Comments on: Build Your Own Mahogany Sports Car (Sep, 1956)

By: John

John — Fri, 27 May 2011 15:43:12 +0000

wilma: By all means “lol”. Your post was just a knee slapper!

By: wilma

wilma — Fri, 27 May 2011 14:26:32 +0000

i dont like you your mean why so much i dont even have 5 cent lol

By: John Schiffermuller

John Schiffermuller — Sun, 08 May 2011 21:53:20 +0000

Is there a better set of plans than just the pictures from the article? I like the suggestion of doing this as a 2F1R. Makes it “Morgan-esque” as well as easier to build and license. I’d like to do one sized around a 250cc and see what kind of mileage I can get.

John

By: John Callahan

John Callahan — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 23:11:35 +0000

This car reminds me very much of a home built that was also featured in MI and called the “Buckboard”. If I recall correctly a Triumph motorcycle engine was used driving a VW differential with a roller chain. the engine cylinder projected up through the rear of the car body and was “flashed” with sheet copper. The mud-guards were fabricated from steel round stock (rod) and were covered with leather. Motorcycle wire wheels were used and the result was a very pretty car with the varnished mahogany, copper flashing and a small simple windshield fabricated similar to the mud-guards. I would enjoy hearing from anyone who remembers this homebuilt as I have been searching for the MI article for years.
Thank you

By: Vashishta

Vashishta — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 02:10:58 +0000

That’s a great idea. As soon as I get down-and-dirty with it, I think I’ll do just that.,

By: AzureLupine

AzureLupine — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:50:56 +0000

On second thought, skinning in bamboo flooring strips would look neat as well… (Thanks to a buddy of mine for the suggestion!)

By: AzureLupine

AzureLupine — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:44:55 +0000

Currently “tweaking” the design to be a ‘reverse trike’ as motorcycle parts are used, this would greatly simplify construction as all the builder would need to do is mount a properly modified frame in rear, run controls, and Voila! You have your vehicle! Frame mods (bike) are simple enough, a bit of hacksaw-work and elbow grease, just make sure you use a ‘soft-tail’ type frame. As for skinning, I believe I’ll use good old sheet aluminum. Also, this design lends itself to EV conversion very nicely.

By: po6ert

po6ert — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:45:32 +0000

spruce and epoxy would be appropriate and cheap! this kind of strip building is well understood and both strong and durable has been used in boat for decades look up the techniques in any of the available books on the subject see also strip building boats “system3 epoxy”r the like

By: fun1450 » Locost Speedball

fun1450 » Locost Speedball — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:58:32 +0000

[...] Mechanix Illustrated [...]

By: Douglas Beasley

Douglas Beasley — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:08:50 +0000

This sports car made of mahogany cost a lot. Just for all of the mahogany strips would cost more than $15,000 dollars. I’m thinking about using Popular wood instead of mahogany. I’m using Multimaster, Kreg Joint, Jaww Horse, & Grabit. Those are the newest things out for the job to build this car.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:59:21 +0000

While it may seem to be dated. Cars built from wood are not a relic. Morgan from the UK builds roadsters from aluminum on chassis built from ash. There is as some times 10 year wait per order.
Morgan is not the only one using wood for building a roadster. Marcos and several others followed suit. Post WWII England was not kind to small car makers and it made sense both economically and commercially to build cars with wood. Wood is light weight, low cost and forgiving to a point. You could build a version of this car very easily if you were smart about weight and safety.

Just my thoughts,
Chuck

By: Alan J. Richer

Alan J. Richer — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:11:56 +0000

For anyone interested in a design like this that has a chance of passing modern automotive registration standards (which this won’t – witness the fuel line in the cockpit, for example) go out and have a google around for a homebuilt design called the Locost. (for a start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locost )

The original was put together by an automotive engineer from the remains of a British Ford Escort (very different from the American car of the same name) and is a classic open roadster very similar to a Lotus Seven. I have the designs and plans for one of these myself – was thinking of building one as a dedicated autocross racer.

This one is really nice but it’s not a great design for the road today.

Alan

By: Chris Weisman

Chris Weisman — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 05:36:49 +0000

On the whole, this is a great idea. Many parts difficult to get. I am starting with a 48v 10HP DC motor. With a smaller direct driven rear axel, I hope to use advise from these pages for the frame of my 3 person, bobsled config in delta trike shape,

By: alex king

alex king — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 05:58:54 +0000

Sir: Back in 1972, as an architectural draftsman, I became interested in using wood as a means of making a light weight vehicle. It was to be a full monocoque construction. The end design wound up looking similar to a Lotus Europa. Lately I have been thinking of using Motorcycle engines in a one-person car. Lo and behold, I accidentally came across your site. Fantastic. However, a down-side. I cannot access page 6 of the MI Speedball. Every effort sends me back to page 1. Is there any way to correct this? I am sure there is a lot of information there. Even if I never built one, the concept is very interesting. Thank you for your time. -Alex King

By: MAKE: Blog

MAKE: Blog — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 19:18:00 +0000

Build your own mahogany sports car…

Plans to build a sports car out of wood from Mechanix Illustrated 1956 “HOW would you like to own this snazzy-looking mahogany-paneled sports car? You can–and for less than $500 if you are the least bit handy with ordinary……