The wooden limousine, 4.2 meters long, 1.68 meters wide and 1.7 meters tall, is made according to the picture of a real Rolls- Royce produced in 1907.

"People can drive it and travel around the globe," said Han Yanling, 43, who made the wooden car with his own hands.

Han, whose father is a carpenter, is good at woodwork. Also an auto fan, he has been longing to have a self-made car.

It cost Han more than 100,000 yuan to build a workshop in the suburb of Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province.

He bought a second-hand Beijing Jeep and used the chassis and engine for his own car. He dismantled 20 teak doors to make his car with the timber.

One day at the end of last year Han was finally able to drive his "Rolls-Royce" out of the workshop.

Han plans to produce a Hongqi sedan, or Red Flag, with his own hands in the future, to show his support for the national automobile industry.

Hongqi, first manufactured in 1958 by China's first automobile factory in Changchun, was originally made for Chinese state leaders.

(People’s Daily 09/01/2001)