@@anusername8350 If they adapted properly, my thought was that they would have purchased Packard or Studebaker to try and rival at the very least AMC, and then Chrysler
The neat thing about the Ford Nucleon is that it's far, far more technically feasible than most people would assume. All you would actually have to do is take a gas turbine engine (like say, the engine from the Chrysler turbine car) and replace the combustor with a solid core reactor that has channels in it to heat the air. If you were worried about radioactive exhaust (from neutron activated air or eroded bits of core spitting out) you could use a heat exchanger instead and then have a liquid metal coolant loop go from the exchanger in the turbine engine to the reactor, but that's it. There's only three teeny problems with the design: 1. It's just not possible to even halfway shield passengers and bystanders from the reactor in so small a space. Apart from a currently exploding nuclear bomb there's not a single thing more radioactive than a running nuclear reactor. Turning the key in the ignition would give you a lethal dose of gammas and neutrons. Doing a drive-by on little Timmy's lemonade stand would kill him. 2. In order to get a nuclear reactor that small (say, the size of a large coffee can) you need to use very high enrichment fuel. Doesn't matter if it's impregnated graphite or if it's solid metal, there's going to be enough plutonium-239 or highly enriched uranium in one or two of these cars to build a bomb. As they say, 99% of the difficulty in making a nuke is just getting the material. If you sold these, Cletus from the trailer park would become a nuclear power. And if you try to use "reactor grade" Plutonium-239 contaminated with lots of Plutonium-240 to increase the neutron background and prevent bombs over 1 kiloton from being made, the reactor becomes even more lethally radioactive (without even starting the reactor) AND YOU CAN STILL BUILD A BOMB EQUIVALENT TO A MILLION KILOGRAMS OF TNT WITH IT. Ugh. 3. Each car will cost ten million dollars.
Designs that project futurism, optimism, hope and fantastic things to come? Well, we've left THAT extravagance behind us! Seriously, I love mid-century futurism and the Space Age.
Ed great video content. I'm almost seven decades Old. And I still remember dreaming about the day that I would be old enough to purchase my very own flying car. You made me laugh quite a bit.
Dear Ed I'm not all that much of a motor head but I love your videos. My dad was an industrial designer and worked for Ford briefly in the mid 50's. So when you talk design I know exactly what you feel. Thank you for your work.
15:05 That's just cool. THIS needs to be encouraged. Given the weird vertical "grille" element, I'm guessing the original was an "Edsel" concept. Popping the Chrysler IP in the center kicks off 2nd generation Toyota Yaris vibes. LOL.
Ah HA! I found out where your theme music came from. Good movie! The Mansons getting torn to pieces was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. Considering the movie setting, the music is indeed appropriate. Thanks again, Ed, for some my favorite UA-cam videos.
Seriously. This is some of the finest car content on UA-cam. Dude is just so damn good. He is a perfect, and low mileage 1978 Cadillac Seville in a sea of gross Honda CR-V’s
I always enjoy Ed’s videos. The Ford Futura epitomizes how ‘60s custom cars took the attention away from factory concept cars. Nuclear powered experimentation aside, dream cars gave rise to another facet of the car culture.
Ed, I have to give you credit. Your stuff is well researched, and presented. I kept expecting you to not carry the threads forward, and you surprised me every time. For someone as young and European, it just keeps getting better. Kudos.
My favorite episode yet! Thanks for the Ford Atmos segment. It was and still is my favorite concept car of that era. I made a 3D model of it years ago based on internet photos.
Very entertaining! My very first love at a very tender age was the X-100. I saw it in a movie called "It's a Woman's World" in 1954, but I believe the original design and concept dates from 1949. Pretty impressive. It was first a Continental concept, but they went a different way and it ended up badged as a Ford. If I was a billionaire, I would find me a nice early 60's T-Bird and have it morphed into this. Great trip down memory lane, sir!
Yikes, Ed!!! You pulled some freaky models out of your hat again. Some of these will cause me nightmares for sure. Still, very interesting and entertaining!
When I was 10 (in the late '60s), I checked a book out of the library that claimed to be an illustrated guide to American dream cars. I was quite dismayed that with all the cool designs I saw in that book, that almost nothing I had seen on the road was even half as exciting.
Great video. Unnamed concept car at 15:46 is the Mystere (hopefully I spelled it right). Although the color appears lavender and black in the promotional image used here, I believe when exhibited it was actually red and black.
Nice seeing the picture of the concept car at the PDC courtyard knowing my Pinto was one of the last cars to be there before it was torn down to make way for the new.
13:37 - I love all the mid-century modern machismo in this concept, complete with a spare warhead in the awning. Not subtle, and so over the top and over-staged, it’s absolutely cheesy. The improbable rocket reminds me of dummy props on desert rest stops from that era. More importantly, would you want the owner to be your neighbour, or the president of the Strata or HOA with this kind of bravado? There is a definite need for power being projected. Since this dream thankfully, never came true, bet he drove an Imperial. Today, he’d drive a Hummer. Definitely some over-compensation going on here.
I grew up in Detroit in the 50s, and my parents took me to the Ford Rotunda (and Greenfield Village) a number of times. I remember seeing the Levicar that was displayed there. The Rotunda fire was a big deal at the time, and I believe it was a geodesic-type dome roof that was made of some flammable material that caused the fire to be such a conflagration. Somebody will probably correct me, because I'm going from memory (of almost three-quarters of a century ago! Damn, I AM old), but if I remember correctly, there was a very similar fire where a similar type domed roof was on the Montreal World's Fair building in the 60s. I, for one, think the most underrated Ford car, styling-wise, was the 1957 Lincoln. It was radical.
From Wikipedia, "In 1959, a red Lincoln Futura appeared in the MGM movie, It Started With a Kiss starring Glenn Ford and Debbie Reynolds." There are several scenes featuring the Futura. Very cool!
I attended the 1953 Motorama after badgering my father to drive the 75 miles to San Francisco. Fortunately his sister lived there. I was 12. All I remember is the Buick.
fun fact: the 1955 Ford Mystere Concept is now living on in...Manitoba Canada, as a Rolling advertisement for Chicken Delight (a role it has had since it arrived here in the 1970s) it now goes by the name of "The Chickenmobile" in a nod to the 1960s Batmobile
5:43 - one black guy in a sea of white, in the centre of the frame. Knowing the conditions in the US at this time, this picture generates some interesting storylines in my imagination. I still have some of my dad’s skinny ties. I think that was a cool look.
Their late coming to concept cars is because of Henry Ford. He did not believe that people wanted fashionable cars. He believed that people only wanted functional cars. That is why he did not want to get rid of the Model T's and A's.
The story goes when Henry was presented with an innovative concept car for his birthday, he promptly took a baseball bat and destroyed it. He had to be dead and buried before Ford engineers could dare try anything new.
First look at some of those ‘design exercises’ must have produced the question: ‘Why is the butt in the front?’ A further walk around examination would have added: ‘Oh, I see. There is another butt on the back end as well.’
Stepping on toy car's must have been really hazardous in the 50s
Imagine how bad stepping on a lego toy car would feel...
*cars
For the 69th episode you should do "cars with fronts that look like the rear, and viceversa".
Too late. He's already at 130 videos.
Nice
Idea for when you do another episode of What If Cars: What if Crosley had been successful after WWII
Agree, would like to see more on Crosley.
GM buys them in the 90s and kills it after 10-15 years of making rebadged chevys (the worst ending)
@@anusername8350 If they adapted properly, my thought was that they would have purchased Packard or Studebaker to try and rival at the very least AMC, and then Chrysler
Something else that could be interesting would be if Europe followed the American excess of the 50s and America the smallness of Europe
Yes
Best use of the Wilhelm Scream ever.
The neat thing about the Ford Nucleon is that it's far, far more technically feasible than most people would assume. All you would actually have to do is take a gas turbine engine (like say, the engine from the Chrysler turbine car) and replace the combustor with a solid core reactor that has channels in it to heat the air. If you were worried about radioactive exhaust (from neutron activated air or eroded bits of core spitting out) you could use a heat exchanger instead and then have a liquid metal coolant loop go from the exchanger in the turbine engine to the reactor, but that's it. There's only three teeny problems with the design:
1. It's just not possible to even halfway shield passengers and bystanders from the reactor in so small a space. Apart from a currently exploding nuclear bomb there's not a single thing more radioactive than a running nuclear reactor. Turning the key in the ignition would give you a lethal dose of gammas and neutrons. Doing a drive-by on little Timmy's lemonade stand would kill him.
2. In order to get a nuclear reactor that small (say, the size of a large coffee can) you need to use very high enrichment fuel. Doesn't matter if it's impregnated graphite or if it's solid metal, there's going to be enough plutonium-239 or highly enriched uranium in one or two of these cars to build a bomb. As they say, 99% of the difficulty in making a nuke is just getting the material. If you sold these, Cletus from the trailer park would become a nuclear power. And if you try to use "reactor grade" Plutonium-239 contaminated with lots of Plutonium-240 to increase the neutron background and prevent bombs over 1 kiloton from being made, the reactor becomes even more lethally radioactive (without even starting the reactor) AND YOU CAN STILL BUILD A BOMB EQUIVALENT TO A MILLION KILOGRAMS OF TNT WITH IT. Ugh.
3. Each car will cost ten million dollars.
Designs that project futurism, optimism, hope and fantastic things to come? Well, we've left THAT extravagance behind us!
Seriously, I love mid-century futurism and the Space Age.
The reason it was great is that it was a time filled with optimism, anticipation & possibilities, unlike today.
Ed great video content. I'm almost seven decades Old. And I still remember dreaming about the day that I would be old enough to purchase my very own flying car. You made me laugh quite a bit.
Dear Ed
I'm not all that much of a motor head but I love your videos. My dad was an industrial designer and worked for Ford briefly in the mid 50's. So when you talk design I know exactly what you feel. Thank you for your work.
15:05 That's just cool. THIS needs to be encouraged. Given the weird vertical "grille" element, I'm guessing the original was an "Edsel" concept. Popping the Chrysler IP in the center kicks off 2nd generation Toyota Yaris vibes. LOL.
Agree, that's really cool. I want to live in the timeline where that bold style took off.
the scream effects from 4:12 are simply genius, thanks Ed
When performance exceeds ambition, the overlap is called success.
Ahh, maybe Ed's golden voice can help me get to sleep now that it's 7 am.
One of your funniest episodes, Ed. We love you!
Adam's videos sometimes put you to sleep. But not Ed's!!!
Ed, I love your videos so much! You're a world-class talent at this. Thanks for making some of the absolute best auto content on UA-cam.
Ah HA! I found out where your theme music came from. Good movie! The Mansons getting torn to pieces was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. Considering the movie setting, the music is indeed appropriate. Thanks again, Ed, for some my favorite UA-cam videos.
Geez. I remember this theme as "The History of Rock and Roll."
Glad the only bit of all these designs, that the UK got, was the rear window on the Ford Anglia 105E
first thing i thought of when i saw it
Seriously. This is some of the finest car content on UA-cam. Dude is just so damn good.
He is a perfect, and low mileage 1978 Cadillac Seville in a sea of gross Honda CR-V’s
I always enjoy Ed’s videos. The Ford Futura epitomizes how ‘60s custom cars took the attention away from factory concept cars. Nuclear powered experimentation aside, dream cars gave rise to another facet of the car culture.
Each man has his own vocation; his talent is his call. There is one direction in which all space is open to him.
8:10 it looks like uhhh well umm a batmobile
15:35 It’s, The Homer 😂
Another killer video, Ed! You always kill me.
Great job as always, Ed! I can't wait for part 3. Every time I think I've got you on some obscure fact, you mention it later in the video!
11:22 When I saw this I thought to myself that I’ve seen that somewhere before… And yes, it looks very much like the rear of the Turbine car! Wow!
Ed, I have to give you credit. Your stuff is well researched, and presented. I kept expecting you to not carry the threads forward, and you surprised me every time. For someone as young and European, it just keeps getting better. Kudos.
finally part II !!!!
These video's take a lot of time to make. He also works full time at a real job. Don't be hard on him.
My favorite episode yet! Thanks for the Ford Atmos segment. It was and still is my favorite concept car of that era. I made a 3D model of it years ago based on internet photos.
very entertaining and informative as always - thanks. now we need an American to start a series on Dutch cars.
So that's where they got the Batmobile!
Yo cuz I thought the same thing 😊
There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love; theres only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.
The XP 2000, is that where Gene Roddenberry got the idea of the engine pods on the Enterprise?
Thank you for another awesome video Ed! One for the algorithm! 🙂
15:20 To boldly go where no car has gone before...
Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.
A subtle thought that is in error may yet give rise to fruitful inquiry that can establish truths of great value.
Always entertaining!
She had some amazing news to share but nobody to share it with.
Another great show!! Love it, thanks for all your hard work!!!!
Acres of almond trees lined the interstate highway which complimented the crazy driving nuts.
I love you Ed. I never skip an Ed’s Auto Reviews video!!
Say what you will, I love these designs. I'd take them over modern designs everytime.
I became paranoid that the school of jellyfish was spying on me.
This is one of the best videos you have had. Great job Ed!! Aaaagghh!!😂😂😂😂
What a timing, I just finished the Part 1...
I'm super happy that you are doing these cars. I've always thought they were very interesting
9:24 - I like the bowling alley work environment. Wonder what casual Fridays looked like.
5:06 the bubble tops kind of made it to production, they did have the Skyliner glass top on the 55 Crown Victoria
Ed love your videos...I agree best car videos on you tube
Give whatever you are doing and whoever you are with the gift of your attention.
Excellent report and I love your smartass sense of humor.
Very entertaining! My very first love at a very tender age was the X-100. I saw it in a movie called "It's a Woman's World" in 1954, but I believe the original design and concept dates from 1949. Pretty impressive. It was first a Continental concept, but they went a different way and it ended up badged as a Ford. If I was a billionaire, I would find me a nice early 60's T-Bird and have it morphed into this. Great trip down memory lane, sir!
Truly amazing! Super video - thanks!
Yikes, Ed!!! You pulled some freaky models out of your hat again. Some of these will cause me nightmares for sure. Still, very interesting and entertaining!
Great video, Mr. EAR!
When I was 10 (in the late '60s), I checked a book out of the library that claimed to be an illustrated guide to American dream cars. I was quite dismayed that with all the cool designs I saw in that book, that almost nothing I had seen on the road was even half as exciting.
Great video. Unnamed concept car at 15:46 is the Mystere (hopefully I spelled it right). Although the color appears lavender and black in the promotional image used here, I believe when exhibited it was actually red and black.
Shakespeare was a famous 17th-century diesel mechanic.
Another great video! Thanks!!!
Wow so cool. Thanks.
13:30 Fallout Corvega IRL. 😂
I was hoping to see the Mustang 1, but other than that this was a very nice show, kudos to you sir.
That last crazy looking car looks like it was designed for the TV show
"Thunderbirds are Go".
I got that from several of the cars shown. The Nucleon, I'm sure appeared in some form, though only in the background.
@@PedroConejo1939- It only ever appeared as a 1/8th scale model.
Nice seeing the picture of the concept car at the PDC courtyard knowing my Pinto was one of the last cars to be there before it was torn down to make way for the new.
Nuclear-powered cars. It's like thousands of mini-Chernobyls happening all over the place.
As crazy as the idea for nuclear-powered aircraft.
I like how one of the prototypes was just bought by some guy and turned into first ever Batmobile.
7:20 that’s amazing and hilarious
13:37 - I love all the mid-century modern machismo in this concept, complete with a spare warhead in the awning. Not subtle, and so over the top and over-staged, it’s absolutely cheesy. The improbable rocket reminds me of dummy props on desert rest stops from that era.
More importantly, would you want the owner to be your neighbour, or the president of the Strata or HOA with this kind of bravado? There is a definite need for power being projected.
Since this dream thankfully, never came true, bet he drove an Imperial. Today, he’d drive a Hummer. Definitely some over-compensation going on here.
Fantastic video as always!
Tom got a small piece of pie.
theres a model of the nucleaon in indiana that ive been to see a few times
Kevin embraced his ability to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
That Ford v Ferrari clip citation is gold😂
I grew up in Detroit in the 50s, and my parents took me to the Ford Rotunda (and Greenfield Village) a number of times. I remember seeing the Levicar that was displayed there. The Rotunda fire was a big deal at the time, and I believe it was a geodesic-type dome roof that was made of some flammable material that caused the fire to be such a conflagration.
Somebody will probably correct me, because I'm going from memory (of almost three-quarters of a century ago! Damn, I AM old), but if I remember correctly, there was a very similar fire where a similar type domed roof was on the Montreal World's Fair building in the 60s.
I, for one, think the most underrated Ford car, styling-wise, was the 1957 Lincoln. It was radical.
From Wikipedia, "In 1959, a red Lincoln Futura appeared in the MGM movie, It Started With a Kiss starring Glenn Ford and Debbie Reynolds."
There are several scenes featuring the Futura. Very cool!
I attended the 1953 Motorama after badgering my father to drive the 75 miles to San Francisco. Fortunately his sister lived there. I was 12. All I remember is the Buick.
14:46 I love when you break character
In the end we retain from our studies only that which we practically apply.
fun fact: the 1955 Ford Mystere Concept is now living on in...Manitoba Canada, as a Rolling advertisement for Chicken Delight (a role it has had since it arrived here in the 1970s)
it now goes by the name of "The Chickenmobile" in a nod to the 1960s Batmobile
Cars are beautiful
Good evening from Canberra! 🇦🇺
And hello from Ainslie!
I had no idea crack was available in the 50s but obviously the designers at Ford had an abundance of it. 😂😂😂😂
The Futura also known as the Batmobile 😄
I really enjoy your videos.
Here he is! The most handsome car reviewer with the voice of the gods.
Consider how hard it is to change yourself and you'll understand what little chance you have in trying to change others.
5:43 - one black guy in a sea of white, in the centre of the frame. Knowing the conditions in the US at this time, this picture generates some interesting storylines in my imagination.
I still have some of my dad’s skinny ties. I think that was a cool look.
Their late coming to concept cars is because of Henry Ford. He did not believe that people wanted fashionable cars. He believed that people only wanted functional cars. That is why he did not want to get rid of the Model T's and A's.
The story goes when Henry was presented with an innovative concept car for his birthday, he promptly took a baseball bat and destroyed it. He had to be dead and buried before Ford engineers could dare try anything new.
First look at some of those ‘design exercises’ must have produced the question: ‘Why is the butt in the front?’ A further walk around examination would have added: ‘Oh, I see. There is another butt on the back end as well.’
I love the xm mercury and the Futura and the Itasca
"Holy automotive concepts, Batman!"
i would love the playlists for the background music
Excellent placement of the Wilhem Scream.
This is fine.😊
I'll call this series the caviar of E.A.R.
The "SCREAMS" were perfect!!!!!!!!!!!! hahahahaahahha
Just 3 more episodes, just 3 more.
Of course, in the UK, Ford had already done the "integrated hydraulic jacking" thing, on the V8 Pilot, which ran from 1947 to 1951.
Ed, the last car is the pro-type USS Enterprise. Look at the nacels.
The XB-2000 looks like a car from the Enterprise on Star Trek.
I was just about to comment the same thing!
In 30 years, Ed's Automotive History Series will be talking about the 1984 Buick Wildcat.