PT Woodies & The Beach Boys
 
The Woodie was an early Station wagon which the rear portion of the car's bodywork is made of wood. Frequently this wood is visible, since it is covered in a clear finish, either over the entire wooden area or sometimes just on the framework with the interior panels painted.

The vast majority of woodies were produced before the end of the 1950 in which time safety regulations and changing automotive fashions meant the effective end of the style. Woodies were generally not produced by the original car manufacturer, but were third-party conversions of regular vehicles. Some were done by large, reputable coachbuilding firms, while others were built by local carpenters and craftsmen for individual customers.

Earlier cars generally had aluminium or steel panels bolted on top of the wood framing. Woodies were originally cheaper because they didn't need these panels and their fitment and painting. So railway stations used them for hackwork of luggage and petty shipments; hence the name, station wagon. Woodies were produced from all kinds of cars, from basic to luxury, but the most popular conversions in the US were large, powerful but not highly luxurious models.

In the 1960s and to some degree the 1970s,  woodies were considered undesirable, unfashionable old vehicles.Californian surfers, among others, realised the potential of these cars; they were cheap, large enough to carry a good number of people, surfboards and equipment, and could be fixed up with woodworking skills. Thus, the woodie became the archetypal vehicle of the surfer; the popular group The Beach Boys directly referred to them in several of their songs, particularly a 1940 Ford woody. There is probably a higher population of surviving woodies in California than anywhere else, aided by the area's ideal climate for preserving the vehicles; warm, dry but not desiccating, with rare rainfall and less snow—hence, no road salt.

The tradition of the woodie remains in the woodgrain decals and plastic beams attached to a structural steel body of many station wagons.

One of the original Beach Boys band members, Al Jardine has a Chrysler PT Cruiser with “Woodie” panels, and is featured on the cover of the Cruiser Quarterly magazine below along with a 1942 Chrysler woodie.
 

 

  
 

SURFIN SAFARI by The Beach Boys

Lets go surfin now
Everybodys learning how
Come on and safari with me
(come on and safari with...)

Early in the morning well be startin out
Some honeys will be coming along
Were loading up our woody
With our boards inside
And headin out singing our song

Come on (surfin) baby wait and see (surfin safari)
Yes Im gonna (surfin) take you surfin (surfin safari)with me
Come along (surfin) baby wait and see (surfin safari)
Yes Im gonna (surfin) take you surfin (surfin safari)with me

Lets go surfin now
Everybodys learning how
Come on and safari with me
(come on and safari with...)

At Huntington and Malibu
Theyre shooting the pier
At Rincon theyre walking the nose
Were going on safari to the islands this year
So if youre coming get ready to go

Come on (surfin) baby wait and see (surfin safari)
Yes Im gonna (surfin) take you surfin (surfin safari) with me
Come along (surfin) baby wait and see (surfin safari)
Yes Im gonna (surfin) take you surfin (surfin safari) with me

Lets go surfin now
Everybodys learning how
Come on and safari with me
(come on and safari with...)

Theyre anglin in Laguna in Cerro Azul
Theyre kicking out in Doheny too
I tell you surfings mighty wild
Its getting bigger every day
From Hawaii to the shores of Peru

Come on (surfin) baby wait and see (surfin safari)
Yes Im gonna (surfin) take you surfin (surfin safari) with me
Come along (surfin) baby wait and see (surfin safari)
Yes Im gonna (surfin) take you surfin (surfin safari) with me

Lets go surfin now
Everybodys learning how
Come on and safari with me
(come on and safari with...)

With me
Surfin safari
With me
Surfin safari
With me
Surfin safari
With me
Surfin safari
With me
Surfin safari
With me
Surfin safari
With me
Surfin safari

Sing along with the boys at;

Beach Boys - Surfin USA

 

If everybody had an ocean
Across the U.S.A.
Then everybodyd be surfin
Like Califor-nye-a
Youd seem em wearing their baggies
Huarachi sandals too
A bushy bushy blonde hairdo
Surfin U.S.A.

Youd catch em surfin at Del Mar
Ventura County line
Santa Cruz and Trestle
Australias Narrabeen
All over Manhattan
And down Doheny way

Everybodys gone surfin
Surfin U.S.A.

Well all be planning that route
Were gonna take real soon
Were waxing down our surfboards
We cant wait for June
Well all be gone for the summer
Were on surfari to stay
Tell the teacher were surfin
Surfin U.S.A.

Haggerty's and Swamis
Pacific Palisades
San Onofree and Sunset
Redondo Beach L.A.
All over La Jolla
At Waimia Bay

Everybodys gone surfin
Surfin U.S.A.

Everybodys gone surfin
Surfin U.S.A.

Everybodys gone surfin
Surfin U.S.A.