page_title: Soybean car
hierarchical_section_title: Soybean car
caption_attribution_description: English: Automobile Chassis Construction; patent # 2,269, 452
context_page_description: The hemp car was a prototype car built with agricultural plastic. It is often called the soybean car, not because it was produced with soybeans, because it was researched in the Soybean Laboratory. The New York Times in 1941 states the car body and fenders were made from a strong material derived from hemp, wheat straw and corn. One article claims that they were made from a chemical formula that, among many other ingredients, included wheat, hemp, flax and ramie; while the man who was instrumental in creating the car, Lowell E. Overly, claims it was "…hemp fiber in a phenolic resin with formaldehyde used in the impregnation". The body was lighter and therefore more fuel efficient than a normal metal body. It was made in Dearborn, Michigan and was introduced to public view on August 13, 1941. It was made, in part, as a hedge against the rationing of steel during World War II. It was designed to run on hemp fuel.
context_section_description: The hemp car was a prototype car built with agricultural plastic. It is often called the soybean car, not because it was produced with soybeans, because it was researched in the Soybean Laboratory. The New York Times in 1941 states the car body and fenders were made from a strong material derived from hemp, wheat straw and corn.  One article claims that they were made from a chemical formula that, among many other ingredients, included wheat, hemp, flax and ramie; while the man who was instrumental in creating the car, Lowell E. Overly, claims it was "…hemp fiber in a phenolic resin with formaldehyde used in the impregnation" (Davis, 51). The body was lighter and therefore more fuel efficient than a normal metal body.  It was made in Dearborn, Michigan and was introduced to public view on August 13, 1941.  It was made, in part, as a hedge against the rationing of steel during World War II. It was designed to run on hemp fuel.
caption: Plastic car frame patent 2,269,452 (January 13, 1942)[1]
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