Build a Wood Car Toy: Wooden Car Plans

I've got an idea to make a wooden toy for some of my nephews. The boys like cars so why not build one? But will my self-made car be good enough to win the battle with the store-bought plastic toys? Using some of the templates I found, the chances for this improve a lot.

Let me share the results of my search with you. I have picked good templates that I liked. Mostly free but not only - paying a few bucks for a good wood car plan shouldn't be an issue. Enjoy, they are not sorted in particular way:

Let's start with a simple one: https://www.bconnex.net/~zirgo/Car1/WoodToyCarPlans.html. This car is relatively simple and can be done with hand tools. The plans are free.

Wooden car toy
Photo by Philip Dean
(I have no plans for this specific car, sorry)

I have shared Toys and Joys in the past, and will keep sharing their site. Their plans are not free and some are even a bit expensive. But these cars are simply amazing. If you build such a toy it will literally blow out the mind of a kid. If you don't have the skills to make such precise small parts, they also sell kits. Damn good ones. (We are not affiliated in any way, and we do not earn commission)

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Let's completely switch the direction with these go cart plans. This is a large toy for riding, no precise small parts. It's cool for little kids. The plans are completely free and available for download as PDF in both imperial and metric systems. Great job!

This car here is simple and good even for girls. Cutting the rounded parts is a little bit more complicated work so decide for yourself whether you have the skills for it.

Something similar is available here. Don't let the bad quality of the pattern preview image mislead you. When you click on it it will donload a decent PDF.

I said cars but I'd love to build a truck too. This truck really brings the feelings of the old times when wooden toys were made of wood and by hand.

The Lil' Bugger is also of the same type. Good, old-fashioned, massive toy. The plans are free but you are asked to make a small donation.

Some more commercial plans I liked: Large Antique Car. The plans cost $12 which is not that much if you want to make a nice present for a kid. This is a large car - 19" long and 10" tall.

One of the best links in this collection is this one: The Buldozer, The Tractor, and The Low-Boy Trailer. All the plans are available for free and downloadable as PDF. It's just a bit more work so it depends on how much time you have.

What follows here is not plans. But I liked it so much so I decided to share: https://woodenclassicwheels.com/. Just have a look at these amazing wood models. As far as I can tell the site isn't selling anything. It's just a great source of inspiration.

Two little funny midget racers are available here. The plans cost $12 - not that you wouldn't be able to make them by just looking at the pictures.

And now it's time for one my favorite sites - Instructables, and a bunch of great projects from it:

Mechanical Wood Toy Car. This is a sports car with curved shapes. The great details of this instructable will show you it's not that hard to be built.

This Cool C02 car is really cool and pretty simple. The instructions are not very detailed but you don't need them to be. The toy is simple.

Yet another truly simple one: Classic Toy Car. There is a video from the building process.

There are many mousetrap car racers like this one. It's a cool idea and rather simple to make if you have unused mousetrap. Don't use old one. Here's another mousetrap car idea.

Here is a really stylish F1 Pinewood Derby Car. There are not many instructions either but watching the pictures is close to enough to get the idea.

And this Toddler Flintstone Car is just lovely!

For more durability this Cardboard Race Car can be made out of plywood. It's a good simple project.

If you'd rather make something more complicated, try your skills with the X-Wing Fighter Soapbox Derby Car.

And let me finish with this powered Homemake Wooden GoKart 2.0. It's good even for teenagers.

So let's start. Which project you would take on first?