I can't tell if it is wood paneling or just thick pin stripe, but for some reason, I like it. web page

There appears to have been an interior wood package (trim) for the Exceed and Super Exceed models sold outside the US. The pictures on that CL listing are clearly paint. A woody-type package ala the Grand Wagoneer would be interesting to make up/see, agreed. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I like woodies too.....even simulated wood grain siding is on the cool side of awesome.

One of my favorite cars I've had over the years was a sky-blue 1976 Dodge Aspen station wagon with a 360ci/four barrel carb and simulated wood grain siding. The "surf-mobile" hauled ass.






My 76 Jeep Quadratrac had the wood grain siding too.....I ended up painting that truck camo.

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" /> Did that Montero hit a Caravan too hard? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" />

Chris, I bought that exact wagon in the same color for my wife in 1976, so she could haul our 1 year old twin daughters around. Her's was a Plymouth Volare. After we got it home, I counted 26 paint flaws. It was the biggest piece of junk I've ever owned, by far.

I traded it for a new 245 Volvo 5 cyl diesel M/T which had a great paint job, but must have had a rear main that leaked oil onto the clutch, because the dealer could never figure out why the clutch was jerky. That one didn't hang around my house long, either.

Frank

I love it <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

You went from the Plymouth to a very obscure Volvo! I think I've worked on 2 diesel 240 Volvos, and I believe both of them were Autos. Sometimes with the older Euro cars, having a stick in the older diesel equipped vehicles was a lesson in smooth clutching and shifting to keep the vehicle moving smoothly during traffic. While you may have had a clutch issue with oil from a leaking seal, sometimes it was the nature of the beast and nothing was wrong. I still remember getting used to driving older Mercedes-Benz 240D models with a stick, not easy to get a silky smooth shift since you ran out of RPMs so fast with the diesels and had to shift up in a hurry. I much preferred the larger M-Bs with an auto if a diesel was going to be in front of the trans, esp the more powerful versions. 'Them's were the days'.....

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> I bought mine in 2000 for $500 and it ran like a raped ape. It handled nicely too. I never had any problems with it until I crashed it. I pulled a u-haul from Idaho to Colorado with it and it hauled the load over a few passes like a truck. Cheap but powerful and the car had character.

I'd buy another one if I could find a clean runner.

It could well have been some fake woodgrain applied at a dealership.

Back in the 80s/90s, every city had four or five small companies (usually one or two guys and a truck) who would travel to all the dealerships in town performing their services. There was the glass guy, the soap guy (for washing cars), the touch-up paint guy, the pin-stripe guy, etc.

Any one of several could have done a woodgrain down the sides of a Montero. I saw several done that way, in years past. Some of those guys could put a leather interior (from a kit) in a Montero, too. The one I remember seeing was pretty nice for an aftermarket job. Wood kits were pretty common from the same guys. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

I don't think as many of those "traveling show" folks exist anymore. Even when times were good, those guys had to work hard and be careful to survive. Nowadays, I wouldn't think they'd have much of a prayer.

As of about 10 years ago when I still worked at a dealership bodyshop, we used an outside vendor for all of our pinstriping and decal work. He would be there every day replacing everything from tape pinstripes all the way up to the large bodyside graphics on the Nissan trucks. He did woodgrain on the rare occasion that we needed it replaced but that was usually a panel or two and done with the original woodgrain purchased from the car manufacturer. He did have access to all sorts of aftermarket graphics companies & would have easily been able to get some woodgrain vinyl to "woody" a vehicle if it was necessary.

I have no idea if he's still in business but at the time he was servicing many other bodyshops as well as ours.