As a car enthusiast, I can think of a good one, the Ford Nucleon.
During the 1950s and 1960s, there was considerable interest in nuclear power and its potential applications. This led to the idea of using nuclear energy to propel cars. The concept behind a nuclear car was to utilize a small nuclear reactor to generate steam, which would then power the vehicle’s engine.
Of course back in those days, this was extremely futurustic and some at the time thought this would be a game changer, but ultimately, the safety aspect was one of the biggest reasons why this idea was dropped, and I probably don’t have to explain why it may not have considered to be safe, I mean, it was using nuclear power, so even if the engineers tried to make it as safe as possible, IF something went wrong, it would have been catastrophic.
Ever since then, the interests in the automotive sector has shifted to Electric and Hydrogen.
Still, a very intriguing concept car and idea.
Outside cars, you have blimps, and I personally believe if we tried to make something like a hindenburg today with existing technology, we might have been a lot more successful than back then (as it goes way back to 1930s), there are still some blimps used occasionally, I also don’t believe those use hydrogen(?), but they are not the “game changer in air travel” it was once seen as, although we can’t rule out a comeback.
What about you guys?
Personally, I don’t think the Nucleon meets the criteria for being a “flop”. It was just a concept. They didn’t even build a full-size prototype, never mind a production model. By my own definition, the car can’t really be called a flop because there weren’t ever any attempts to sell it.
Cars I do consider flops were the Pontiac Aztec, and if we want to stick to Ford, there’s always the infamous Edsel.
The Nucleon was definitely an oddity, though, and it’s an interesting piece of automotive history. Thanks!
The Aztec was such an ugly but really nifty beast.
I had, and loved, the Aztek. I don’t know why people thought it was ugly but they loved the Buick rendezvous. They’re the same damn car. :/
The coolest feature I’ve ever had on a car was the Aztek. It had a heads up display, a laser projected speedometer on the windshield. Fucking loved it.
Sadly, we bought it from a used car lot, and about a year later it started making this beeping noise constantly. Several mechanics couldn’t figure it out or turn it off. It was literally constantly, about 3 beeps per second, the entire time it was on. It was maddening. Eventually took it to a mechanic who tore the whole damn thing apart and couldn’t solve the issue, and gave us a bill so large we couldn’t pay it off, and he took the car. :(
Found out several years later that that is a thing installed in cars by dealers to drive you crazy if you haven’t paid your bill. We had no idea, and the car was fully paid off. No idea how it got turned on.
I miss that car.
That is absolute bullshit. I’m sorry you lost it that way.
Me, too, but by the time we lost it, the beeping had made go a little insane. You know all those “would you x for 24 hours for y amount of money” posts? I have a unique perspective on some of those. We made a 13-14 hour drive in it when we moved. By the time we stopped it was so bad that for the next several days we would hear the beeping when trying to sleep. I miss the hell out of that car, but the beeping was psychological torture.
Yeah. I especially liked that tent. Looks notwithstanding, it does get points for clever ideas.
Did it actually have disproportionately small wheels, or did the design just make it look that way?
The tent did look really cool. I was hoping it would start a trend, but that never happened.