The use of plastics by the automotive industry is gaining momentum, but their ultimate application as material for an all-plastic car, including the body and associated operating functions, hovers in the background. This paper examines carefully, and supports by test data and known materials properties, the practicability of this development. It points out the range of problems that must be solved before functional implementation, producibility, and economic manufacture on a mass-volume basis can be achieved. The conclusion reached is that compromises must be made and that these objectives are attainable in the present only by a happy marriage of metal and plastics, with each type of material contributing its superior qualities.
