Back in the day, most station wagon bodies were custom built by outside woodworking vendors. A stripped down chassis with front sheet metal was shipped out to these coachbuilders who built a furniture quality wooden body on these chassis, then they were shipped back to the auto manufacturer to sell.
The "woodie" term came to mean any vehicle with a partial wood exterior, courtesy of surfers who picked these sort of cars up for pennies when their furniture quality construction fell prey to the elements and their once proud owners couldn't afford the $ to have them rebuilt.
These gorgeous pieces of rolling woodworker art are a far cry from today's Wagon Queen Family Trucksters with their genuine imitation wood grain decal appliques.