MTFCA Forum

Interesting story, probably should be in Off Topic but almost no-one ever goes there.

https://www.thehenryford.org/collection ... -bean-car/

I used to teach a Introduction to Plastics class at the local community college. I used the information on this car and the processes that were used to produce it as part of my course content.
There is much more information available about this car. One piece of information that was not mentioned in the article was exactly how the panels were produced. Contour cure tools were produced that were patterned for the outer skin shape of the body panels. Then a combination of fibers of hemp and soy were woven and impregnated with a phenolic resin with formaldehyde and other chemicals.
The laminate was then covered with a sealed bag, and vacuum was drawn inside the bag. The bagged part was then placed into a heated press and the part was cured. With graphite composite cloth to substitute the soy/hemp fiber, and an autoclave to replace the heated press, you have the same process used to produce the B-2 Spirit Bomber and today's F-35 Fighters.
Another factor that's not mentioned is the fact that the power plant for this small car was the same 60 hp. engine that Ford began using in production in 1937 to create an "Economy Car" for a buying public ravaged by six years of The Great Depression with no end in sight. The end result was a full sized Ford that didn't have enough power to pull your hat off. However, in this small car, it had just enough power.
Truth be known, nearly every auto manufacturer in the U.S. experimented with an economy car during the Depression. REO even built their own version in 1933. They called their car the Doodle Bug. Australia's first car, which was produced after WWII, had its roots as a compact Buick in 1941 that never saw the light of day in its home country.
As the story goes, there were actually two Soybean Cars produced. Supposedly one was destroyed shortly after the outbreak of WWII, the other survived possibly as late as the early 1970's, but apparently it had been stored in the basement of a building at Ford Dearborn and began to stink so bad due to gasification, it too was destroyed.
It appears that every compact car program that was being developed prior to the war was either scrapped, or took several years and major changes to appear.

Mike, thanks for the additional information. I guess this was similar to the Duramold process used in aviation at the time.

That's right John. Howard Hughes used the Duramold process to build the H-4 Hercules transport plane.
The only difference was that Hughes used thin sheets of birch wood instead of the hemp/soy fiber mat.
I have seen test samples 40 years ago of the Duramold laminated wood formed in coupons with a 90° bend in the middle that were used for the Hughes project. The coupon measured approximately 3 inches wide with each leg about 1.5 inches long. It was about a quater inch thick.
At the time I weighed about 165 lbs. I was told to place the coupon, with the point up, on the floor and jump on it. I was a bit reluctant being young and inexperienced. So I decided to take a chance. I gave it all I had, and nothing. Not even a slight stress mark. It was amazing.

Being the squirrels ate the gas cap off my Snapper lawnmower and my leaf blowers,I Bet I would go out in the morning to go eat breakfast and all I would have would be the frame of that car! And a bunch of fat squirrels.