Wow, everyone beat me too it!
here’s my contribution…
Destructive Distillation of Wood
http://members.iimetro.com.au/~hubbca/hemp.htm
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_sawdust.html
As a small boy, my father told me about seeing the (How to spell it? phonetically) Gazz Bwa. Cars he saw during WWII in Europe that burned wood. He said they pulled a trailor, into which one shoveled wood, and a pipe that went to the carborateor.
I found these pictures, but not the name of the Gazz bwa
Of course, by now, after receiving 180 some comments, you both know that Hans’ memory was absolutely correct. The wood chip burning car history has been out there for many years in many car related publications and now on the net. I do not fault the two of you for not knowing this but i do take issue with, at the end of your conversation with Hans, treating him like a nutcase, an idiot. That, in my estimation went beyond the bounds of cute or funny, especially when his childhood memory was right on target and you two did not know squat about this particular piece of automotive history. You owe Hans an on-the-air apology.
A second, unrelated comment: for years you have been telling people that there is no need to warm up your cars before heading out. I’d say that this is good advice if your commute was at least 5 to 10 miles. If you commute is shorter then this, your car definitely needs a good warm-up before you head out. If this is not done, a short trip will not generate enough engine temperature to burn out the condensation in your engine oil in cold weather.
Hudnut
One more additional confirmation, for ‘woodchip’ car. I’m only on my forties but know lot of stories and have seen photos, documentals etc… Back home (in Finland) during WWII lot of vehicles used this technology cars, even buses and trucks. Like nowadays in many places natural gas is used, similar simple adaptation to normal gas engine and there you go. (I think effort was quite significant to keep up the fire to produce gas and came with quite some loss of horsepower but anyway kept things moving when gas wasn’t available)
Years ago a sort of eccentric character that lived near me in central Illinois built a car that he drove to Florida on corn cobs. I suspect that it was operating on the same principle
You can find film all over You Tube of wood fueled cars and trucks.
HalleluYah!
I heard your broadcast on NPR 1-15-12 when a gentleman inquired about automobiles using wood chips for fuel.
I am a research director volunteering at SOS. I have a keen interest in researching alternative fuels and have quite a collection of material from years past. The fuel that the gentleman who called in to you show was referring to is what is known as "Producer Gas."
The wood chips were contained in a oxygen controlled vessel and was ignited and allowed to smolder with the unburned gases (smoke) being sucked through a filtering tube that removed the tars. After being filtered they were allowed to be introduced into the intake manifold.
A most wonderful book that documents the wide spread use of "Producer Gas" is the "wartime Wood Burners isbn# 0960345043
I don't own the book because fund are short but I have access to the book for my research. It is loaded with pictures of many tractors, trucks, autos, (both army and civilian) and a specially U.S. made limo for a top SS official!
I suggest that you buy one for yourselves and one for me.
Also, more importantly, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) actually published plans for the conversion of farm tractors, trucks, and autos to run off the “Producer Gas.” Yes!!!
Your tax dollars actually paid for something worthwhile!
Check it out! website: http://www.soilandhealth.org/03sov/0302hsted/fema.woodgas.pdf
Now if you think that this fuel is a pipe dream, please check out the youtube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43c683YY18w
This man has converted a ten ton dump truck to run off this gas. There are so many more up grades that the shade trees mechanics have accomplished that it has become an accepted alternative fuel.
The first occurrence I witnessed this type of alternative fuel use was during a trip to one of the National Parks in Washington State where a very odd looking school bus / motor home was parked.
What caught my attention was that the roof of the bus was fitted with a VW bus that was cut in half horizontally and welded to the top of the school bus. The other odd thing was a fire box that was at the rear with a long "chimney" running the length of the bus ending into the engine compartment.
The "Alternative Lifestyle operator of such vehicle (read - Hippy) explained to me that the bus was fitted to burn "Wood Gas"
A "Back to the Land" magazine called Mother Earth News ran articles on self sufficiency to those who wanted a better life. In the 3-4/1981 Issue the described their version of running engines on wood gas.
It is your destiny to spread this knowledge to your vast listening audience! Help set us free from the greedy oil companies! You now have the power in your hands to make a difference!
I would be willing to be your Alternative fuel researcher (G. I. Did-ant-no-that) and would be willing to provide your show with a top quality report weekly, monthly or quarterly for the low cost of one ton of whole barley, 5 gallons of honey and one quarter keg of imported German beer per report.
(I could also double as a speech writer if you decide to run for office for an extra ton of barley)
Sincerely,
George Ross
SOS
I just listened to the podcast of this show. Which one of these brainiacs has the PhD from MIT?
Just watch this, fellas 
The name of this car alone is worth mentioning on the show…
I want one of these things! It world be perfect around town and stuff!
Just received a copy of Mechanical Engineering magazine from ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) And on the cover story is the woodchip mobile and how gasifiers are being used today! Hit the mainstream I guess, and we heard it on Car talk first! How about that.
To build your own biomass gasifier, go here to instructables at wwwDOTinstructablesDOTcom/id/A-Home-Built-Biomass-Gasifier-for-Producing-Wood-G/
Hans is not crazy. A friend’s mother who escaped from the Nazi’s during WWII told me her story. She told me that at one point in her escape she rode on top of a truck that was powered by burning wood.
Here is a nice article: http://translogic.aolautos.com/2011/07/27/in-detail-the-wood-burning-beaver-xr7/
The Mercury Cougar XR7 had little measurable impact on the American automotive landscape, but the Cougar featured in TRANSLOGIC 64 is a little different–so much so that its owner even changed its name. Although “Beaver” is a strange moniker for a car, Chip Beam has a good reason for naming his ride after the trunk-chewing critter; after all, the Beaver XR7 runs on wood (or any other organic material) through a process called gasification.
"Years ago a sort of eccentric character that lived near me in central Illinois built a car that he drove to Florida on corn cobs."I can think of a better use for home-grown corn, and he would not have to leave home.
Howdy, There is another type of vehicle that uses the direct heat from a wood burning vehicle to power a motor. to be specific, a sterling motor.
There’s an article in the current issue of Mother Earth News Magazine which describes one man’s method of using wood chips to power his farm and construction trucks. He converted them from running on gasoline to wood-chips. It’s pretty interesting and it’s described well how he did it. Google “Mother Earth News Wood Chipmobile” and you might find a link. I tried,and there seems to be a link there, but their web site seemed to be not working today.
The is a seven-second clip of a wood-burner auto at 15 seconds into this video.
Also a glimpse of a zaftig Russe at 30 seconds.
As for the rest of the film, "He who sows the wind, …"
Well, it looks like this topic has been thoroughly covered.
Anyway, I’m reading “The Spearhead: The World War II History of the 5th Marine Division” by Howard M. Conner, and on page 143, describing conditions the 5th found in Japan when it arrived there for occupation duty, it says: “Almost the only vehicles the Japanese were accustomed to were antiquated trucks and cars converted into charcoal burners because of the gasoline shortage.”