The
Woodie Story
Call it kismet, destiny, fortune or
just dumb luck, but I own the Woodie of my dreams. In
the mid-70’s I bought half interest in Grand Canyon
Airlines. The company, originally known in its first
three years as Scenic Airways, had been founded in 1927
by J. Parker Van Zandt. Early on I was fascinated
by the company’s colorful history which purports to be
the world’s oldest air tour company. I set out to
collect company memorabilia and meet former owners.
With but one exception, Mr. Glover E. "Roxy" Ruckstell,
I met with each of the former owners. In the late 70’s
I dragged my wife to Tucson to meet Walt Douglas who
owned the company in the thirties.
Mr. Douglas was a spry octogenarian
and had a hangar full of classic airplanes and vintage
cars. This was the first time I’d seen Grand Canyon
Airlines’ 1939 Pontiac Woodie. Though Mr. Douglas
appeared to have fallen on hard times, he was adamant
that he didn’t want to part with any of his toys and
rejected my offer to buy the Woodie.
From that time through 2007 I kept
thinking how cool it would be to own a ‘39 Pontiac
Woodie. I own vintage aircraft like those flown by
Grand Canyon Airlines: a 1929 Ford Tri-motor 5-AT, a
1927 Stinson Detroiter SM-1B, and a 1929 Travel Air
A-6000-A. But the ’39 Woodie eluded me. I placed ads
in car collector magazines, went to vintage car shows
and talked to a lot of car people. There are many
Woodies around, but few ’39 Pontiacs.
CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE PHOTOS OF THE ORIGINAL '39
WOODIE
In May 2007 I was sitting in my
office at Grand Canyon when my assistant Carolyn rushed
in and said that she had an urgent call from a friend in
Reno. The friend, Steve Hamilton, is a serious car
collector. Steve’s collection includes Bugatti’s,
Roll’s, Delahey’s and much fancier cars than one that
would have chauffeured air tour passengers at the Grand
Canyon. Steve owns a large medical instrument
manufacturing company,
www.hamiltoncompany.com in Reno and he recounts that
on this day an employee cornered him knowing that he
collected cars and asked him if he had any interest in a
Woodie. Steve queried him on the make and date but the
fellow said he didn’t know. All he knew was that he had
met an elderly woman in a Laundromat and she said she
was trying to sell a car that was part of her
inheritance and that it spent most of its life at Grand
Canyon. Steve’s antennae went up with the mention of
Grand Canyon and within the hour he was at her
doorstep. Steve was beside himself when he saw the
Grand Canyon Airline’s logo, a Thunderbird, on the door
of the car. He knew that not only was this a ’39
Pontiac Woody it WAS the original Grand Canyon
Airlines Woodie. As dawn broke the next morning I was
airborne in my Cheyenne heading to Reno. Ms. Firelee
Douglas was delighted to show us the car. All the
pieces were there, but it had aged and not well. Ms.
Douglas and I agreed on a price and the Woodie was
mine!
The car was shipped to Randy Clark at
Hot Rods and Stuff in Escondido,
www.hotrodscustomstuff.com. Two years later
and countless man-hours of careful restoration have
brought this piece of history back to the Grand Canyon.
It is now at home on display at Valle Airport under the
wing of the Travel Air.
I have to keep pinching myself to
know that I’m not dreaming.
John R. Seibold
Owner
CLICK TO VIEW
COMPLETED RESTORATION PHOTOS
Photo Gallery Collection of the 1939 Pontiac Woodie
Many of these photos in this slideshow were taken
and provided by Hotrods Custom Stuff during the
restoration. Visit their website at
www.hotrodscustomstuff.com for details regarding the
Woodie restoration process and the Hotrods Custom Stuff
business.
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CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE PHOTOS BELOW
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