Concept Car Designed by Ford Motor Company as a Futuristic, Nuclear-Powered Vehicle
On Friday, Nov. 10, the Atomic Museum will launch a new display featuring the 1958 Ford Nucleon scale model in celebration of Formula 1 coming to Las Vegas. On loan from The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, the 3/8-scale model of the concept car showcases how the future of nuclear energy might have affected the future of automotive design.
To be located across from the Atomic Museum’s ever-popular pop culture display, guests will soon be able to view the six-foot-long by three-foot-wide scale model produced by the Ford Motor Company up close.
Although the concept car was never manufactured, the Ford Nucleon was designed to be powered by a rear-mounted, self-contained nuclear reactor. At its unveiling, the atomic automobile idea assumed issues with nuclear safety would eventually be resolved and the size and weight of nuclear reactors would eventually be reduced.
In addition to the 3/8-scale model, the Atomic Museum will also display a brochure for the concept car titled “Nucleon, a Glimpse into an Atomic-Powered Future” from 1958. Museum visitors will be able to read about the Ford Motor Company’s vision of creating a vehicle capable of traveling 5,000 miles or more, depending on the size of the nuclear reactor core, without recharging.
“This iconic piece of automobile history represents a fusion of science, engineering and innovation, mirroring the spirit of Formula 1 racing,” said Rob McCoy, CEO, Atomic Museum. “We invite visitors to join us on this incredible journey through time and technology as we bring together the worlds of atomic energy and high-speed racing.”
The Ford Nucleon 3/8-scale model and brochure will be on display from Friday, Nov. 10 through mid-January 2024.
Regular museum hours are daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.
ABOUT THE HENRY FORD Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation showcases the American ideas and innovations, technological and social, that have fired our imaginations and changed our lives.
Here, visitors explore the first 40 years of flight, browse through the world’s premier automotive collection, walk past an array of presidential limousines including the one in which John F. Kennedy was assassinated and see an unparalleled collection of artifacts representing powerful change such as the bus on which Rosa Parks took a stand for Civil Rights, the camp bed George Washington used during his tour of Revolutionary War sites and the chair in which Abraham Lincoln was sitting the night he was shot.
ABOUT THE ATOMIC MUSEUM The Atomic Museum is operated and maintained by its parent company, the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation (NTSHF), an IRS 501(c)3 charitable, non-profit organization chartered in Nevada.
The Atomic Museum is one of 37 museums designated as an Affiliate Partner of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a repository for one of the most comprehensive collections of nuclear history in the world.
Covering nuclear history beginning with the first test at the Nevada Test Site on January 27, 1951, the Atomic Museum’s exhibitions and programming also address current affairs related to the nuclear industry.
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