Wood is a material that is fantastic for a wide number of purposes. It can be used to make pieces of furniture, ladders and artificial legs for salty old pirates .Heck, you can even make trees out of it if you want to.
However, one thing that wood is sadly under-used for is the making of cars. After all, when was the last time you saw a wooden car motoring down the road? That’s right; never.
Well, you want to get yourself over to Japan then, don’t you? There you will find the famous Maniwa. What’s that? You’ve never heard of the Maniwa? In that case, let me explain that it is a wooden car made by a specialist firm called Sada-Kenbi.
A Tiny Bit Bonkers
One look at the video of the car makes me have the sneaking suspicion that the designers at Sada-Kenbi might be just a tiny bit bonkers. It shows how they got a bunch of wood and crafted an insane looking wooden vehicle out of it. The cheery chap driving it in the video looks delighted but I can’t help worrying for his safety as he sits there on top of the mad machine.
The wooden car is completely roadworthy and legal, although if we are being completely honest it is technically more of a trike than a car. On the plus side, rust isn’t going to be a problem, even if woodworm might be.
What sort of top speed would you expect to get out of a timber beast like this? The answer is a surprisingly impressive 50mph, with the help of a 175cc engine.
If you want a wooden car like this one then you’ll need to be quick. The firm made only one of them and the cost is about £26,000.
- Would you drive this wooden car if you got the chance to?