It’s impossible for many people to drive their vehicles in the water-filled streets of Venice, however with this Italian sports car, waterways are what it was produced.
This Ferrari F50 was sculpted totally out of wood by master carver Livio Di Marchi. The supercar can’t drive on standard roads, but instead, uses its resilient frame to float. While the production version might go from zero to 60 in simply 3.8 seconds, the 512 horse power V12 engine has actually been changed with an outboard motor that will absolutely make you want to row your gondola out of the method.
The car is genuinely one of a kind. The road model might have only had actually 349 designs made, but the wood 350th was sculpted completely by hand utilizing just hand chisels. Marchi is a prolific artist, sculpting a variety of other novelty boats also. He’s whittled replicas of a gull-wing Mercedes, a 1930s Jaguar, and even a wooden Vespa.
Commonly understood as the “Carpenter of Venice,” Marchi began his fascination with sculpture after studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Venice. Finding wood to be a kind of muse that summoned his creativity and spontaneity, he picked the medium as his favorite. Marchi has even played fairy godfather with his developments, shaping a floating pumpkin carriage complete with horses for people’s weddings.
The man is definitely obsessed with wood. His home is filled with wooden sculptures, consisting of renderings of beds, teddy bears, clothing, meals, and even underclothing carved by hand.
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! has actually purchased a number of Marchi’s works, displaying them in museums all around the world. The wooden F50 as soon as cruised the San Diego Bay with a surfing dog in tow, and it’s returning to the city again for San Diego Comic-Con as part of the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Automobile Lot!
