Rare 1942 Ford Woodie Took Center Stage at Bowers Museum Car Show

A rare wartime vehicle, a 1942, Ford woodie looking for a new home, was a big crowd pleaser at a Nov 10 car show sponsored by the Bowers Museum celebrating Veterans Day and the 150th anniversary of the City of Santa Ana. LCOC and other local car clubs were invited to participate and 2 LCOC members brought their 1964 Lincoln convertibles to the event, Indeed, Ford products predominated, but other makes also were on view as part of the eclectic field.

Vehicles included a trio of Austin Healeys, a custom Cadillac, a 1953 Ford, and an elegant 1962 Jaguar sedan complete with a red rose and Grey Poupon mustard on a rear seat shelf, Corvette, a Ford truck and some hot rods.

In honor of Veterans Day admission to the museum was free for museum members, active military, veterans, Santa Ana residents as well as children under 12. 

An unexpected development was an unscheduled visit by members of a vintage bicycle club who were passing by and attracted by the old car display.

Our day also included lunch in the museum’s restaurant and views of two of the visiting exhibits—a wonderful display of Naval art by Arthur Beaumont and marvelous textured works by noted artist Rufino Tamayo. One could not help but notice the similarity to the traditional Lincoln star logo in Tamayo’s work entitled Cosmic Ecstacy. See below.

Founded in 1936 by the City of Santa Ana through a bequest from Charles and Ada Bowers, the Bowers Museum is one of California’s finest and Orange County’s largest museums. To achieve its mission, the Bowers offers exhibitions, lectures, art classes, travel programs, children’s art education programs, and other special community programs.

The Bowers has been voted “The Best Museum in Orange County” by the readers of The Orange County Register for 16 consecutive years and is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, an honor only 5% of museums receive. In the past 15 years the museum has: produced more than 50 special exhibitions, many of which traveled nationally or internationally; published more than 24 exhibition catalogs; and increased its facility size from 7,000 square feet to its current size of 93,000+ square feet.