When woodgrain was king

Found this over at Hooniverse recently.

The 1967 Camaro "Hawaiian"



Turn your mental clock back in 1967: The Camaro was a brand-new nameplate, the surfing fad had captured the imaginations of the young demographic, and faux woodgrain was in its heyday. Ford and Chrysler had recently slathered woodgrain vinyl all over the flanks of a couple of hardtops and convertibles. [EDIT: No, they hadn't quite yet. See the comments, where Tonyola sets the facts straight—as usual.] In short, it seemed to be “the coming thing.” It wasn’t, but GM toyed with the idea, too — as these photos demonstrate.

Unlike the Mercury Park Lane and Chrysler Newport woodies, which were full-sized luxury cars, GM considered woodgrain for their newest sporty car, and tried to tie the woodgrain look in with the currently young-and-hip Polynesian vibe. Even more jarringly, they went with equally non-racy chrome wire wheels. The chrome-plated not-a-roof-rack ingeniously allowed surfboard toting and a drop top, but looked awkwardly similar to a pickup truck with a ladder rack.

 

Pretty cool, in that retro 60s kind of way!!

 

Thanks for posting. I've seen B&W pictures of the Hawaiian Camaro before, but I've never seen color photos of it.
I checked out your link, and was surprised to see I recognized the 68 Chrysler. I know the guy who owns it here in Virginia (unless he's sold it within the last year). Its a very highly optioned car with factory bucket seats and console. Until i saw this car when he bought it about 10 years ago, I didn't think buckets and console were available on a Newport. This picture was taken at the Chrysler show at Carlisle a few years back. The red 68 Fury convertible behind the Chrysler belongs to a buddy of mine, and I know its been several years since he's taken that Fury to Carlisle, and its been a while since "Super Bee Joe" has brought his Chrysler woody convertible to any show.

 

I've got a "Sportsgrain" too. Not a convertable though.

 

Now there's a good combination, shag carpet, and SAND!

 

Hey azhemi.....you are making me more and more jealous of all the cool cars you have! I still think you should give me that wagon just to give yourself more room!:banana:

 

Don't worry. It looks more like the shores of Lake Michigan than the surf off Waikiki in the background.

 

I love woodgrain! Even on non-wagons

 

Hey CE....let's woodgrain your HOUSE!!:banana:

Inside and outside.

 

Have you seen my furnishings, most everything in here is woodgrain! Including the TV's and Radios!

 

Yup....may as well complete the vintage look!

 

------I'll bet CE wears cameo clothes to blend in with everything inside his house.

 

Well....he still has the Elvis pork chop sideburns.....wonder if he wears bell bottoms??
Wait...those are too new....he would be wearing the pleated and pegged trou!

 

It has the same cibie headlight that were used in the sonny@cher mustangs i wonder if

George Barris had anything to oi with the car?

 

Back when the real woodies came out men wore suits and women wore long dresses and jackets. I'll bet this is why the newer woodies didn't catch on. Not many people along Lake Michigan wore grass skirts.