Ford Nucleon
Ford designed the Nucleon concept car in 1957. It was designed to be a nuclear-powered car of the future. It was one of a few similar designs that came out during the 50s and 60s. As such, there was a small nuclear reactor planned for the vehicle instead of the typical internal-combustion engine. Ford engineers assumed that this would be a possibility one day by reducing sizes. The car would use a steam engine that ran on uranium fission in a way similar to nuclear submarines. This concept only ever appeared in the form of a scale model. You can see the mockup of the vehicle if you visit the Henry Ford Museum located in Dearborn, MI.
As a concept, it was thought the vehicle could get 5,000 miles before a swap would need to be made for a new reactor. Because of the replacement, Ford believed there would be multiple choices for the owner to choose from such as a high-performance model and a fuel-efficient model. The Nucleon was the inspiration for the Fallout game cars that are nuclear. You will see these on billboards boasting an ‘Atomic V8’engine. It’s a bit of satire as the cars explode into giant mushroom clouds during the game.
