It's hard to believe that in the 1950s, there were actually people who believed that cars with those Star Wars Imperial battle cruiser-style open reactor power plants jutting out the back would be a good idea. But hey, what's sexier than a radioactive blue glow emanating from your tailpipes?

Let's say you could go back to the early 1950s and snag a super-futuristic prototype automobile as your 2009 daily driver. Which side of the Iron Curtain would you choose?