Actually, there's a very good explanation for this.
To the best of our knowledge, the last new car you could purchase
from the factory with woodgrain sides (albeit fake woodgrain) was the
1996 Buick Roadmaster Estate. It’s possible your humble author owned one
of these epic machines, so seeing anything with woodgrain sides tends
to catch the eye of at least a few Motor1.com scribes. That’s why this brand new Hyundai Palisade is presented in all its woody glory, or at least as much wood as a vinyl wrap can provide.
We have Matthew the Car Guy
on Twitter to thank for this discovery and the use of his photos, and
to answer the question that's certainly burning your brain, this isn’t a
factory option you can order on your Palisade. For that matter, it’s
not a planned dealer-installed upgrade for SUVs, either. Century Hyundai in Nova Scotia created this Hyundai woody
for an upcoming Christmas parade, and it adopts the theme of a certain
holiday film where the main character drives an absolutely fabulous
first-generation Ford Taurus station wagon with woodgrain sides.
Admittedly, your author may have owned a Taurus wagon at one point. And a
Mercury Sable wagon. Yes, he’s well aware that this addiction isn’t
healthy. He doesn’t care.
Of course, we’re talking about the Chevy Chase holiday classic, Christmas Vacation. But we could also be talking about the original Vacation
flic that introduced the world to the Wagon Queen Family Truckster – a
proper metallic green monstrosity with eight headlights, four
taillights, and enough fake wood trim to upset environmentalists. It was
based on an early 1980s Ford Country Squire wagon, which itself was
based on an early ‘80s Ford LTD Crown Victoria. Guess who also owned an
early ‘80s LTD Crown Victoria? This is getting embarrassing.
In
any case, should you happen to be in the town of Truro in Canada’s
beautiful province of Nova Scotia this weekend, you can see this Clark
Griswold-approved Palisade in action. And we wouldn’t be the least bit
surprised if there are more than a few woody fans interested in buying
this creation afterward.