I imagine they have lost a lot of popularity since the '60s-'70s, when the car and surf cultures merged for a while. That was the era of the surf movies... like Bikini Beach Party, and so on... and the car songs by Jan and Dean, and the Beach Boys.

I just painted a '30s Dodge panel for a guy. He included some nice hand-made wood pieces for the interior in "burled maple". I am encouraging him to do a woody next, to really show off his skills. :-)