The Speedball Special

Our pals over at Hemmings found this one… The September, 1956 issue of Mechanics Illustrated featured instructions on how to build your very own “boat inspired” and wooden hot rod. Apparently, some loon on the west coast took those directions seriously and got to work. The result? A super light wood based car powered by a ’52 Ariel square four… Weighs around 750 pounds (really?!) and makes 42 hp. Crazy.

You can find the original Mechanics Illustrated article here, while more pictures than you can shake a stick at can be found here.