Henry Ford's plastic hemp car
Henry Ford's plastic hemp car built in 1941.
Henry was looking for the alternative materials for building cars due to the fact that metal and steel resources were used in the arms industry. He hit upon an idea that he could build a car from hemp and soy, powered by biofuel. Henry Ford with botanists constructed a hemp-fueled and hemp-bodied prototype car. The "plastic" body was composed of 70% cellulose fibers, including industrial hemp, mixed with a resin binder and they were pretty sturdy. Windows were made of acrylic and the whole car was was about 30% lighter than a traditional car. The car was very solid and stable. (In the video below you can see a guy who hits a car with an axe).
It is unknow why mass production of this extremely ecological car has been abandoned but it is believed that because of the connection between the industrial hemp and marijuana might have been a major legal stumbling block.
Henry was looking for the alternative materials for building cars due to the fact that metal and steel resources were used in the arms industry. He hit upon an idea that he could build a car from hemp and soy, powered by biofuel. Henry Ford with botanists constructed a hemp-fueled and hemp-bodied prototype car. The "plastic" body was composed of 70% cellulose fibers, including industrial hemp, mixed with a resin binder and they were pretty sturdy. Windows were made of acrylic and the whole car was was about 30% lighter than a traditional car. The car was very solid and stable. (In the video below you can see a guy who hits a car with an axe).
It is unknow why mass production of this extremely ecological car has been abandoned but it is believed that because of the connection between the industrial hemp and marijuana might have been a major legal stumbling block.
https://youtu.be/srgE6Tzi3Lg?si=WwPGdnZmTJqycwdb
Still, I wonder why nobody has ever gone back to this original idea. In our times, when we are desperate for more eco-friendly ways of producing anything, it looks like a very welcome invention.
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