Futuristic automobiles from the past: Ford

There were times when it was thought that, in the future, cars would be similar to airplanes. Remember the vehicles in The Jetsons, the futuristic cartoon TV series by Hanna-Barbera? Something like that... In the 1950s and 1960s, when gas was cheap, inexhaustible and pollution and greehouse effect weren't talked about, the American designers outdone themselves in the styling of their projects. From the offices of the big companies, such as Ford or General Motors came true psychedelic visions that, today, make us smile... Some were actually built.

In 1954, Ford presented this first futuristic vision of the automobile, a very bold concept car, very similar to an airplane, a missile or a torpedo with wheel, holding tons and tons of chrome. The design never came alive, but the idea was out there.

In the same year, the Atmos was designed and a prototype was actually built. The vehicle contained various gadgets associated with aeronautics, such as a panoramic cabin, ailerons in the back and two frontal sharp tips, able to scare any pedestrian!

A prototype of integral traction called Nucleon was to follow. Its name derived from the fact that it's moved on nuclear energy. The vehicle had, in its back, a small reactor with a radioactive capsule that could be removed and substituted according to the autonomy and desired performances. Even though it never came to be (for obvious reasons), it remains an icon of the nuclear era.

Still in 1954, the superb, roomy, powerful and luxurious La Galaxie was concieved. It had important innovations for the time, such as air conditioner and radar.

In the same style line, the Mystere appears, in the following year.

In 1958, the brand came up with a truly innovative car: the Volante. It is not really a car, seen as it barely has wheels. Instead, it has fans that allow it to, not only move, but hovercraft, as well as park in tight places... It never came true.

In the same year, the X-2000 is projected. Maybe back then people thought cars would look like this in the year 2000...

Later, in 1962, a six-wheel prototype, worthy of a sci-fi movie, was built: the Seattle. And if after all this you still don't see any connections with aeronautics, take a look at the Ford Maxima from 1963...

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