I put this in FHOP not 'other hybrids" because no one (outside Costa Rica) is going to buy one. But you may want to discuss Meet CambYoCar: the first car to be designed and built in Costa Rica / News Briefs / More news / Costa Rica Newspaper, The Tico Times "Cambio" means change in Spanish so that's why the name I guess. Bamboo frame may not offer the crash worthiness we have come to expect Not mentioned in the article (because Tico Times readers know it all too well) is that imported vehicles are taxed based on their new retail price. Not depreciated for used cars. You can imagine that this is a disincentive for vehicle importations.
You HAVE to love the British! Only those guys could have people (mostly dudes) slobbering over a wildly impractical, $50,000 car with 150BHP, no roof, and only three tyres! They built a wooden airplane during World War Twice that was pretty impressive too. No....not an observation plane or a trainer, but a combat strike fighter-bomber! de Havilland Mosquito - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bamboo is stronger than steel and concrete.Some are producing mountain bike frames with it. Using Balsa wood seems kind of ridiculous.
Balsa wood is strong for its weight. Good enough for aforementioned Mosquito and other aircraft. Its main selling point for this car is that it is readily available. It is probably easier to assemble into a car frame than bamboo for a local shop. Being available in rectangular boards as opposed to tubes like bamboo. I imagine bamboo would have to be laminated to form the proper structures. Bamboo would make more sense for a production car, but these are going to be kits with keeping costs down as a goal..
I feel bad for calling the thread bamboo. Should have been balsa. Both are extremely strong, and lightweight (assuming that you count the hole in the middle of bamboo). Both like the same growth environment (lots of light). Kinda weird that bamboo is a grass.
