An Industrial Designer Built a Functional Car Comprised Almost Entirely of Wood

Industrial designer and woodworker Joe Harmon has spent the past five years constructing a car made of wood.

The neat thing, however, is that it’s actually drivable and not to mention has a perfect name in Splinter.

Comprised almost entirely of wood, Harmon first began drawing designs for Splinter around eight years ago when he was still in school as a grad student at North Carolina State University.

Today, Harmon’s vision for the wooden vehicle has come to fruition and he recently had the opportunity to show it off at the Essen Motor Show in Germany last December.

It is worth noting that wood does have a better strength-to-weight ratio than steel and aluminum and while the car’s engines gives Splinter more than 650 horsepower, it won’t be passing any safety regulations anytime soon.

As you check out some of the images below, keep in mind that the wheels are comprised of oak veneer, walnut sunburst, and cherry sunburst, while the vehicle’s chassis is made almost 100% out of wood composites.