Dinky Toys – 1946-48 American Woody Estate Car (#344, originally #27F)
Image by The Brucer
This diecast Dinky estate car (station wagon) was produced by Meccano Ltd. (Liverpool, UK) between 1950 and 1960. The estate car was originally numbered Dinky #27F; the number was changed to #344 in 1953-54. The number 344 is stamped on the baseplate of the car shown in this photo, demonstrating that it was produced after the numbering change.
This station wagon is intended to represent a "Woodie". From the time that "station wagons" were introduced essentially as trucks in perhaps the 1920′s through the time that they began gaining popularity as passenger cars in the mid-1930′s to the late 1940′s, station wagon passenger compartments were usually constructed of exposed, finished wood. Wood construction was less expensive than metal, and the growing market for passenger station wagons was apparently not sufficient to warrant the use of metal on any but the most expensive models. However, as station wagons entered the mainstream in the early 1950′s, the use of wooden bodies was discontinued because — despite the finish on the wood — the exposed wood did not survive well. The last true Woodie was made by Buick in 1953 (with minimal exposed wood), although some auto manufacturers continued the Woodie appearance beyond this time using faux wood products such as steel, plastic, or vinyl.
Woody station wagons of the style represented by this toy were produced by many of the major American automobile manufacturers in the late 1940′s: Ford and Mercury, Chevrolet and Oldsmobile, Plymouth and Dodge, undoubtedly among others. (Woody sedans and coupes were produced, too.) Many Dinky enthusiasts routinely identify the toy shown in this photo as representing a Plymouth. After careful study of photos of period vehicles, I tend to agree that this model has a grille, chrome trim, and front fender configuration that tends to simulate a Plymouth better than they do the other makes. There is some lesser chance that this toy may be representing a Ford or Mercury. It is not representing a Chevy or Olds, because the wing-style front fenders of the GM Woodies had more of a backward slope and were longer, extending all the way back to the front door.
Whatever make of car is represented by this toy, that car was manufactured between 1946 (when post-War production resumed) and 1948, a fact apparent from the configuration of the front fenders. In this car, the "wing"-style front fenders extend outward further than do the doors, so that the rear of the fender must bend inward to join the body in front of the front door. All of the major U.S. car manufacturers seem to have used this wing configuration — which had also been used before the War — between 1946 and 1948. But in 1949, the manufacturers all seem to have changed to an "integrated" fender configuration simultaneously, such that the front fenders were of the same width as the passenger compartment and the integrated fenders flowed smoothly into the contour of the doors without the prior discontinuity. So the automobile represented by this toy was definitely produced prior to 1949.
Parenthetically — assuming that this car IS a Plymouth — Plymouth discontinued the production of Woodies after 1950, switching to all-metal body construction for its wagons.
