1941 Ford...underappreciated?

Some state used soybeans to make license plates durring WWII when metal was used for war time projects. Being a food product animals are them, and they are sought out by plate collectors. This may be the reason Ford didn't go into bodywork production with soybean panels.

 

The "real" reason that Ford didn't use the soy panels is because Henry knew it wasn't traditional, and being the forward thinker that he was, knew the H.A.M.B. guys would not approve.

I hear they don't work well in louver presses either.

 

I'll roll with that!!

PACO

 

Any more Pic's of 41's , what seems to be the prefered amount of chop on a short door coupe .

 

Depends on what kind of look you want. Squashed, ski slope or nice proportions

 

haha , yeah ,What seems to be the the 'norm' before it looks to squashed.

 

Henry Ford hired George Washington Carver to develop the soy based plastics he used in the Fords. I saw a show last year on the history channel that was about the life and times of George Washington Carver and when it came to the part of him working with Ford it was really interesting. Two men that were way ahead of their time!

Billy

 

Sounds like a good History Channel show, here is a link to some information on George Washington Carver.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Carver

 

My convertible

 

A very rare car over here.Looks sweet.

 

Take a look at post #35 in this thread. That's a 3 1/2" chop at the B pillar

 

I've had mine since 62' and in my opinion the 41' Ford is second to the 49'/50' Merc when it comes to customs. Here's mine.

 

...anybody have any info on this one. I've owned it for about 6 months. It was supposed to have been built in California but I bought it out of Pennsylvania. I'm not asking for a critique of the car, I'm asking for information of its history.

thanks,
Joe, aka thunderplex

 

I'm almost positive that your '41 is the same car that belonged to my friend Ernie, and was the inspiration for this thread.....ErnieM here on the HAMB (West Chester, Pa.)

 

Joe: That was my car, I traded a 1933 Chevy 4 door for it about three years ago, it was built in Dana Point California. I did a lot of work on the car to make it run right. I traded it for a 31 roadster. It is a solid car, when I was finished with it, it ran well and I used it as a daily driver. I liked it but I needed a roadster so I made the trade. I also have a 40 coupe and a channeled 31 coupe and I needed to put something together with no top! Ernie Meade (ErnieM)

 

Depends on who you ask, and whatever the amount each guy chopped on his car - in his mind that is the perfect amount.

IMHO on a short door/roof cpe you want to keep it conservative or things get a little weird. Mine was 5" from the b-pilar.

 

Here is a picture of my 41' Sled...

 

The nut job is Henry Ford and he was showing the press how durable and long-lasting and resilient a deck lid on the new 1941 Ford can be because it is made of fibreglas, hence the sledge hammer !! He was evidently trying to show how a manufacturer can help make his cars last longer. This demo pic hit all the major magazines of the time. I've also seen it in historical books on the Ford family legacy.

 

Feds going after a Moonshine car ??

 

If you really want to get technical about this - it was neither Soy Bean nor Fiberglass as we think of those products. It was actually a combination hemp-and-sisal cellulose plastic. There was Soy Bean used in the creation and the Pro Marijuana faction loves to point out that it was Hemp as the fibers! (athough only about 10%)

 

Henry Ford was big on ther soybean materials, and in fact, may of the plastic bits, dash and window crank knobs, were made from it. The story goes that building complete "soybean / plastic" bodies was more time consuming, and he was very much into "max output" production. We had to wait until 1953 to get the first "plastic fantastics"......

4TTRUK

 

I've always heard it WAS soy. Although Ol' Henry did experiment with hemp as a building material, The deck lid was made of soy. Read the book "Fordlandia" and learn all about his venture in the south American rain forest where he tried to start his own plantation. The whole thing collapsed, mostly because of greed to get as many plants in one place as possible. They were too crowded to grow.
I have heard that that is a hemp suit he is wearing in that picture.

 

Oh yeah, and here's mine. I'm lovin' it...

 

Photoshop job from a while back...which would be a horrific amount of work to pull off. Not sure it´s even possible!

 

But it looks so cool James!!

 

Now James, You know any car is possible. In the case of my '41 Kustom Fordor - I will have to do it in stages. I will do the frame (dropped axle, reversed springs, etc, etc). Then I would find someone (I can afford to do the top chop or section). Last they would do the channel. To me the hardest is to get the rear roof line to look like an Aussie Sloper ! Mission accomplished !

Then we talk about all the body work to make it a complet '41 Dream Car ! Just got to get it rolling. The semi fade is growing on me . . . . .

Dave

 

...let's see more '41s.

 

Here is a pic of my `41 at speed.

 

heres one of the best!
Paul Bragg's



and heres the Jack Stewart..no surprise..I like that one too

 

Yep, you heard right. Lots of the dash and inner door bezels are made of similar stuff. Guess it wouldn't work. Notice how most of that faded and cracked?