History Why was wood used in car bodies?

Did cars like late 1920s Chevies have a lot of wood for the body structure because Chevy hadn't yet invested in large stamping presses, or these presses hadn't been invented, or ..?

What cars / car companies were the first to use stamping presses to form the largest body parts?

Since Fords are so popular, what year/model was the first to use stamping presses to form the largest body parts?

What was the latest (mass production) car to incorporate wood in the body/structure?

 

Carryover from the coach and wagon days

 

Why use expensive metal and expensive, large machines to shape it, when wood is so common it even grows on trees and the knowledge to work with it has been around forever? Wood was a sensible choice at the time, as machines and methods were developed that changed.

 

Can’t say for sure when the wood framing ended but I remember cousins had a late ‘40s Brockway truck on the farm with wood in the cab framing.

Maybe because thats “ the way they always did it”?

 

There were also more wood workers than metal workers at that time.
'60s GM trucks had wood in the bed but you are likely wondering about structurally?
Then there are Morgans but those do not really interest me...

 

Dodge was the first to go with all steel construction in their bodies , I believe in the late teens/early '20's .

 

Chevy used wood bodies to make it more challenging for us. They were thinking ahead.

or maybe they were stuck in the past?

 

Good point about bed floors being made of wood. I had a 48 Chevy pickup with a wood bed floor.

 

Which is because they invested in large stamping presses?

 

As far as the ability to stamp larger panels, I think Chevy's last year to use an insert for the roof was '35? 1936, 1937 and on had full steel turrets.

 

'35 is the year for full "Turret Top" GM cars. Cadillac built show cars before that date with full steel roof, but the public didn't get any til '35.
The GM wood is all gone by '37 ...

 

When car companies started they were 'coach builders'. Harley Earl's dad made custom coaches in California for rich folks. When they converted to making cars, the technology for coach bodies came along. They migrated to steel bodies gradually.

 

As far as I know they still make truck cab frames of wood in India, so it may not have ended yet.

 

In addition to what has been mentioned already, most car bodies were done by outside suppliers. Hence the little name-plates on the door sills + the bragging in the adverts. Their ability to "deep-draw" was limited, but got better over the years as body steel changed composition, not to mention the car body designs. Eventually, the car co's bought controlling rights to guarantee enough bodies to continue their operations, + they wanted the design studios.
Marcus...

 

Just looked it up an yes they still use wood in the truck cabs in India but it will be outlawed by 2025

 

Dodge Brothers actually used all steel bodies starting in 1914. Bodies were built by Budd Manuf. in Phila. and shipped to Michigan for assembly. But Budd had built all steel bodies for Overland a few years before.

 

I test drove a late 70's-early 80's Kenworth cabover that had a wood floor. It was starting to rot, and the seat rocked side to side. Needless to say, I didn't buy it....

 

I admire anyone with the skills and patience to replace the wood in a late 20s Chev sedan. Those guys at Fischer knew their trade.

 

Worked on a mid 80`s GM car. A piece of wood was used in part of the center fold down armrest.

 

Those Dodge brothers were smart. They started off making parts for the Model T. A true Model T guy can show you the Dodge stamp on the frames. Later on, Ford couldn`t pay them. They took Ford company stock as payment.

 

Budd built Ford's truck cabs from '35-'47. Also built International truck cabs. '35 was Ford's first all-steel truck cab. Ford's first car with an all steel body was '37. Ford did still have wood sills between the cab and frame and the flat part of the floorboard was wood., but no wood in the structure or in the cab other than the floor.

 

Late 31 Ford model A pickup was Fords’ first all metal outer metal body. Still had some wood, those cans were also built by Budd Corp.

 

A good little read.......... Great pic of a wood body skeleton.
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/wood-the-preferred-choice-for-classic-bodies

 

Cost effective and plentiful, speeds were still low so safety wasn't as much of a concern, amongst many other good reasons given by previous posters.
Speaking of wood, check out the story behind the Mosquito aircraft that the British built in WWII, great story! A shortage of aluminum led to wood being used to manufacture, but it turned out to be a formidable aircraft.

 

I think a reason not mentioned would be to aid in interior finishing...ie for glueing, nailing, screwing panels and other components. With advancing screw and machine screw technology the wood was eventually eliminated as a result...

I'm sure there were many other reasons but my first thought was interior...Another thing was as metal stamping improved wood was likely also replaced with steel...

 

Stuntman Lucky Lee Lott, used GM cars to land on, when doing his long aerial jumps, in the 40's. He said the wood frame bodies made for softer landings, and less likely to bounce and skip off.

 

When my WIG welder broke, I had to stop working on early Chevys.

 

Your hot glue gun broke? (WIG - Wood Interior Glue)

 

as mentioned, there are 'flat packed' self assembly vehicles still on sale in India and the likes.

Morgan sports cars have and still use wooden (Ash wood) elements in their chassis construction.

As to why Chevrolet used a large amount of wood in their construction id wager it was mainly down to cost and keeping the bottom line as low as possible.