The Turbine Cars

[Deereman]

Saw one at the New York Worlds Fair in 1964 . The car sat in one place idling, but never ran hot. Quiet barely could hear it run. Good memories for a 14 year old at that time. Deereman

 

[vitamin c]

The red barn museum in hickory corners Michigan has one on display

 

[Photon440]

This is the last prototype turbine car that Chrysler built. It was in 1977.


The very next year, Chrysler's turbine vehicles went into production, but not cars. They started making the M-1 Abrams tank with turbine power. All that research was paying off.

 

[69a100]

This is the last prototype turbine car that Chrysler built. It was in 1977.
View attachment 245937

The very next year, Chrysler's turbine vehicles went into production, but not cars. They started making the M-1 Abrams tank with turbine power. All that research was paying off.

Quite honestly, much earlier then that!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_A57_multibank

More on the Chrysler war machine! http://www.allpar.com/history/military/arsenal-of-democracy.html

 

[Photon440]

69a100, I don't think there were too many turbines in that A57 multibank engine! I know Chrysler's defense department built all manner of military equipment way before 1978, that's just when the Abrams got going.

 

[khryslerkid]

Well maybe not as loud as open headers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GZKpvTiq20

This is the one I'd like to have. Wonder if it's still around?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g3QvkpMqc0

 

[Photon440]

The last thing to base the sound of a car on is some home movie with automatic level controls on the volume input.

 

[Bb70charger500]

I'd like to see one, I have a book about them there very cool but I've never seen one . Maybe a trip to see the one in the museum .

 

[Richard Cranium]

"It sounds like a vacuum cleaner". :laughing6::laughing6::laughing6::laughing6:

 

[MiradaMegaCab]

This stock looking 1980 Dodge Mirada was the last turbine car Chrysler produced.

 

[Cranky]

Saw one in Pasadena Tx in 63. Was going someplace with my dad and one drove by us and I said that's a Chrysler turbine car. Dad said it was a T-bird so I bet him 10 bucks it wasn't and the chase was on. I won the bet! 10 bucks wasn't exactly chump change in 63 either and he looked at me with that you weren't serious look but I kept my hand out and he coughed it up lol. I remember it being pretty quiet too.

 

[mmissile]

They were quiet. Growing up in Detroit, you'd see them being driven back in the day. My grandfather was sort of a big wheel at one of the Chrysler facilities, and was offered one for a weekend. He wasn't interested. He said he didn't want to drive a T-bird...he was a 300 man.

 

[super-bee_ski]

Yup,
the 1963 in Budnicks "post" is identical to the one I saw in Cranston Rhode Island early in the 1963 year.
It was a wonderful sight for a 9 year old kid!
I remember when they started it up and hearing the turbine "whine".

 

[Lets Roll]

I remember seeing that "Lively Set" movie and that got me interested in these. Too bad they didn't make a few thousand of these cars.

 

[Photon440]

Hey, I remember that movie too. They painted the car white for that show. I recall they undercranked the cameras so the cars looked like they were moving extra fast in the movie.

While we all wish they'd put these cars into production, the simple fact is that they couldn't physically do it. They thought of a $20,000 Imperial but didn't think they could sell it. But making jet turbine parts isn't as easy as a b block. At least four of the major parts of the turbine car engine were lost wax investment castings, and would have taken a long time to make compared to hammering out forged cranks.

Look at it this way - one of the most successful aviation turbines is the PT6A turbo-prop engine, and after fifty years of production they'd turned out 51,000 engines in total. Chrysler would have had to shut down and convert one of their engine plants entirely devoted to turbine production and still be able to make only a couple thousand per year, not something that would have worked out for their bottom line. Eventually they might have succeeded in mass production, but after several generations of tests and $100,000,000 dollars, they hadn't reached that stage before shutting down.

Here's the car in movie paint:

 

[1962polara]

This is pretty cool on ebay at the moment.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/322061350498