The First Handmade Wooden Supercar

The Splinter looks a lot like a sports car but it's more than that, as it has been dubbed as the first wooden "super car". The Splinter was built by Joe Harmon, an industrial designer and his team of craftsmen from North Carolina State University.

The Splinter is a two-seater American supercar concept made of wood. (Picture from: http://www.koolwood.com/)

While he has not expressed any plans of mass producing this beauty, it's still an incredible looking car that is said to be capable of running at speeds as fast as 386.24 kph (240 mph). 

The Splinter's body is made from a variety of laminated wood veneers including maple and cherry combined with plywood. Since it is made from wood, it only weighs about 1,134 kg (2,500 lbs), significantly lighter than most sports cars.

Working with a sustainable material like wood and making a car out of it is a truly incredible feat. It looks amazing with its full wooden body, it has a twin-supercharged, 32-valve Cadillac-sourced 4.6L V8 engine and six-speed rear-mounted transaxle from a modern Chevrolet Corvette.

Rear view of the Splinter wooden supercar concept. (Picture from: http://thethrottle.thechive.com/)

Those 700 ponies will be funneled to the rear wheels, which have center hubs made from pressed and laminated wood, naturally. Even the transverse leaf springs are made from orange osage wood.

The Splinter wheel feature wood details made out of 32 layers of oak veneer. (Picture from: http://thethrottle.thechive.com/)

The car is capable of shifting from 0 to 100 kph (62 mph) in just three seconds. Even the car seats are handcrafted from wood and the wheels feature wood details made out of 32 layers of oak veneer. It is also worth noting that 90% of this super car is made from wood. (See another 9 Wooden cars.) *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | JOE HARMON | KOOLWOOD | THE THROTTLE | THE COOLIST]

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