Making a Bad Feeling Good: Having once owned a 'Friday-night' woodie, Tom Steitz makes amends with a 1947 Mercury, he writes

I acquired my first car in 1966, which was a burgundy 1947 Ford woodie for $250, in Fresno, Calif., from a person who co-owned a body shop. But, you wouldn't know it from the condition of the paint and bodywork. I was fascinated with wood-bodied cars in high school, and it was not your average run-of-the-mill car. The woodie was unrestored, with the original flathead engine. There were not many woodies running around Central California. Most of them were in Southern California. I could not afford one of the newer muscle cars, such as a GTO or 442. This woodie had no back seat, just a mattress. It was a great Friday-night car at the local Bob’s/Mars drive-in restaurant, where friends would pile in the back and enjoy talking with each other.