If you often travel out of town, you will usually find miniature cars made of wood that are sold in souvenir shops. However, this is a different matter from miniatures, precisely in Bandung apparently there are some real vehicles that are made of wood. And who was the owner of those wooden bodied vehicles?
The wooden-bodied Suzuki LJ80 'Jimny' owned by Fawaz Salim of Bandung. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/2D1TMgd)
The owner named Fawaz Salim, a businessman, and owner of a timber company in the city called 'Equator Wood.' When you look at his collection it turns out he has made several vehicles out of wood. In the collection there are Suzuki Jimny LJ80 (in Indonesia, it usually called 'Jimny Jangkrik,' and 'jangkrik' means 'cricket'), then VW 181 or VW Safari, and there is also a wooden body Vespa scooter, etc.
Suzuki LJ80 'Jimny' owned by Fawaz Salim made of 'sonokeling' type of wood. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3eXC6QZ)
The vehicles mentioned above can really be operated on the road like a vehicle in general. Because they all were built base on the original vehicles, just the body is changed of wood. Fawaz said that for the manufacture of wooden vehicles, it started from his fad and just trial and error.
The wooden-bodied Suzuki LJ80 'Jimny' needs one and a half years until all is completed at a cost of more than Rp.200 million. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/2D1TMgd)
The wooden-bodied Suzuki Jimny for example, its body is not from plywood, but really made of original wood of 'sonokeling' type from Kalimantan. According to Fawaz, the wood is originated from legal cutting and already has an official permit, due to the wood taken from the trees directly in the forest, so there's should have an official permit from Perum Perhutani (Indonesian Forestry Institutes).
All details and instruments of the Suzuki LJ80 'Jimny' are installed and functioning properly. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/2D1TMgd)
Initially, Fawaz bought the original Suzuki Jimny for Rp.14 million (approx $970). But when the car arrived it turned out that the conditions were not as expected. So then he decided to replace the Suzuki Jimny's body with wood. But because the original body has been wrecked and can not be used as a benchmark. So finally he borrowed a similar car body from one of his colleagues.
The wooden-bodied Suzuki LJ80 'Jimny' needs one and a half years until all is completed at a cost of more than Rp.200 million. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3eXC6QZ)
In the process of working on the car body, there are interesting things, namely the wooden body making process done by 1 person only. According to him the making of this body is a quite complex process, so there is a possibility the body will not be finished if done by many people. There are many mistakes that can be happened, such as the wooden joints that don't fit, or to pull different the cutting line, and others.
A portion of the wood joint details of the Fawaz Salim's wooden-bodied Suzuki LJ80. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/2D5ZCxd)
Meanwhile, to form an intact car, at least 7 people are needed. Where other crews work on wooden bodies, while mechanic crews tidy up the car's legs, machinery, and electrical systems. After the car completed, turn out the use of wood on the car body made its weight increased heavier and according to Fawaz, the weight of this wooden car is around 2 tons in weight.
The weight of this Suzuki Jimny LJ80 increased dramatically after its body was changed to wood. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3eXC6QZ)
This was also expressed by crews who participated in the work of this wooden car, they said that if the original body only needed three people to lift the whole body. And if the wooden-bodied needs about eight people, even then only the back. It is estimated that the weight ratio of this wooden car is three times heavier than the original body.
This is possible because the 'sonokeling' wood type used is more hardness than the teak wood, and of course far heavier than a metal plate. According to Fawaz to realize this wooden-bodied Jimny, it takes a time about one and a half years until all is completed at a cost of more than Rp.200 million (approx over more $13,800).
