our two cents on this:
if there are hinges on the rear of the hood, it may just slide up the windscreen, as the screws (or whatever fastener) used to attach them might simply rip out. the planks used as the frame of the hood look to provide a very convenient load path directly towards said hinges, and the not so strong looking mounts they are on. as you said, wood can withstand much compression along the grain, meaning those mounts would be put under very high loads, and probably fail.
and if those mounts did not fail, the actual sheet of plywood or OSB used isn’t super thick, maybe about three eighths of an inch, or about 10mm if it’s metric? its failure mode would likely involve buckling or it just crumbling into pieces… cars are heavy!
either way, the windscreen is very strong, and the wood used here is a lot weaker, at least as far as loads on the broad surface go. the most pertinent hazard here seems to be of the hood catching air, flipping up, and obstructing the view of the operator. there do look to be tie-downs here to stop that, but even the non-modified hood of a regular passenger vehicle can absolutely flip up if it is not closed properly! again, the windscreen would likely still protect the occupants, and in the latter case has for many.
of course, this is all conjecture… much more information would be needed about this setup to come to a decisive conclusion. happy engineering! :)
managed to find this other image (taken by Eric Schultz)
you look to be right!! they do not look to be able to accommodate a hinge. we weren’t able to find a photo of the area of interest unfortunately.