While Norway and Sweden continue their transition to all-electric transports, one driver from Finland took his own approach to the rising gas prices. He took a 1983 Chevrolet pickup truck and rebuilt it to use firewood for propulsion.
In order to accomplish this, he first had to procure a suitable engine. After some research, he settled on a 5.7-liter V8 made in the distant year 1972. He retrofitted the block with an air intake system sourced from a Corvette dating back to the same era, added a gas generator and a custom distribution shaft, and installed a massive radiator at the front to keep things reasonably cool.
According to the video posted by Jp Prat Projects on YouTube, the elderly Chevy truck hasn’t changed much in terms of performance or handling when it switched from gasoline to firewood. The biggest drawback of the new setup is that it takes 5–10 minutes to warm up before it can be driven. That, and it chews through 35–40 kilograms (77–88 lbs) of wood per 100 kilometers traveled. Think 5.9 miles per U.S. “gallon” of wood if that’s a better comparison for you. Not the paragon of economy, but hey – wood is cheap and plentiful where this truck is from.
What impresses us the most is the sheer longevity of the project. Most such builds start with “because I can” provided for the reasoning and seldom end up as daily drivers. This pickup, on the other hand, has more than 100,000 kilometers (62,137 miles) under its belt post-conversion, and the owner intends to keep it going.
