Do you want it? Or need it? Depends
By Theo Douglas

When woodie station wagons stopped being made of wood, they lasted a lot longer—but once the sun baked off that fake woodgrain, you were through being cool. (Not that station wagons were cool when they were new; that was before we invented irony.) But now there’s a way to fix your peeling woodgrain. Mick Hoglund, an old car guy from a while back, now runs a sign shop in Bixby Knolls where he reproduces woodgrain siding kits for pretty much any Ford or GM station wagon from the late ’50s through, well, now, thanks to the PT Cruiser. His own 1968 Ford Country Squire—purchased because it had the towing power to haul his classic Airstream trailer—was the inspiration, and Hoglund has gone on to produce kits for a ‘69 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser and a ‘71 Ford Ranchero Squire, among others. His prices for a kit start around $600 depending upon the size of your car, but you get what you pay for—the difference being that if you’re fortunate enough to own a ‘69 Vista Cruiser with dome windows today, you probably have the sense to park it in the garage.

AVAILABLE AT SIGN LANGUAGE 3930 Atlantic Ave | Long Beach | 90807 | 562.997.3930 | SIGNLANGUAGELBC.COM. $600 AND UP.