Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser

Now for a starship that’s never going to leave Earth, but has a warm spot in my heart nonetheless.  Everyone reading this is presumably familiar with Walter M. “Matt” Jeffries’ deeply classic designs for the original starship Enterprise, the Klingon battle cruiser, and many other spaceships and gizmos for Star Trek.  You may not know of another, non-Trek-related design that Jeffries created in 1968 for model company AMT, best known for its car model kits.  AMT, already the licensed producer of Star Trek models, apparently wanted to hedge its bets by also selling a line of futuristic spacecraft that would not tie in with any actual TV show or movie.  Apparently they overestimated the staying power of the space craze, because the “Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser” was the first and last of the line.  Maybe the kids just didn’t want a product that didn’t link to an existing media franchise.

Since it’s a Matt Jeffries design, it’s not surprising that the Leif Ericson looks as if it would have fit right in on original Trek, perhaps as a spaceship for some alien species like the Andorians or the Tellarites.  Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle later adapted the design for the battleship MacArthur in their novel The Mote in God’s Eye.

Here is a page with links to all the info you could want on the Leif Ericson, including information on how to buy one for yourself -- new kits will apparently be released in July 2011.