Ford Nucleon Scale Model, 1958
01
Artifact Overview
This 3/8-scale model was built to explore how the future of energy might affect the future of automotive design. The Ford Nucleon would have been powered by a rear-mounted, self-contained nuclear reactor. This atomic-automobile idea assumed, of course, that issues with nuclear safety and the size and weight of nuclear reactors would eventually be resolved. The Nucleon was never produced.
Artifact Details
Artifact
Scale model
Date Made
1958
Creators
Place of Creation
Location
On Loan - Atomic Museum (Las Vegas, NV)
Object ID
87.80.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.
Material
Plastic
Color
Red
Black (Color)
Dimensions
Height: 15.5 in
Width: 29 in
Length: 75 in
Weight: 45 lbs
Keywords |
|---|
02
Related Content
SetConcept Cars
- 16 Artifacts
Ford Motor Company celebrated its 50th anniversary with the X-100, a fully functional concept car billed as a "laboratory on wheels." The X-100 featured more than 50 innovative ideas. Some of them, like the heated seats and the telephone, eventually became commonplace. Others, like the variable-volume horn and the in-car electric shaver, never quite caught on with the public.
SetThe Most Popular Digital Collections Artifacts of 2019
- 50 Artifacts
On April 13, 1934, Ford Motor Company received this unusual product testimonial. In it notorious bank robber Clyde Barrow extolled the virtues of Ford V-8s as getaway cars. Handwriting analysts have questioned the letter's authenticity, but it is the sort of thing the publicity-seeking Barrow might have written.