Motion Pictures What if the Plastic Ford was produced?

If it like a modern thermoplastic, it can be “welded”

 

Ford Life magazine from early 70’s had a multi page story on soybean plastic. Happened upon a copy several weeks ago.

 

Pretty cool! Not the most attractive Ford product. Add a couple more bars and you'd have a 8.50 cert cage!

 

That sure is a fancy Crosley.

 

If this car had hit the mainstream, I can just imagine looking in the classifieds section and seeing ads listing "Genuine Henry Soybean" as a selling point.

"None of that cheap, re-pop chinese soy crap here! These are GENUINE HENRY Soy fenders! They smell like foot cheese dipped in poo, and they attract rodents, but these are the real deal! $1800 ea."

 

"Standin' on a corner, in Winslow Arizona;
Such a fine sight to see;
It's a girl, my Lord;
in a Plastic Ford;
Slowin' down to take a look at me..."
Marcus...

 

Give a whole new meaning to the phrase “Fords Stink!”

 

Pat, still have your avatar A roadster…how about posting some pics? Really like all it’s details…like the dash, for instance.

 

Fast forward to our stuff, I guess you'd need to be a chef to figure out how to chop the soybean top. Name the car "Soy Sauce" or "Chopped Suey"...

 

Actually, Trabant's were made of Duraplast and plastic made from old shop rags and a plastic resin. Steel was not available behind the Iron Curtin, so the floors and substructure were metal with Composit body panels. They rusted out so to get rid of them they tried to burn the cars which was toxic, so they took the body panels off and the government ground them and used the material in road materiel i.e. Asphalt. The car was an old Fiat platform.

 

Testers glue and bubble gum. HRP

 

They have been producing plastic Fords for many years..........

 

Still have it. Moving to the mountains and everything that goes with that has put the roadster on hiatus. Should be starting on paint and assembly early next year. I’ll be sure to post when that happens.

 

The soybean plastic was a thermoset plastic, so once formed, couldn't be heated and changed. You can't hot air weld it, but you could (epoxy) it. Cheech and Chong 's van in "Up in Smoke" must have got it's inspiration from Henry.

 

Looks like the windshield and windows were also made from something other than glass:



And is its fate known?

 

^^^ It's probably hidden in a warehouse with the first Edsel!!

 

Could you imagine that Cheech and Chong movie

 

Had World War 2 not happened, would automotive History as we know it have happened. Had the servicemen from all over the world not been exposed to their Hot Rodding Brethren from California, or seen the MGs and other British sports cars, and gained the technical skills of the Military, would we be here. This could have been a precursor to the alternate fuel talk of the50s, or more electric car development. We could be talking traditional battery updates, or hydrogen engines. What if.

 

I would be willing to bet that Mark (themoose) could make that car a cool looking hot rod! HRP

 

Hello,

The Ford Company was way ahead of its time, but those guys with the clay models and wire mock ups were not hot rod guys. They were design guys with a deadline zooming and a possible boost in extra performance pay. So out pops a funky design a little like a “snail on wheels,” and a small one at that.

Henry Ford’s experiment in making cars from soybeans never got past that first prototype and came to a halt, during World War 2. The project was never revived, but…
slight rake angle

Changing the original design, combined with a station wagon I was originally starting for another project, made for a cool looking version that might have gone over in the late 50 early 60s. A slight tilt of the center door post would have given it a sleeker design look.

Jnaki

A small, but powerful motor, great gas mileage and if the suspension was good, then the coastal highways would have been a snap. Giving it a slight chopped top would have added a nicer proportion to the original “snail” look.
chopped, slight rake

At least, the ecological aspect would have been right up the alley of the surfers of the time. What a gas!
slight rake

 

All this Trabant talk reminds me that I fucking adore Trabants. Bucket list car for sure.

 

You’re a twisted individual.

 

Simply try restoring a trabant.

 

Funny air cooled two stroke car. Driving them, let alone fixing them requires insane patience.

 

I would love a '57 ford one of these to have on a shelf someday.