Throwback Thursday

One of the rarest vintage Dodge vehicles today isn’t a glamorous convertible or a powerful muscle car. It’s a station wagon, the 1949 Dodge Coronet.

The Coronet was one of the last of the classic American station wagons to employ wood body construction.  Yes, it’s a prime example of what modern car collectors call a “woody.” These wagons are loaded with charisma. With their marine-style interior and exterior details and wonderful woodgrain textures everywhere, they have the appeal of a vintage wooden boat or a fine piece of antique furniture.

Their wood-framed body assemblies tended to make them delicate and not terribly durable, especially in rough climates. As a result these vehicles are especially rare today, making them all the more desirable among collectors.

The ’49 Coronet was extremely rare to start with: Of the nearly 300,000 passenger cars built by Dodge that year, only 800 of them were Coronet wagons. Available options included Fluid Drive semi-automatic transmission, heater, tube-type AM radio, bumper guards, and wire wheels. The original list price was $2865 back in ‘49, but a fully restored version today, provided you can find one, can push into six figures.