In May of last year, Baume & Mercier filmed and shot its new 2011 ad campaign in The Hamptons. While on location, the entire Baume & Mercier creative team fell in love with the woodie cars they saw cruising along the countryside.

A “woodie” is a name for a specific style of car body originating from the early 1930s. It is a kind of “station wagon”, where the rear bodywork is made up of a wooden frame filled with wood or painted metal panels. The woodie car was very popular in the United States between the 1930s and 1950s and was produced in various styles and models from basic to luxury.

Back in Geneva, Alain Zimmermann, CEO of Baume & Mercier, still remembered the oh-so typical vehicles. His decision was made: “To fully epitomize our new universe, seaside living in The Hamptons, we needed to find our own woodie car to complete the picture”.

Thus began a search for the perfect Baume & Mercier woodie car. We first looked around Europe, without success.

Finally, we found a small number of woodie cars for sale in the USA. There were so few that the search became quite exciting…it was as if we were searching for historical pieces of art, which was indeed the case as we soon found out!

A Baume & Mercier employee who is himself a collector of vintage cars was asked if he could inspect the available woodies, which were originally manufactured by still well-known brands such as Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac.

His eyes fell upon a Ford from 1949, with maple wood panels and a cream-colored body. “Everything from the brakes to the engine was original”, he explains. “It’s 100% authentic. When you sit deep into the seat and grip the large Bakelite steering wheel, you feel like The Hamptons are right around the corner”. With its eight seats, it’s a real family car, made for trips to the beach or simply cruising.

The car travelled one month before its wheels touched the Swiss tarmac on December 21^st, 2010.

Once it has its license plates, it will become the designated vehicle to transport our special Baume & Mercier guests in Geneva.

Look out for the debut of the Baume & Mercier woodie if you happen to be in town!

Specifications:

Model: Ford 1949 Woodie Wagon

Engine: V8 flathead, 239 cubic inches, 100 horsepower

Transmission: 3 speed standard transmission