Chap in a car in the wood (5)
I believe the answer is:
cedar
'wood' is the definition.
(I know that cedar is a type of wood)
'chap in a car' is the wordplay.
'chap' becomes 'Ed' (short for Edward).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'ed' placed within 'car' is 'CEDAR'.
'in the' is the link.
(Other definitions for cedar that I've seen before include "Leaving body" , "Raced around noble tree" , "Raced around a mighty tree" , "Tall conifer" , "Tree giving fragrant wood" .)