>>...PFOA, a material that lined the insides of tank engines during World War II
There's potentially an interesting story here. One I've never heard of. Gasoline engines (e.g. Sherman)? Diesel (e.g. Panzer)? Aluminum bottom ends? Cast iron? There might even have been some sheet steel engines, although the only ones of those I know of were in aircraft, not armor.
That said, raw aluminum *pans* were great - they took seasoning about as well as cast iron or black steel but were more responsive to changes in the burner (albeit put to shame by copperware; I had to give a couple of those up in order to use induction). Aluminum *pots*, not so much. Heat conductivity and responsiveness doesn't matter much with a pot full of liquid. Add in reactivity to acidic foods and it's yeah...no.
Also, it's possible to make plain stainless low-stick. Heat a dry pan until sprinkled droplets of water skate around (hard to describe), *then* add oill/butter, then whatever you're cooking. Works perfectly on copper/tin crepe pans as well.