Atomic Auto Restoration Project

Do you have a passion for cars? Do you love the significant role automobiles have played in shaping history? Take advantage of this opportunity to feed your passion and help preserve our nation’s history!

After an exhaustive search and a stroke of good fortune, the National Atomic Museum acquired two vehicles that played a meaningful role in the Atomic Age. These cars will become important components of our new Manhattan Project exhibit. Both have been decaying for decades in a New Mexico scrap yard, and require extensive restoration.

1941 Packard Clipper - "Ask The Man Who Owns One" - This was the famous slogan that stood for one of the finest automobiles produced in America. It's no wonder that this 1941 Packard Clipper, converted into a custom limousine by the Fitzjohn Coach Company, was chosen to transport Manhattan Project scientists from the railway station in Lamy, NM to Los Alamos. It also carried personnel to the Trinity base camp for testing of the first atomic bomb.

1942 Plymouth - This is the type of vehicle used for the historic drive from Los Alamos to the Trinity Site on July 13, 1945. The car carried two hemispheres of a plutonium core – the key ingredient for the first atomic bomb –to the McDonald ranch house for assembly. Three days later, the core fueled the Trinity explosion, and changed the world forever.

Their stories are too important to be forgotten – help bring these cars back to life!

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