A split hopkinson bar could be used for obtaining the high strain rate material properties of sheet metals for an autobody. In high speed tensile tests of sheet matals, a new design of a tension split Hopkinson bar apparatus is needed. The design of grips and an anvil length are numerically analyzed with ABAQUS/Explicit for the new apparatus of split Hopkinson bars. From the experiments with the new apparatus, the material properties of SPCEN in the high strain rate state have been acquired and compared with quasi-static experimental results. The material properties of SPCEN as well as other sheet metals in an autobody are indispensible for the analysis of crashworthness. Nevertheless the experiment of sheet metal in the high strain rate state has not been done or reported.