Ford feature like the bullet nose grille emblem with a number inside a red circle that indicates whether the engine is an inline-six or a V8.
Original Ford dog-dish hubcaps and a rear-mounted spare signal careful restoration. Inside, entertaining tiki touches like a fake shrunken head hanging off the rearview mirror play well with the Art Deco dashboard and instrumentation.
But one detail has a specific meaning: a decal on the driver’s door with the letter “P” imposed over a maple leaf. It’s a family crest of sorts which means that this Ford is the Patterson family legacy. Alex’s dad passed the wagon down to him, and he plans to give it to his son someday. In the meantime, Alex plans to continue attending the Holley Ford Fest with his little boy and show off this authentic classic car with its sense of carefree days at the beach.
