Attendees at the USB Biobased Products Stakeholders Workshop this week in Dearborn, Michigan got a chance to step back in history. Antique Ford tractor collector Dave Schafer showed off his pair of 1939 Ford 9Ns, one that was given to his father by Henry Ford himself! “My father worked for Henry Ford as a tractor demonstrator,” Schafer explains. “The day that my dad was driving that tractor, that 179, was the day I was born, and Henry Ford gave him that tractor that day.” The other tractor was built the very last day of production for the 1939 model, so Schafer has the very first and last Ford 9Ns built in 1939.

While these days, we hear a lot about using soybean-based biodiesel in farm equipment, Schafer points out that the beans were also used for other parts way back when. “The tractor I have, the very first one, that had a soybean seat made on it in 1939,” he says. “Ford was already using soybeans to make the seats, steering wheels. They also used it on all the knobs in the car,” ranging from gearshifts to window cranks. “It’s terribly strong material. It lasts forever!” And Schafer says we can keep using soybeans for all those parts and more today.

Listen to Cindy’s interview with Dave here: Antique Ford Tractor Collector Dave Schafer

Check out the photo album below and the SoyBiobased.org website as well.

2012 USB Biobased Products Stakeholders Workshop Photos