No, it’s not an hallucination straight out of Homer Simpson’s Land of Chocolate. And it’s not merely a concept car, either. It’s actually been built.

The International Automotive Research Centre at Warwick University has built a functioning F3 car using a soybean-based foam for the seat, a steering wheel woven from carrot fibres, and a delicious potato-based material comprising the bodywork. Oh, and it also runs on the oils found in chocolate—which apparently completely disqualifies it from racing in the F3 series for which it was designed.

But Dr. Kerry Kirwan, who worked on the project, says it will run just as fast and well as the other cars in the series which are built from and running on far more standard materials.

Because apparently, carbon fiber? That’s yesterday’s news. Carrots are totally where it’s at.

[BBC]