A unique American material, Fordite – also known as Motor Agate – is not in fact a colourful gemstone, but the byproduct of a now extinct manufacturing process.   Prior to the 1980's cars were spray-painted by hand, and the oversprayed paint, dripping off the panels,  gradually began to build up in layers.  Eventually these built up layers of excess paint had gotten so thick they had become an obstructive nuisance, and would need to be removed – the story goes that some savvy auto workers with an eye for beauty recognised that this remarkable material - beautifully patterned like psychedelic agate - was worth salvaging and recycling.    Due to modern painting methods taking over, the Fordite 'mines' are exhausted as the material is no longer being created, so get some whilst you still can!