Henry Ford’s ‘plastic hemp car’ from 1941

In 1941, Henry Ford produced a ‘plastic’ car made of cellulose fibers from hemp, sisal and wheat straw. It was lighter than steel yet able to handle 10 times the impact without denting.

You have to see the guy repeatedly taking a hammer to the car and yet leaving no dents (the video is only 38 seconds). Amazing.

And also amazingly frustrating that this technology was available in 1941.

Maybe we don’t have all the answers, but it sure would be good to start using the ones we do have.

 

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.