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Show Plastic Autos Taking Shape Quite Rapidly Plastics compose only about 2 per cent of the sleek 1942 model cars, but the percentage will rise gradually, gradu-ally, according to a Detroit designer. Eventually the all-plastic car will predominate. "By using plastics we not only save valuable materials," he said, "but we also achieve durability and beauty at the same time." The car you're driving doubtless has a plastic steering wheel, a semi-plastic semi-plastic instrument panel. The grille work on the radio you tune as you press down on the accelerator is plastic. So is the receptacle into which you tap your cigarette ashes. Approximately 40 per cent of the instrument panels of some cars now are plastic. Although plastic reduces weight by one half, the designer said, it's a mistake to assume that the material ma-terial lacks toughness. Suppose you banged a plastic fender in trying to squeeze into a tight parking space. What would happen? Walker said the plastic would bound right back into shape and you scarcely could notice the dent. If you were driving a car with a plastic body and smashed against a telephone post, it would be a different differ-ent situation entirely. For one thing, the plastic would break. But the job of replacing it wouldn't be "too difficult" dif-ficult" You'd just have it patched up with new plastic panels, and no one would be able to tell the difference. Plastics have great potentialities when it comes to color. Color can be an inherent part of plastic, and that means it won't chip or scratch. The color schemes? Dark reds, browns, tans, greens, blues and black. Pastel shades, popular with women motorists, would have to be painted over the other colors. Probably the first large-scale use of plastic in automobiles, the designer de-signer said, would be in the top. A clear plastic top "vould give the driver better vision, admit healthful ultra-violet rays and keep out harmful harm-ful infra rays. |