The Maniwa Supercar – Stylish, Powerful, and Made of Wood
Filed Under: FutureCars.com, green automotive technology on December 9, 2009
by Aaron Turpen, FutureCars.com
In brief: This Japanese car is street legal and is made almost entirely of wood.
Vehicle in the news
Make/Model: Maniwa
Manufacturer: Sada-kenbi
The word
The entire car, from the frame to the seats, is made of wood. Right down to the wooden hubcaps.
The steering column is made up from a Honda scooter (no word on which model) and the 175cc engine powers the vehicle up to 80km/h (about 35mph, or neighborhood electric street-legal in Japan). The Maniwa seats three: a driver and two passengers.
It’s a three wheeled car and the video below shows the design iterations the designer/builder, Sada-kimbi (a furniture maker), went through before perfecting it – based roughly on his favorite Lamborghini.
A smaller, pedal-powered version is available for children while the full-sized machine sells for $44,000USD.
Here’s video of the Maniwa in action (Japanese language):
And so …
How can you go wrong with killer styling like this? The faux solar panels under the front windscreen don’t hurt either.
Photo credits: Sada-kembi
