BOMB SHELTER

Scott Birdsall's ‘53 Ford Nuke Van Is an Overland Rig for the Nuclear Age

SEAN P. HOLMAN

In 1953, the State of California commissioned three Ford step vans with custom aluminum bodies from the Aluminum Body Corp. of Vernon, California, for the Office of Civil Defense Radiological Services Department. These vans were used for a variety of tasks, including assessing the damage from nuclear fallout after a nuclear attack. Of of these three vans, only one is known to exist today (although there was an Internet listing for what appeared to be another of the three back in 2016), and it ended up in the hands of racer Scott Birdsall, owner of Chuckles Garage in Santa Rosa, California. Originally purchased from government surplus sometime in the ‘60s, the van was turned into a mobile recording studio by its first civilian owner. It eventually ended up derelict until…

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OVR: Outdoor, Vehicle, Recreation (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 003

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