Forum on Car talk is looking for comments on wood gasifier run cars

a caller this past weekend asked them about a "car run on wood chips" his family used when he was little. Somewhere in europe. Tom and Ray surprisingly had no idea what it was. Their facebook page has a lot of people suggesting it was steam powered. If you have experience with any type of wood gasifier and want to comment:

http://community.cartalk.com/discussion/2282901/a-woodchip-mobile

Greetings, I remember reading in a popular mechainc's mag, printed in the 40's or 50's, regarding this. The car had, located at the rear bumper, a metal box full of almond shell. Under the box was a smallar box with a burner the size of a pilot light that heated the shells. Gas for the burner I think was provided by coal oil. the flame could be turned up or down. The heated shells produced a gas that ran a stock engine. The car looked to be a 30's model.

I'm sure I have the book up in storage, no, I don't plan go up and look for it at this time. But this type of, heard this refered to as Gasification, has been used. I have no idea how well it worked, more so at todays speeds.