Soybean Car
Encyclopedia
The Soybean car was a plastic car made by the Ford Motor Company
in Dearborn, Michigan
, introduced to the public on August 13, 1941. Mystery Car 40: Henry Ford's soybean car It was the first car bodied entirely in plastic. Anzovin, p. 189 The first plastic car was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Mi, USA, in August 1941. Fourteen plastic panels were mounted on a tubular welded frame. Henry Ford’s Hemp Car Re-Examined The plastic car used ethanol
derived from corn.
first put Bob Gregorie of his design department in charge of manufacturing. Ultimately he was not satisfied with the results of the outcome and gave the project to the Soybean Laboratory in Greenfield Village. The person in charge there was Lowell Overly, who had a background in tool and die design. The finished prototype
was exhibited in 1941 at the Dearborn Days festival in Dearborn, Michigan
. It was also shown at the Michigan State Fair Grounds the same year. The patent 2,269,452 for the chassis of the soybean car was issued January 13, 1942.
Ford invested millions of dollars into research to develop the plastic car to no avail. He proclaimed he would "grow automobiles from the soil" - however it never happened, even though he had over 12,000 acres of soybeans to experiment with. Some sources even say the Soybean Car wasn't made from soybeans at all - but of phenol plastic, an extract of coal tar. Desert News and Telegram newspaper, Salt Lake City, Thursday, April 8, 1954; page A17 Soybean Car dream goes awry - It's cream One newspaper even reports that all of Ford's research only provided whipped cream
as a final product. Because of World War II all automobile production was curtailed considerably. The plastic car experiment basically came to a halt. By the end of the war the plastic car idea went into oblivion. The prototype car was destroyed by Bob Gregorie according to Lowell Overly.
The exact ingredients of the plastic are not known since there were no records kept of the plastic itself. Speculation is that it was a combination of soybeans, wheat, hemp, flax and ramie. Lowell Overly, the person who had the most influence in creating the car, says it was "…soybean fiber in a phenolic resin with formaldehyde used in the impregnation."
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
in Dearborn, Michigan
Dearborn, Michigan
-Economy:Ford Motor Company has its world headquarters in Dearborn. In addition its Dearborn campus contains many research, testing, finance and some production facilities. Ford Land controls the numerous properties owned by Ford including sales and leasing to unrelated businesses such as the...
, introduced to the public on August 13, 1941. Mystery Car 40: Henry Ford's soybean car It was the first car bodied entirely in plastic. Anzovin, p. 189 The first plastic car was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Mi, USA, in August 1941. Fourteen plastic panels were mounted on a tubular welded frame. Henry Ford’s Hemp Car Re-Examined The plastic car used ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...
derived from corn.
History
Henry FordHenry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
first put Bob Gregorie of his design department in charge of manufacturing. Ultimately he was not satisfied with the results of the outcome and gave the project to the Soybean Laboratory in Greenfield Village. The person in charge there was Lowell Overly, who had a background in tool and die design. The finished prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
was exhibited in 1941 at the Dearborn Days festival in Dearborn, Michigan
Dearborn, Michigan
-Economy:Ford Motor Company has its world headquarters in Dearborn. In addition its Dearborn campus contains many research, testing, finance and some production facilities. Ford Land controls the numerous properties owned by Ford including sales and leasing to unrelated businesses such as the...
. It was also shown at the Michigan State Fair Grounds the same year. The patent 2,269,452 for the chassis of the soybean car was issued January 13, 1942.
Ford invested millions of dollars into research to develop the plastic car to no avail. He proclaimed he would "grow automobiles from the soil" - however it never happened, even though he had over 12,000 acres of soybeans to experiment with. Some sources even say the Soybean Car wasn't made from soybeans at all - but of phenol plastic, an extract of coal tar. Desert News and Telegram newspaper, Salt Lake City, Thursday, April 8, 1954; page A17 Soybean Car dream goes awry - It's cream One newspaper even reports that all of Ford's research only provided whipped cream
Whipped cream
Whipped cream is cream that has been beaten by a mixer, whisk, or fork until it is light and fluffy. Whipped cream is often sweetened and sometimes flavored with vanilla, in which case it may be called Chantilly cream or crème Chantilly ....
as a final product. Because of World War II all automobile production was curtailed considerably. The plastic car experiment basically came to a halt. By the end of the war the plastic car idea went into oblivion. The prototype car was destroyed by Bob Gregorie according to Lowell Overly.
Reasoning for a plastic car
The Henry Ford Museum gives three reasons for Ford's decision to make a plastic automobile, the plastic car made from soybeans. Henry Ford and the soybean car- 1 - Ford was looking to integrate industry with agriculture.
- 2 - Ford made claims that his plastic made these cars safer than normal metal cars.
- 3 - Ford wished to make his new plastic material a replacement for the metals used in normal cars. A side benefit was that it would ease up on the shortage of metal at the time because of World War II.
Car ingredients
The frame of this automobile was made of tubular steel. This frame had fourteen plastic panels mounted to it said to be "only a quarter of an inch thick." The windows were made of acrylic sheets. All of this led to a reduction in weight from 3000 pounds for a typical car to 2000 pounds, a reduction in weight of over 33 per cent. Benson Ford Research Center Bial, p. 33The exact ingredients of the plastic are not known since there were no records kept of the plastic itself. Speculation is that it was a combination of soybeans, wheat, hemp, flax and ramie. Lowell Overly, the person who had the most influence in creating the car, says it was "…soybean fiber in a phenolic resin with formaldehyde used in the impregnation."
Internet video
A report circulating on the Internet is a video film from 1941 about the plastic car in the opening credits as being the plastic soybean car ("hemp car"), but at the end part it shows images of Henry Ford striking a hammer or axe onto a trunk lid. It is not of the Soybean Car he is hitting, but Ford's personal car with a plastic panel of the same material on the trunk. When Jack Thompson, the narrator of the 1941 Black & White film, stated in the introduction that this was the Soybean Car being shown he did not make it clear that the trunk Henry Ford was hitting with the tool at the end of the film was actually Ford's own personal car made of the same plastic material - not the Soybean Car itself. Henry Ford was doing this demonstration to show the toughness of the plastic material. The demonstration was pretty dramatic, since the tool rebounded with much force and a picture of this was shown worldwide.See also
- TrabantTrabantThe Trabant is a car that was produced by former East German auto maker VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau in Zwickau, Sachsen. It was the most common vehicle in East Germany, and was also exported to countries both inside and outside the communist bloc...
, another early car with an all-plastic body. - A drag race car in 2011 which plastic body panels were partially made of soy-based material.
Sources
- Allen, Chaz, One hundred one little known facts, with Dale Robertson, Citadel Press, 2002, ISBN 0806523395
- Anzovin, Steven, Famous First Facts 2000, item # 3242, H. W. Wilson Company, ISBN 0-8242-0958-3
- Bial, Raymond, The Super Soybean, Albert Whitman and Company, 2007, ISBN 0807575496
- Bryan, Ford Richardson, Henry's lieutenants, Wayne State University Press, 1993, ISBN 0814332137
- Maxwell, James, Plastics in the automotive industry, Woodhead Publishing, 1994, ISBN 1855730391
- Prestige Publications, Automotive industry of America, 1979
- Tomes, Dwight, Biofuels: Global Impact on Renewable Energy, Production Agriculture, and Technological Advancements, Springer, 2010, ISBN 1441971440