The car was supposed to be powered by a small nuclear reactor which was placed in the rear. The passenger compartment was situated close to the front of the car, extending beyond the front axle, to protect the passengers from the reactor.

The Ford Nucleon had a one piece windscreen with no pillar, a compound rear window and the aerodynamic styling looked very futuristic. Air intakes at the leading edge of the roof and at the base of the roof supports were meant to be part of the reactor’s cooling system.

The capsule with the radioactive core for motive power could easily be changed and it was said that the car could travel about 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometres) without recharging. That was depending on the size of the core of course. At the end of its life the core would be taken to a charging station. The reactor was similar to the ones used in nuclear submarines but of course much smaller.

A working prototype of the Ford Nucleon never was built but it is an icon of the Atomic Age and shows that designers thought everything was possible.

A mock-up of the car can be seen at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

In 1935 the company started producing FIAT cars under license. First the Fiat 500 Topolino which was sold under the name of Simca 5 in France. Untill 1950 the Simca 8 and the Simca 6 followed. Under German occupation during WW2 SIMCA amongst others had to produce parts for the NSU-Kettenkrad, a small military vehicle.

In 1954 SIMCA bought Ford’s French branch and it became the most modern car factory in Europe. With 15 percent of shares Ford became a shareholder of Simca.

The former Ford models Vedette and Comète became Simca Vedette and Simca Comète Monte Carlo. One year later the production of the Simca Comète Monte Carlo came to an end but the Simca Vedette was produced until 1961, in Brazil even until the end of the 1960s.

In 1951 the Simca Aronde was first sold followed by the Simca Ariane in 1957. In 1961 the Simca 1000 was produced and from 1963 on the 1300/1500 series. The Simca 1100 built in 1967 was the first model with front engine and front wheel drive.

In 1958 Chrysler bought the 15 percent shares held by Ford and in 1959 Simca bought the French Talbot-Lago company. In 1971 Chrysler owned almost 100 percent of the Simca shares mostly by purchasing them from FIAT. The company now was officially called Chrysler France but the brand name Simca was still used.

In 1978 Simca was sold to Peugeot S.A. which still built the models until 1986 under the brand name Talbot. The last Simca design was the Talbot Arizona which was sold as the Peugeot 309.

The Aronde, the Simca 1000 and the front engined 1100 compact car were the most popular pre-Chrysler models.

The Edsel was a brand of the Ford Motor Company but from 1957 to November 1959 only 118,287 cars were built, 2/3 of them at Louisville Assembly Plant and 7,440 in Ontario, Canada.

Of course the Edsel was different than others and it was designed to be this way. 18 different body styles were available among them a full line of station wagons. You could get the cars in 90 colour combinations, such as Alaskan Gold, Sunset Coral or Sahara Beige. The oval grill was a lot talked about as it in a way looked like a horse collar, a toilet seat or even a woman’s genitals.

Some drivers had problems with the push button transmission system which was located on the steering wheel were normally the horn was. Many drivers shifted gear instead of honking the horn. And it was prone to shift unexpectedly from “park” into “drive”, so it was wise not to walk in front of an Edsel.

But even though the car looked different and was different, it only was a car with four wheels and four doors. And this seemed to have been part of the problem. Even though it was a great car to drive it only was a kind of ordinary car that just looked a little different. It might have sold better if it had been able to fly or anything like that.

Even with a grill looking like a toilet seat. I still think it is a great car in a way and the many different colours really are marvellous.

Anyway the Edsel was a marketing failure and the Ford Motor Company spent $ 350 million to design, launch and prototype the car. Fewer than 6,000 Edsels seem to have survived but now are a highly collectible item amongst lovers of vintage cars.

The company was producing motorcycle sidecars and coachwork. In 1928 the factory moved to Coventry to meet the demands for the Austin Swallow.

In 1931 the first car was presented with a chassis manufactured by Standard, exclusively for Swallow.  This was the beginning of the SS cars.

The first models were the SS 1 and the SS 2.  In the following years they were the basis for several successors.  In 1934 William Walmsley left the company and William Lyons started to cooperate with Harry Weslake.

Harry Weslake started to improve the engines and founded a construction department under the responsibility of William Heynes. The SS 90 was introduced in 1935. It was a Roadster on the basis of the SS 1. In 1935 the name Jaguar was first use for a car. It was the SS Jaguar, a 4-door saloon with 2.5 L engine.

The smaller version was the 2-door SS Jaguar 1.5 L and the successor of the SS 1 and SS 2. During WW2 the company again produced motorcycle sidecars for military use. After WW2 and due to the unfavourable connotations of the SS initials the name was changed to Jaguar Cars Ltd. In the 1950s Jaguar produced a series of elegantly-styled sports cars and saloons.  After several changes of the ownership the Ford Motor Company acquired the company in 1989. In 2008 Jaguar was sold to Tata Motors in India.

The Ford Model Y was designed. It was first presented in 1932 on the Ford Motor Exhibition in London’s Royal Albert Hall. In August of that very year the production in started in England and in 1933 in Germany.

There the car was named Ford Köln, as Köln is the German name of the city of Cologne, where the cars were manufactured. The Ford Köln had a 4-cylinder engine, 21 hp (16 kW), with a top speed of 85 km/h (53 mph).

The cars built in Germany were more luxurious than those produced in England. A saloon and a convertible were available. But the Ford Köln wasn’t a great success due to the competition with the Opel, DKW and Adler. In 1935 it was replaced by the bigger Ford Eifel.

The Ford Eifel was produced in Germany from 1935 to 1940. It was available as 2-door saloon and 2- and 4-seat convertible, 2-sear roadster and light truck, with a 4-cylinder engine, 34 hp (25 kW), with a top speed of 105 km/h (65 mph). This car was a real success with more than 61,000 units sold. The Ford Eifel was derived from the Ford Model C platform and related to the Ford Anglia and Ford Perfect.

In September 1908 the first Ford Model T was sold in Detroit. By that time it was still handmade. The car had a front mounted engine and rear wheel drive. It became the first mass produced car on assembly lines ever, with interchangeable parts.

With 15 million units it was the most sold car, until in 1972 the Volkswagen Beetle took over. It was a middle class car and even though most of the cars were black, different colours were produced from 1908 to 1914 and from 1926 to 1927 when production ended. The Tin Lizzy not only was the first car built on assembly lines, but the first car produced world wide.

From 1911 on the Ford Model T was assembled in Canada and Manchester, England and later in Germany, Argentina, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Brazil, Mexico, and Japan. Due to the efficiencies of assembly lines the prices of the Tin Lizzy fell and even more people were able to afford one.
Specifications:

• Class – Full-size Ford, economy car
• Body styles – 2-door touring, 2-door roadster, 2-door roadster pickup, 2-door ton truck, 2-door closed cab ton truck, 2-door coupé, 2-door wagon, 4-door wagon, Center door wagon, 2-door convertible, 4-door sedan
• Engine – 177 in3 (2.9 L) 20 hp I4
• Transmissions – 2-speed planetary gear, 3-speed planetary gear
• Wheelbase – 99.0 in (2515 mm)
• Kerb weight – 1,200 pounds (540 kg)
• Fuel capacity – 10 US gallons (38 L)