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| The first plastic car |
Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, had a great interest in soybean-based plastics as a material for automobile, which were used in Ford automobiles throughout 1930s. In 1942, Ford patented the chassis of the car almost entirely made of plastic (patent number 2,269,452), which weighed 30% less than a steel car and could withstand blows 10 times greater than a steel car. The car ran on grain alcohol (ethanol) derived from corn, instead of gasoline. The prototype of the Soybean-car (also known as a Hemp car) was introduced to the public on August 13, 1941. The design never be in mass-production, however, it was a pioneering move in building environmentally friendly automobiles.
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