Ford Nucleon

About Ford Nucleon

The Ford Nucleon is a concept car developed by Ford in 1957, designed as a future nuclear-powered car—one of a handful of such designs during the 1950s and 1960s. The concept was only demonstrated as a scale model. The design did not include an internal combustion engine; rather, the vehicle was to be powered by a small nuclear reactor at its rear, based on the assumption that nuclear reactors would eventually become small enough to make this possible. The car was to use a steam engine powered by uranium fission, similar to those found in nuclear submarines. The Nucleon was not a serious design, but rather a vision of the future when such a small reactor with small and light radiation shielding might become possible. It was described in June 1957 as "an advanced notion of the automotive future" and as a "futuristic fancy". Ford stated: "The Nucleon was styled on the assumption that the present bulkiness and weight of nuclear reactors and attendant shielding will some day be reduced.