The Nucleon is an unrealised concept car designed by the Ford Motor Company in 1957.
In 1945, the publication, The Atomic Age, heralded the untapped use of atomic power in everyday objects and predicted a future where fossil fuels would become obsolete.
Scientists also anticipated that atomic power had applications that would revolutionise modern medicine, food production, transportation, and consumer products.
At the time, Glenn T. Seaborg, who chaired the Atomic Energy Commission, proposed harnessing nuclear energy for powering artificial hearts. Meanwhile, David Dietz, a science journalist, envisioned cars running on a pellet of atomic energy no larger than a vitamin pill.
The concept of an atomic future was further glorified in Las Vegas, Nevada, which had the nickname of the “Atomic City. Tourists flocked to Las Vegas to attend “Dawn Bomb Parties” throughout the 1950’s during the 100 atmospheric nuclear tests at the Nevada Test Site.
In 1957, Ford Motor Company sought to present a glimpse of an atomic-powered future and released a 3/8-scale model of the Ford Nucleon, an atomic powered car concept.