The Cedar Rocket Is The Fastest All-Electric Log Car In The World

In Craft by Anja, March 31, 2017

Are you aware that the Guinness Book of World Records has a category for ‘fastest motorized log’? Sounds pretty funny but it is true. The fastest log is called “The Cedar Rocket” and was designed by log house builder Bryan Reid, Sr and two of his friends. The body of the single-passenger vehicle is made entirely from wood, except of course the engine.

The Cedar Rocket Is The Fastest All-Electric Log Car In The World (1)

Photo credit: Bryan Reid Sr

Reid and two of his friends got the idea for a log-borne electric vehicle and luckily, one of three – Gerald Overton – is a mechanic which made things a lot easier. He started with the guts of a Mazda RX-8 and retooled the disc brakes, axles, frame, differential, and suspension into something that will make anyone with a scouting background look twice, as the Cedar Rocket bears a strong resemblance to an oversized Pinewood Derby car. The project took them nearly two years to build.

Photo credit: Bryan Reid Sr

“It started out, not as a joke, but as something very light,” Reid said. “You put a log on a couple of axles and ‘ha ha.’ It ended up taking many thousands of hours. We don’t do anything halfway.”

The ‘car’ certainly has a unique appearance and it could travel at speeds of as much as 120-130 mph under the right conditions

In order to nab the world record, the Cedar Rocket had to make two runs of 55 miles per hour within 30 minutes at the Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona. That’s all Guinness required. However, the team says they think it may have the ability to travel much faster, as much as 120-130 mph under the right conditions. Aside from its fame as a world record holder, the Cedar Rocket gets a lot of attention for its unique appearance. Reid says the decision to use an all-electric powertrain was a bit of a no brainer. After briefly toying with the question of where they might locate a fuel tank on a log car, the team had a lightbulb moment. “We starting thinking, man, this is 2016, and that’s why we went totally electric,” he said. “We’re glad we did. It worked out great.”