It’s the stuff dreams are made of . . . and songs: a Ford Woodie. The Beach Boys, Jan and Dean and the Safaris sang of driving a Woodie and surfing the Southern California waves. Dick Teague lived it. Fast forward to 1998 and Dick is now married to Dottie and living in Lake Wildwood, surfing and Woodies but a memory. A good memory. Then a friend calls him about one in decent shape in Palm Desert, CA (lots of sand, but no beach), with 97,000 original miles. Dick jumped at the chance and bought the car. Although the Woodie had a few issues (like getting rid of the pungent reek left by the cigar-smoking daughter of the previous owner and a missing third seat), important things like body, paint, wood and upholstery were in great condition. Since purchasing it he has made many, many improvements. As far as running gear, he replaced the original flathead V-8 with a 302 CID engine from an ‘85 Mustang with dual exhaust and mated it to an overdrive auto trans from an ‘86 Lincoln. The 4.27:1 rear end was not made for cruising along the freeway at Dick Teague speeds, so he changed it to 3.73's in a Dana housing. He also added front disc brakes and lowered the car. For the interior, after purging it of the smell of stale cigars, he located an original replacement for the missing seat and found matching fabric in the Naugahyde beige. Since the original 6-volt electrical system was not the best for lighting the road, Dick changed to12 volts and had all the instruments converted to work on more juice. On the exterior, however, he only had to do some re-chroming and take furniture polish to the wood sides. This last March, Dick and Dottie loaded up the Woodie and cruised back to Southern California in the company of fellow Roamin Angels. He organizes treks like this, known as Big Dick’s Tours, on a regular basis. While down there, they motored by his old surfing grounds (or waters) at Huntington Beach. Cruisin’ Surf City in their Woodie.

Painted in the original Sea Island Green Lacquer (a 1951-only color), sporting American mags and with a couple of long boards strapped on top, Dick’s Woodie looks right at home by the ocean.

‘85 was the last year Mustang had a carburetored engine. Dick did most of the work on his Woodie, including the engine and trans swap.

The interior was in great, original shape when Dick got the car and he kept it that way. Even when he updated the radio to an AM/FM/Cass, he used one that fit in the factory opening.

2009 © Story & photos by Ron C. - Roamin Angel Corner