It’s widely known that the Ford Nucleon was a concept car in 1958. An internal combustion engine was regarded as somewhat old technology and a small nuclear reactor would be a more suitable power source. The radioactive core could be removed when spent, and replaced with a fresh new core, supposedly it was confined to the history books of the optimistic 50’s atomic age.
However this fact was rather less well known to Prof. Rufus Gekit and his team of Ford boffins, who didn’t get the memo to shelve the project and proceeded to make a MK1 Concept vehicle. Also due to tornado damage at a Kansas company payroll office, funding continued on the Nucleon project without interruption.
Long and arduous work began on a power unit and using the assistance of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a compact thermo nuclear engine was developed. (Now to find a suitable car). The model of the day was the iconic Ford Mustang, therefore two cars were “purchased” and their V8 engines removed.
Due to the volatile nature of the prototype front high performance ejector seats were fitted, which is just as well as the Nucleons first driver “Alfie the chimp”, under remote control guidance had need of this critical feature.
If you should ever vacation in Utah and go and see the half mile crater called “Meteorite Mable”, it was in fact caused by no falling rock, but a slight technical issue with the Mk1 Ford Nucleon.
As the automobile detonated in the September of 1967, the ejector seats worked remarkably well, and apart from Alfies singed feet, the town around the area suddenly saw an increase in plate glass window sales.
Problems and snags with atomic autos.
In the mk2, the nuclear unit had begun to stabilize and Prof. Rufus Gekit took his completed working vehicle to Fords board of directors.
Indeed vice chairman “Durilo Vespa” is quoted as saying “Who’s… errmmm who’s…….what now?”.
The 1968 Ford Mustang Nucleon project was quickly shelved soon after, and Prof. Gekit took early retirement.
The 1968 Ford Mustang Nucleon (“Bettie Blue”) spent most of its time at the Los Alamos facility, when the car was bought in secret by the actor Chuck Norris; who then sold it some years later to Planky Plankton, the owner of Wisconsin’s largest hardwood and softwood plank distribution centre. After Mr. Plankton drove around in it for a couple of years, he began to notice some of his teeth were coming loose, and his hair was falling out so he quickly let it go for a reduced price to a buyer in California.
Although the whereabouts of this unique car are unknown today, a duplicate of the small and ultra powerful fission engine resides in the Museum of Science Boston, where it is fired up every 4th July for the kids.
The Nucleon was a collaborative effort :-
Ford Nucleon - Fore-runner of the 1968 Ford Mustang Nucleon