Soybean car

{{Short description|1941 American concept car made from plant-derived plastic}}

File:Soybean Car 1941.jpg

File:Fig 1 patent 2,269,452.jpg|page=1|access-date=20 October 2012}}{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}]]

File:Fig 2 patent 2,269,452.jpg

The soybean car was a concept car built with agricultural plastic. The New York Times in 1941 states the car body and fenders were made from a strong material derived from soy beans, wheat and corn.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/08/14/archives/ford-shows-auto-built-of-plastic-strong-material-derived-from-soy.html|title=FORD SHOWS AUTO BUILT OF PLASTIC; Strong Material Derived From Soy Beans, Wheat, Corn is Used for Body and Fenders SAVING OF STEEL IS CITED Car Is 1,000 Pounds Lighter Than Metal Ones – 12 Years of Research Developed It|date=1941-08-14|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-05-18|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{efn-ua|"The first plastic car was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Mich., USA, in August 1941. Fourteen plastic panels were mounted on a tubular welded frame."{{sfn|Anzovin|2000|page=189}} }}{{sfn|Davis|2011}} One article claims that they were made from a chemical formula that, among many other ingredients, included soy beans, wheat, hemp, flax and ramie; while the man who was instrumental in creating the car, Lowell E. Overly, claims it was "…soybean fiber in a phenolic resin with formaldehyde used in the impregnation" (Davis, 51).{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-resources/popular-topics/soy-bean-car|title=Find answers to all your questions about the fascinating soybean car, a vehicle with a plastic body unveiled by Henry Ford in 1941 at a festival in Dearborn, MI.}} The body was lighter and therefore more fuel efficient than a normal metal body.{{sfn|Tomes|2010|page=6}} It was made in Dearborn, Michigan and was introduced to public view on August 13, 1941.{{sfn|Woodyard|2010}} It was made, in part, as a hedge against the rationing of steel during World War II.{{cite press release|author=McCann-Erickson, Inc.|author-link=McCann Erickson|location=Penobscot Building, Detroit, Michigan|title=Ford Completes First Plastic Body as Steel Goes on Priority List|date=14 August 1941}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thehenryford.org/research/soybeancar.aspx#|work=Popular Research Topics|title=Soybean Car|publisher=Benson Ford Research Center The Henry Ford|location=Dearborn, Michigan|access-date=6 June 2015}} It was designed to run on hemp fuel.Rowan Robinson, The Great Book of Hemp: The Complete Guide to the Environmental, Commercial, and Medicinal Uses of the World's Most Extraordinary Plant, Inner Traditions, Bear & Co, 1996, p. 198.

History

Henry Ford enlisted the genius of George Washington Carver for development then put Eugene Turenne Gregorie of his design department in charge of manufacturing. Ultimately he was not satisfied with the proposed project, 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.

Because of World War II all US automobile production was curtailed considerably, and the plastic car experiment basically came to a halt. By the end of the war the plastic car idea went into oblivion.{{sfn|Woodyard|2010}} According to Lowell Overly, the prototype car was destroyed by Bob Gregorie.

Others argue that Ford invested millions of dollars into research to develop the plastic car to no avail.{{sfn|Allen|Robertson|2002|page=121}} He proclaimed he would "grow automobiles from the soil" {{mdash}} however it never happened, even though he had over {{convert|12,000|acre|}} of soybeans for experimentation. Some sources even say the Soybean Car wasn't made from soybeans at all {{mdash}} but of phenolic plastic, an extract of coal tar.{{cite news |work= Deseret News and Telegram |location=Salt Lake City |date=April 8, 1954 |page=17 |title=Soybean Car dream goes awry: It's cream (Section A)}}{{sfn|Bryan|1993|page=48}}{{sfn|Maxwell|1994|page=93}} One newspaper even reports that all of Ford's research only provided whipped cream as a final product.

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.{{sfn|Bayman|2007}}

Ford was looking to integrate industry with agriculture;
Ford claimed that his plastic made these cars safer than normal metal cars;
Ford wished to make his new plastic material a replacement for the metals used in normal cars. A side benefit would have been easing of the shortage of metal during World War II.{{sfn|Woodyard|2010}}

Car ingredients

The frame of this automobile was made of tubular steel, to which were attached some fourteen plastic panels,{{efn-ua|"Fourteen plastic panels were mounted on a tubular welded frame."{{sfn|Anzovin|2000|page=189}} }} said to be "only a quarter of an inch ({{convert|1/4|in|0|disp=out}}) thick."{{sfn|Maxwell|1994|page=93}} The windows were made of acrylic sheets. All of this led to a reduction in weight from {{convert|2500|lb|0}} for a typical car to {{convert|1900|lb|0}}, a reduction in weight of about 25 percent.{{sfn|Anzovin|2000|page=189}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thehenryford.org/research/soybeancar.aspx |title=Soybean Car |publisher=The Henry Ford |author=Benson Ford Research Center |year=2011 |access-date=October 20, 2012 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916140307/http://www.thehenryford.org/research/soybeancar.aspx |archive-date=September 16, 2012 }} including an extensive bibliography.{{sfn|Bial|2007|page=33}}

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."

Internet video

A report circulating on the Internet shows a film from 1941 about the plastic car in the opening credits, stated as being the plastic soybean car, but at the end it shows images of Henry Ford striking a hammer or axe onto a trunk lid.[http://www.biography-help.com/henry-ford/henry-ford-plastic-car Henry Ford Plastic Car]{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110910160527/http://www.biography-help.com/henry-ford/henry-ford-plastic-car |date=2011-09-10 }} It is not the soybean car he is hitting, but Ford's personal car with a plastic panel of the same material on the trunk,{{sfn|Bayman|2007}} and the hammer had a rubber boot placed on the sharp end of the axe. When Jack Thompson, the narrator of the 1941 black and 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 personal car made of the same plastic material—not the Soybean Car itself.{{sfn|Davis|2011}} Henry Ford was doing this demonstration to show the toughness of the plastic material.{{sfn|Bial|2007|page=33}} The demonstration was dramatic, since the tool rebounded with much force and a picture of this was shown worldwide.{{sfn|Prestige Publications|1979|page=425}}

References

=Notes=

=Citations=

=Sources=

{{cite book |last1=Allen |first1=Chaz |first2=Dale |last2=Robertson |title=101 little known facts |location=New York |publisher=Citadel Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/101littleknownfa00alle/page/121 121] |year=2002 |isbn=0-8065-2339-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/101littleknownfa00alle/page/121 }}
{{cite book |last1=Anzovin |first1=Steven |title=Famous first facts, international edition: a record of first happenings, discoveries, and inventions in world history |year=2000 |id=item: 3242 |publisher=H. W. Wilson Company |page=[https://archive.org/details/famousfirstfacts00anzo/page/189 189] |location=New York |isbn=0-8242-0958-3 |edition=international |url=https://archive.org/details/famousfirstfacts00anzo/page/189 }}
{{cite web |author=Bayman |url=http://bayblab.blogspot.com/2007/07/henry-ford-and-soybean-car.html |title=Henry Ford and the soybean car |date=July 24, 2007 |publisher=Bayblab October 29, 2012}}
{{cite book |last1=Bial |first1=Raymond |title=The Super Soybean |location=Morton Grove, IL |publisher=Albert Whitman |year=2007 |page=[https://archive.org/details/supersoybean00bial/page/33 33] |isbn=978-0-8075-7549-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/supersoybean00bial/page/33 }}
{{cite book |last1=Bryan |first1=Ford Richardson |title=Henry's lieutenants |publisher=Wayne State University Press |page=48|year=1993 |location=Detroit |isbn=0-8143-3213-7 }}
{{cite web |date=January 18, 2011 |first1=Josh |last1=Davis |publisher=hemp.com |url=http://www.hemp.com/2011/01/henrys-hemp-car-not-so-much-hemp/ |title=Henry Ford's Hemp Car Re-Examined |access-date=October 19, 2012 |archive-date=October 31, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031235957/http://www.hemp.com/2011/01/henrys-hemp-car-not-so-much-hemp |url-status=dead }}
{{cite book |last1=Maxwell |first1=James |title=Plastics in the automotive industry |location=Warrendale, PA |publisher=SAE International; Woodhead Publishing |page=93 |year=1994 |isbn=1-85573-039-1 }}
{{cite book |author=Prestige Publications |title=Automotive industry of America |year=1979 |publisher=Prestige Publications|page=435 |location=Southfield, MI }}
{{cite book |last1=Tomes |first1=Dwight |title=Biofuels: Global Impact on Renewable Energy, Production Agriculture, and Technological Advancements |page=6 |year=2010 |location=New York |publisher=Springer Science+Business Media, LLC |isbn=978-1-4419-7144-9 }}
{{cite web |url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/06/mystery-car-40-henry-fords-soybean-car/1 |title=Mystery Car 40: Henry Ford's soybean car |date=June 29, 2010 |first1=Chris |last1=Woodyard |work=USA TODAY |access-date=October 20, 2012 }}

External links

{{cite web|url=http://www.thehenryford.org/research/soybeancar.aspx# |work=Popular Research Topics |title=Soybean Car |publisher=Benson Ford Research Center The Henry Ford |access-date=June 6, 2015}}
[http://theangryhistorian.blogspot.com/2010/10/hemp-car-myth-busted.html The Hemp Car - Myth Busted]
{{cite web|url=http://www.competitionplus.com/drag-racing/news/15786-hajeks-264-mph-cornext |title=Competition Plus - Drag Racing Magazine - HAJEK'S 264 MPH CORN/SOY CAR; DRAG RACING NEXT? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120627135029/http://www.competitionplus.com/drag-racing/news/15786-hajeks-264-mph-cornext |archive-date=2012-06-27 |url-status=dead }}, A drag race car in 2011 which plastic body panels were partially made of soy-based material

Category:Ford vehicles

Category:Cars of the United States

Category:Motor vehicles manufactured in the United States

Category:Cars introduced in 1941

Category:Concept cars

Category:Hemp products

Category:1941 in cannabis

Category:Fibre-reinforced polymers

Category:Cars discontinued in 1941