I read a book a while back called Mission to Tashkent about a British secret agent in India and Asia around 1918 investigating the Bolshevik government of Tashkent. In it he talks about the partisans or insurgents or what ever you want to call them who assisted him. One of the the things he describes are charcoal powered trucks they use since petroleum is too difficult to obtain. I saw the concept again recently in one of Bill Mauldin's cartoons in his book "Army" and decided to look it up and see what I could learn about the concept.

I didn't find much, a few articles in Mother Earth News about a wood gasification plant modification for a normal internal combustion engine. They don't provide plans, but they do have a fairly detailled description of what they built along with critiques of what worked well and what didn't. I also found a few news articles about people who've done similar things. These gasification trucks are complicated though and require a pretty thorough knowledge of the processes involved and mechanics. So that idea is kind of out the window for a survival vehicle in the face of gasoline shortages. But I ask, why does it have to be such a complicated machine. Couldn't a person with average ability to build things build a steam power plant wood or charcoal burning vehicle. In the short term the idea is a bust, too dirty and clumsy. But after few months of having no gasoline to power your car or truck the idea might start to have some appeal. You probably wouldn't get much power or speed out of it, but it could sure beat walking especially if you have a load to carry. If you were really worried about gasoline being unavailible your best bet is probably to buy a team of mules and a cart, not to build a wood powered car, but the option is there if you need it.

Does anyone have any experiance with these contraptions or have any ideas about building one.