Slightly related to this thread - one of my Christmas gifts from my sons was a DVD of 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' - they heard me say I loved that movie as a kid, and I have to say I STILL think it's a gorgeous car! The liner notes says a professional boat builder made the body out of dark and light cherry (I think) and that a total of 4 were built for the movie - I wonder if any survive?
Update: At least two running copies of the car still survive, one owned by Pierre Picton - the person responsible for the cars during the filming of the movie and publicity tour afterwards. Also, the body wasn't cherry as I first thought, but red and white cedar. much more information on the car can be found at chittygen11.com