Looking back to the 1950s can be amusing (and frightening), as we now can view this era with the benefit of a historical perspective. Forget the spacecraft-inspired age-of-innocence styling, can you imagine if this 1957 atomic-powered Ford Nucleon, or any nuclear-powered vehicle, ever made production, knowing what we know today in this age of terrorism?It's sort of ironic and fitting that this blog entry is going up on the 5th anniversary of 9/11...
Snippet: The Nucleon's silent, sleek, and efficient design was poised to secure its place in the American lifestyle of the future. It seemed inevitable that the internal combustion engine would fade into obscurity, becoming a quaint relic of a pre-atomic past...
But the Nucleon's design hinged on the
assumption that smaller nuclear reactors would soon be developed, as well
as lighter shielding materials. When those innovations failed to appear,
the project was scrapped due to conspicuous impracticality; the bulky apparatus and heavy lead shielding didn't allow for a safe and efficient car-sized package. Moreover, as the general public became increasingly aware of the dangers of atomic energy and the problem of nuclear waste, the thought of radioactive atomobiles zipping around town lost much of its appeal. Atoms had broken their promise; the honeymoon was over.
ateixeira says:
08:26 AM, 09/11/06
World's longest front overhang, too. Wild.
They could call it the Chernobyl. ;)