The futuristic Ford Unitron was created to explore the Dearborn automaker’s possible entry into the recreational vehicle market.

The Unitron leaped into existence, reportedly, when a Ford executive suggested to vice president of styling George Walker that the Dearborn carmaker should take a look at the expanding market for recreational vehicles. Walker sent the idea to the Corporate Advanced Studio, where it was assigned to a young graduate designer named Dean Beck, whose later credits included contributions to the 1967 Mercury Cougar and the 1986 Ford Taurus.

Beck developed an entire series of renderings showing that the Unitron could serve as the platform for a recreational vehicle with multiple expanding tent options, or as a mobile executive office, a commercial van, or a cab-forward pickup. A dual-use RV/mobile office version progressed to the full-sized clay stage in late 1960, followed by a fiberglass studio glider by August of 1961. Beck envisioned the Unitron as rear-engined, though a roadworthy drivetrain was never installed.

To our eyes, Beck’s design for the Unitron is clean and original, unlike any Dearborn product before or since except for the giant pie-plate tail lamps, a signature Ford feature of the period. But to us, the vehicle’s most compelling visual feature—its low, low height, only 56 inches—render it ultimately impractical for its intended applications as a camper or a mobile office. The Unitron project never went beyond the styling studio phase, which may be just as well. Despite some worthy efforts (including the GMC Motor Home we featured here) the Detroit three have never really prospered in the retail RV business.