The Ford Seattle-ite XXI was a 3/8 scale concept car designed by Alex Tremulis and displayed on 20 April 1962 on the Ford stand at the Seattle World's Fair.[1][2]
The car contained novel ideas that have since become reality: interchangeable fuel cell power units; interchangeable bodies; interactive computer navigation, mapping, and auto information systems; and four driving and steering wheels.[3] The concept of some form of compact nuclear propulsion device was included as a possible power source on the assumption that radiation issues could be overcome without the need for prohibitively bulky shielding.[4][5]
The car had six wheels, with four steerable ones at the front and two fixed ones at the rear – similar to the later fictional six-wheel 1965 FAB1 and the real Tyrrell P34 racing car of the mid-1970s. The designers determined the six-wheel concept would enhance tracking, traction, and braking. It had an interchangeable front-powered section that enabled the car to be turned into either an economical city runabout or, when needed, a powerful transcontinental cruiser. All control mechanisms were through flexible couplings. Steering was by way of a fingertip-controlled dial.[6]
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