THE TRYANE II

Friend Wood shows us his amazing mahogany bullet

Some people see wood as an outdated material, heavy and weak. I just don’t think they have exploited or imagined its potential. This car was the best way to prove them wrong.

I designed it from scratch over 25 years ago and I built it myself – inspired by the work I did with racing builder Frank Costin. I used the 2CV components because they are light, compact and clever.

Then I created 1/5th scale drawings of the design. I wanted to make as much as possible from wood: the body, chassis, everything bar the engine and suspension. I made a scale body model to check the drawings then I drew out the lines full size on two sheets of hardboard.

Time to construct the car. I created a mould from chipboard formers and softwood laths to the shape of the bodyshell, and stapled and glued three layers of hardwood veneer. This body build alone took 620 hours and I used over 20,000 staples, all of which needed to be pulled out when the glue was dry. The total build took more like 2000 hours.

You may think that the engine and suspension are therefore the strongest part of the car – wrong. I had an accident and it barrel-rolled a few times. The engine exited the vehicle but, when I came to rest, I simply unbuckled myself from the wooden roll cage and walked away. The Tryane survived with localised damage so I put it back on the road. It is a sustainable vehicle – very modern, in fact.

There are obvious parallels with boat building – people sometimes ask if it floats. The processes are identical to those used by boatyards, and makers of wooden aircraft as well. It is light (900lbs), airy and the shape means there is very little drag. You get up to motorway speeds extremely quickly… and it stays there. Its top speed is around 101mph and it does 90 miles-per-gallon.

HOW MUCH? Impossible to say.

HOW MAD? It makes sense to me.

HOW HAPPY? Use it all the time.