Technical When did auto manufacturers quit using wood for structure?

I went to look at a 37 Packard this morning and was surprised to find that it was wood framed. I don't know when Packard stopped using wood but they were still using it in 1937. When did other manufacturers quit using it? Inquiring minds would like to know.

 

I mentioned the wood framing in your other thread

 

I guess I wasn't paying close attention. Ugh!

When im in the throes of a fantasy, I tend to overlook the ugly little details.

 

I think Packard was one of the last unless counting true coach built. We helped a guy build two of them

 

Chevy was big on wood until 1936. The closer you get to WW2 the less you see in cars.Post war was a whole new world for car makers.

 

....I remember those days.

 

Morgan are still using to this day

 

The senior Packards (Super 8s and Twelves) had some wood body parts up through the 1939 models. The junior cars (120s and 115Cs and 110s) starting in 1935 were all steel bodied.

Edit: Correction - The 1938 junior cars Eight and Six were the first all steel Packards. The senior Super Eight continued with some wood body parts through the 1938 models. The Twelves continued the use through to the end with the 1939 models.

 

I think Chrysler was the first to go all steel in 1935.

 

A great story from Hemmings...........

The Budd-Built Model A - 1929 Ford Model A
In an attempt to entice Ford into a contract, the Budd Company created this all-steel Model A, one of only a handful ever built.

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/the-budd-built-model-a-1929-ford-model-a#:~:text=In an attempt to entice,only a handful ever built.

Henry Ford led the auto industry with his revolutionary V-8 in 1932 and also began manufacturing his bodies of structural steel with a minimum of wood. That is the reason so many have survived today 90 years later.

"ALL-STEEL BODY and SAFETY GLASS -- The strength of steel protects you when you ride in a Ford V-8."
"Around you is an all-steel body, electrically welded into one piece."



From Wood to Steel: Evolution of the Car Body by Bill Wilson

The automobile would never have been possible without the invention of both the internal combustion and the metal chassis that holds the essential components of a motor-driven vehicle together. Both were developed more or less from scratch by early inventors and experimenters.

Early auto body makers, on the other hand, had centuries of experience and knowledge to draw from in the long-honored tradition of carriage making. Long before the first gas-powered engines were built, horse-drawn coaches carried passengers not only around their local communities but across the country. So it makes sense that the first automobiles were made with wooden bodies. It was a proven approach that had worked beautifully for centuries.

Cars built prior to 1900 were limited in design by the peculiarities of most species of wood, which can only be bent into simple shapes by applying steam and pressure. Thus, most autos were simple, boxy shapes, not unlike the stage coaches and farm wagons they were destined to replace.

This began to change early in the 20th century, with the development of metal fabrication technologies that allowed steel and aluminum to be made in sheets that could be molded into virtually any shape imaginable. In 1916, Dodge was the first automaker to offer a vehicle with an all-steel body.

These advances were followed by drop- and power-hammering in the century’s first decade, and then by drawing and stamping, which came along by the mid-30s. All of these new ways of forging metal made auto bodies stronger and more durable than ever, in turn making all-steel car bodies the standard by the end of the 1930s. The use of wood in auto construction gradually diminished, with American automakers phasing out their classic “woodie” wagons in the 1950s.

The Evolution of the Car Body…

In the early 1800s, horse-drawn carriages were used as a main mode of transportation. While they are much different than the cars we have today, they both have one thing in common: a chassis. Once the idea of cars sprouted up by the 1890s, carriage makers were put to work to design chassis for cars. They used their knowledge of wooden carriage-building to create the bodies of the world’s first automobiles. Because wood could only bend in certain ways, however, early cars were boxy and simple, not unlike their carriage predecessors.

Not long after that, metal fabrication became a popular trade and automakers started experimenting with building metal chassis to replace wood. While steel had been used thousands of years before the 20th century, fabricators were just learning how to turn it into sheets. Ford’s 1908 Model T car was among the first to use metal chassis, but because of the car’s popularity, many people forget about the innovation of Dodge. In 1914, Dodge built the very first all-steel-bodied automobile, which changed the world of car building. The steel car was such a success, it was the primary design for the majority of cars by the late 1930's. While wood was still used for some elements, its use diminished when “woodie” wagons were phased out in the 1950's.

 

A magazine ad for the '37 Chevrolet trucks called out all steel cabs, but mine still has two small pieces where the front door frame meets the floor board. I guess it gives it some place to flex. The front of the cab is bolted solid to frame, the rear is on springs.

 

Morgan still does. LOL

Most wood framed car bodies were done by '39 or '40.

 

MG T series used wood through 55, then went to all metal. The Morgan is very similar to the old MGs. but they're also really low production rate.

 

TERMITES!!!!!

 

I was aware of the Morgan "sliding pillar" suspension. I just thought most American cars were all steel by 35. Fooled me.

 

I think GM made the switch to all metal in 37. I know my 37 Chevy truck and car were both all metal. Believe it is same for the other GM makes as well.

 

Jeep used wood in the Hat Chanel floor supports up thru the 50s & maybe into the 60s. Also a wood filler behind the front bumper.

 

My 40 Chevy Special Deluxe used wood in the seat framing and the tool box cover in the trunk. My 56 and 57 Handyman wagons use plywood to cover the spare tire well. If you are talking about a structural member made from wood (in Chevys), I believe it was last used in 36.

 

I really meant for structural purposes.

 

I believe Chevy had a wood floor available in trucks up until 1972. Possibly longer if the step sides on the square bodies had a wood floor.

 

Ford 1926 Model T had all steel in the doors and I think the 1926 Franklin had a wooden frame.

 

My 1981 Chevy stepside came new with a wood bed floor.

 

'36 Chevrolets still had wood body frames, but they experimented with all steel doors (some production cars had them)- '37 was the first year for an all steel body.

 

I think Ford Stepside PU trucks had wood bed floors up till 1972?
Wood floors were common in large cargo trucks, flatbeds and trailers... They are an advantage in some situations...

 

Apparently, it is still being used in cars to this day.

link

(sorry for the OT post, I'll delete if needed)

 

The 1963 Postal delivery truck (the zip van), made by Studebaker, had a wooden rear door.

 

I think the '48 Ford woodie was the last for Ford that used wood in the structure . HRP

 

Perhaps in the US.
My first car was a '53 Ford Popular Utility. Same as a Ford Pop sedan but a pickup (ute).
The utes were only made in Australia, i'm not sure about the sedans but mine still had a timber frame, even had plywood floors in the cab.

 

36 was the crossover point for most GM vehicles from a wood framework in the body to steel frame work in the body.
I had a 34 Olds sedan in Texas that I gave up on and sold because I just was not up to replacing that much wood.

 

Was the wood on the '40s Chrysler Town & Country structural or just decorative? Or both?