FIRST ATOMIC CAR?

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 30 November 1945, Page 5

FIRST ATOMIC CAR?

CLAIM BY SCIENTIST ALLEGED SABOTAGE POSTPONES TRIALS (Rec., 10.55 a.m.) London, Nov., 29. A large crowd, including the Minister of Fuel and Power, Mr Shinwell, newsreel vans and more than 40 motoring corropondents and scientific writers assembled at Smith Square, Westminster, this afternoon to witness the trials of what the inventor, Dr John Wilson, of Harrow, claimed to be the first atomic car. Dr Wilson, who is a doctor of science, arrived with the news that the car had I been “sabotaged.” He told Mr Shin- j well that vital parts had been deliber- j ately smashed, including copper piping and vacuum equipment. He suspected j that saboteurs were apprehensive of | the effect the new car would have on industry. He attributed the damage to persons with a sinister motive. The car was taken from outside his office in Regent Street and found damaged 500 yards away. Dr Wilson claimed that the car, which is a converted Singer 9 does 1000 miles for the cost of 8d and travels at three times the speed of an ordinary car. Power is derived from heavy water, uranium and a secret chemical which he was not prepared to disclose. Dr Wilson is aged about 70 years. After Dr Wilson announced that the car had been sabotaged, Mr Shinwell immediately called a press conference at which he said: “I do not want the public to be spoofed. If there is nothing in this invention it should be exposed and if there is something then it is our duty to examine it.’’