Ford Nucleon concept (1958)
Concept car · 1958 · Combustion
An atomic car for a nuclear future that never arrived.
The Ford Nucleon was a 1958 styling study envisioning a car powered by a small, self-contained nuclear reactor mounted at the rear between twin booms, using uranium fission to drive a steam engine like a nuclear submarine. Ford imagined swappable power capsules good for around 5,000 miles before exchange. It never went beyond a 3/8-scale non-running model, now displayed at the Henry Ford Museum.
Key facts
- Concept: Rear nuclear-reactor / steam propulsion (proposed)
- Form: 3/8-scale non-running model only
- Design: Power capsule slung between twin rear booms
- Claimed range: ~5,000 miles per reactor capsule
- Status: Model at The Henry Ford, Dearborn
Production
- Status: Concept only
- 1958 nuclear-powered car proposal that existed only as a scale model.
- Revealed at 1958, shown only as a 3/8-scale model
Source: Wikipedia