58 ford concept car ..............kinda neat

will · #1 08-29-2007, 05:11 PM

Ford Nucleon

The Ford Nucleon concept car
[img]http://www.answers.com/topic/ford-nucleon-jpg[img/]

The Ford Nucleon was a nuclear-powered concept car developed by Ford Motor Company in 1958. No operational models were built. The design did not include an internal-combustion engine, rather, a vehicle was to be powered by a small nuclear reactor in the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle featured a power capsule suspended between twin booms at the rear. The capsule, which would contain radioactive core for motive power, was designed to be easily interchangeable, according to performance needs and the distances to be traveled.
The passenger compartment of the Nucleon featured a one-piece, pillar-less windshield and compound rear window, and was topped by a cantilever roof. There were air intakes at the leading edge of the roof and at the base of its supports. An extreme cab-forward style provided more protection to the driver and passengers from the reactor in the rear. Some pictures show the car with tailfins sweeping up from the rear fenders.
The drive train would be integral to the power module, and electronictorque converters would take the place of the drive-train used at the time. It was said that cars like the Nucleon would be able to travel 8000 km (5,000 miles) or more, depending on the size of the core, without recharging. Instead, at the end of the core's life they would be taken to a charging station, which research designers envisioned as largely replacing gas stations. The car was never built and never went into production, but it remains an icon of the Atomic Age of the 1950s.
The mock-up of the car can be viewed at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

**mockingbird812** · #2 08-29-2007, 07:23 PM

That is very progressive thinking. A lot of logistics to consider, but you got to hand it to them for pushing the envelope. A tad scary when you consider stability and safety of the core

!

Dog427435 · #3 08-29-2007, 07:37 PM

Driving in that at speed, would be like riding the old amusement park ride "The Wild Mouse" with that frontal overhang!

BBIGG BLOCK 396 · #4 08-30-2007, 04:29 AM

Man what was they smoking in the late 50'S! Must have had some mind altering substances in that stuff!

**PeteLeathersac** · #5 08-30-2007, 05:12 PM

Although this Ford is earlier, the look of the truck is somewhat similar to the 60's custom Dodge A-100 truck called the Deora...it was a popular model kit back then also was one of the first Hot-Wheels released..
And Dog's right, it is a lot like the old Wild Mouse ride cars...I haven't thought of that one in years!.

~ Pete

Dog427435 · #6 08-31-2007, 07:44 AM

Built by the Alexander brothers in '64
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**PeteLeathersac** · #7 08-31-2007, 04:25 PM

That's it Dog!.
I had this one as my first Hot-Wheel and got the Custom Fleetside next...still have them also a few others incl. my old Sizzlers and Juice Machine.. I'm no Hot-Wheel guy but believe the Fleetside was the first Hot-Wheel and then the Camaro...anyone know?.

~ Pete

Dog427435 · #8 08-31-2007, 05:15 PM

Elliot Handler, co-founder of Mattel, decided to produce a line of die-cast toy cars to capture a portion of the small model car market that Lesney had with their Matchbox cars. The Mattel executives thought this was a bad idea. We all know how it turned out!
The original cars and trucks were introduced in 1968 in approximately 1:64 scale and designed to be used on associated Hot Wheels track sets.
There were sixteen castings released in 1968, eleven of them designed by Harry B. Bradley, with the first one produced being a dark blue Custom Camaro. Although Bradley was from the car industry, he had not designed the full-functioning versions of the real cars, except the Dodge Deora concept car, which had been built by the Alexander brothers. Another of his notable designs was the Custom Fleetside, which was based on his own heavily-customized '64 El Camino.
Those releases were

in no specific order)
Custom Camaro
Custom Fleetside
Custom Barracuda
Custom Corvette
Custom Cougar
Custom Eldorado
Custom Firebird
Custom T-Bird
Custom Mustang
Custom Volkswagen (designed by Ira Gilford)
Beatnik Bandit (designed by Ed Roth)
Ford J-Car
Hot Heap
Deora
Python (designed by Dean Jeffries, based on Cushenberry's "Cheetah" show car)
Silhouette

**PeteLeathersac** · #9 08-31-2007, 06:34 PM

Good info Dog...if the Camaro was first or not, I don't know but only remember the way things went for us Hot-Wheels crazy kids here in Canada?.
I'd say they're off on their Custom Fleetside info though as I'm pretty sure it was based on a '67 & up Chevy Pickup and not any 'Camino?.

~ Pete