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From a home for mice and tupperware, to a classic showpiece

— In just over 32 years

Dennis Wuethrich bought his 1941 woodie wagon in one of the most unusual manners we’ve heard of. Working in 1976 as a police officer in Los Angeles, CA, Dennis was on patrol one day in Venice Beach. Seeing the woodie drive by with a “FOR SALE” sign in the window, he immediately did what any antique-auto-loving police officer would do: He “immediately made a U-turn, and activated his emergency lights. When the driver asked him what she had done wrong, he said “Nothing. How much are you asking for the car?” The owner responded that she was taking the two passengers for a test drive. Dennis then asked “have they put down a deposit?” The driver replied “no.” Dennis then asked the price, and, said “I’ll take it.” The driver asked what she should tell the folks in the car. He replied “Ask them to get out of my car.” The following day, Dennis brought home his “woodie”.
      Dennis describes his woodie as “looking good from afar, but far from good”. Most of the exterior wood was intact, but poorly put together. The cover was canvas and the paint job was of poor quality. The inside featured cheap carpeting and upholstery. It had a V8 flathead 85 hp engine and the 3 speed on the tree. It came with many spare parts: fenders, dashboards, sheet metal parts and boxes of miscellaneous small items. Dennis would later realize the importance of these items as he learned the significance of the year the “woodie” was made.
      Dennis’ first purchase for the car was a set of new wide whitewall tires. He then attended his first car show, The 8th Annual All Ford Picnic at Knott’s Berry Farm. He only drove the car occasionally, until a day in 1979 when the battery died.
      While brininging up his young family and working, Dennis didn’t drive or work on the woodie for 25 years. Referring to this as the woodie’s “storage” period, Dennis recalls the many functions of the woodie, from storing excess tupperware inside, to excess building materials on the roof. The woodie was also home to at least 23 mice, who destroyed the carpeting and upholstery, and chewed on some of the wiring. He even thought about selling the woodie, but was talked out of the sale by a potential buyer, who told him he’d “regret it.”
      Finally, upon retirement in 2002, Dennis started to work on the woodie again. A neighbor was starting an auto restoration business, and the woodie became the first project for the new business. The woodie was disassembled, tagged, and parts stored very methodically. Then, other cars started coming and going from the establishment, and the woodie again was neglected, sitting in pieces for over two years. In 2006, Dennis received the call that the shop had filed for bankruptcy and that he had 4 days to collect the woodie, or parts thereof, as the case would be.
      Dennis found a shop that agreed to take the woodie. After hauling the parts of the woodie to Jeff Ott and Jerry Lechich at Rod Works. Inc. in West Los Angeles, CA, the woodie was finally worked on restoring the car for the next year and a half. The only new parts were an alternator, and a second tail lamp, turn indicators, and seat belts. Richard Machut of Iron Mountain Woodworks completed the exterior refinishing. The seat upholstery and carpet installation, using LeBaron Bonney products, was completed by Luis Loyola of Loyola Auto Interiors in El Segundo, CA. The paint was completed by Javier Valencia and staff at Diana’s Auto Body Shop in Culver City, CA. New top materials were purchased from LeBaron Bonney and installed by Leonardo of Nick Alexander Upholstery in Huntington Park, CA.
After 32 years of ownership, Dennis’ 1941 Ford Super Deluxe woodie station wagon was officially completed on March 20, 2008. He happily drives it frequently, and vows never to allow it to be a home for tupperware or mice again.