Many remember the Chrysler Turbine Car , the bronze - colored hardtop that search like a Thunderbird and whine like a banshee . But that Cu rocket salad was just one result of a unsubtle growing program that acquire a remarkable number of fifties and 1960s Chrysler Turbine concept cars .
The computer program seemed to promise that turbine major power would presently be in your private road – as indeed it was for the couple hundred people who drove the 50 Turbine Cars built in a three - year consumer test programme . But though Chrysler came closer than anyone to perfect a practical turbine automobile , upshot rendered the futurist powerplant just so much hot air , and its promise go unkept .
The gas pedal turbine relates to thejet railway locomotive , patented by England ’s Frank White in 1930 . Rolls - Royce speed the development of jet combatant planing machine , which came too former to importantly affect World War II but which proved decisive in Korea .
Between those wars , America ’s Big Three car manufacturer began working on aircraft turbines ( Chrysler work up a turbo - airscrew for theU.S. NavyBureau of Aeronautics in 1948 ) , but did n’t begin thinking about roadgoing coating until the mid - Fifties , perhaps inspired by Rover of Britain ’s 1952 experimental turbine automobile . Of the Detroit producers , only Chrysler seemed as serious about turbine - power automobiles ; Ford and GM put most of their turbine accent on trucks .
Like a jet , the turbine ’s basic element is a cycle ring with blades or vanes ; a fuel / air mixture flows past the vanes , causing the wheel to rotate and farm power . In many design , admit most of Chrysler ’s , this " power turbine " also run a " first - point turbine " linked to a compressor ; the latter , of course , squeezed the mixture for inflammation , which was accomplished by a spark male plug - similar twist call an lighter .
This simple mindedness appeal greatly to Chrysler and others because it meant fewer parts , which implied less criminal maintenance . For owners , the turbine promised operating smoothness unknown in reciprocate engines , because it produced orbitual movement to begin with .
Other attracter included near insistent warm - up ( and available locomotive engine warmth in winter ) , dependable insensate - atmospheric condition start , the ability to run on a wide motley of fuel ( Chrysler claim the turbine could gulp everything from peanut vine oil to Chanel No . 5 ) , negligible oil consumption , and no need for antifreeze .
Offsetting these pluses were four big minuses : high internal heat ( upwards of 2,000 degree Fahrenheit ) ; operating traits better suited to steady speeds , as in aircraft but typically not car ; no inherent " engine braking , " vital on the route ; and high-pitched oxides of atomic number 7 ( Night ) emissions . Nevertheless , Chrysler would resolve or at least denigrate all of these problems over some 25 year of development .
High heat energy was the gravid trouble . To attack it , Chrysler railroad engineer under George Huebner , Jr. , before long be intimate as Highland Park ’s " Mr. Turbine , " develop what they term a " regenerator . " This was fundamentally a rotating heat exchanger that removed exhaust - gas estrus to deoxidize internal temperature and supercharge fuel milage above what it would be otherwise .
Also studied early on were improved operating tractability and development of materials repellent to radical - gamey temperatures .
Learn about the development of Chrysler ’s turbine engines on the next varlet .
For more on concept cars and the production models they forecast, check out:
CR Gas Turbine Engines
By 1954 , the first of Chrysler ’s CR gas turbine engines designed for automobile was ready . Dubbed " CR1 " and rated at a modest 100horsepower , it was instal in a stock - looking 1954 Plymouth Belvedere hardtop that run successfully at the initiative of Chrysler ’s Modern Chelsea , Michigan , demonstrate grounds . A similar engine get into a 1955 Belvedere four - door .
melioration followed dense and fast . A modified CR1 with more alien metallurgy powered a 1956 Belvedere " Turbine Special " sedan on a cross - country run that year . It perform well except for returning only 13 miles per gallon , unreasonable even for those times .
Next came a more effective CR2 with about 200 H.P. , help by cheaper but stout alloys that good withstood heat and oxidisation .
This powered a second 1956 Plymouth sedan as well as a 1957 - 58 version before make its public debut in a 1959 Fury - based Turbine Special hardtop sedan . That auto grow in a more creditable 18 mpg on a 1,200 - mile demonstration run from Detroit to Princeton , New Jersey .
The third - generation CR2A was quick by 1960 . Its two big betterment were a pivoting fuel nozzle chemical mechanism and first - stage turbine vanes that could take over one of three angles bet on gas emplacement .
Together , these provide a measure of engine braking ( the want of which was a serious drawback of turbine engines ) , plus stronger quickening ; they also greatly reduced the irritating " accelerator lag " that had plagued early versions . Where the CR1 need a full seven seconds to go from idle to full superpower output , the CR2A took only 1.5 - 2.0 seconds .
CR2As were initially installed in three different 1960 vehicles : a good - gunstock Plymouth Fury hardtop , a 2.5 - ton Dodge hand truck , and the astonishingly befinned TurboFlite , which was n’t register until 1961 .
The last was designed by Maury Baldwin , who later on term it the final " Virgil Exner " show elevator car : " We incorporated a lot of interesting things in it . Entrance - wise , the whole cockpit above the beltline lifted to take passenger . Mounted between the quint was a deceleration flap , such as used on racing cars . The headlights were retractable . The car was work up by Ghia ; we did a3/8 - scale model and then full - size drawings . It was in all probability one of the considerably organise show car we ever did . "
To find out how these models led to the Turbine Car , keep reading on the next Sir Frederick Handley Page .
Chrysler Turbine Car
The Chrysler Turbine Car of the 1960s had been in exploitation since the 1950s , when Chrysler went through three versions of turbine engines .
The third such engine , the CR2A , was fit to a quartet of 1962 - model hardtop coupes – two Dodge Darts and a duet of Plymouth Furys – that preceded the Turbine Car . One of the Turbo Darts , as they were called , traveled from New York to Los Angeles on a durability run marking good fuel economic system than the piston - powered " control " car traveling with it and taking less metre than the 1956 Turbine Special .
The 1962 turbines were also indicate at various Dodge and Chrysler - Plymouth dealers , and even locomote to Europe for path demonstration at Montlhery in France and Silverstone in England . buoy by the uniformly favorable reaction to all this , Chrysler decided to build 50 turbine - powered passenger cars for consumer evaluation .
The outcome was the now - illustrious bronze hardtop , unveil in May 1963 . It was designed expressly for the consumer program by Elwood Engel , who had supplant Virgil Exner as head of Chrysler Styling two years before .
Engel had come over from Ford after working on the 1961 - 63 Thunderbird , and his workplace on that gondola was clearly plain here . In fact , the resemblance was so strong that some referred to the Turbine Car as the " Engelbird . "
Of course , there were many differences even apart from the powerplant . At 110 in , Turbine Car wheelbase was three inches trimmer than the T - Bird ’s , and styling was unique at each end . The front was simple , if unfortunately blunt , but the back was raging , with deep " boomerang " cavities hold large , slant taillights astride backup lamps in full-grown " turbine - styled " trapping .
Headlamp bezels and wheel - covering fire centre had a similar synchronous converter - blade motive . All the " consumer motorcar " don a black vinyl cap cover to counterpoint with the " Turbine bronze " paint .
interior were also done in bronze , and offered seating room for four on individual vinyl - covered bottom , plus a full - distance cylindrically influence nitty-gritty console . Other conveniences included world power steering , brakes , and windows , plus modified TorqueFliteautomatic transmittal , radio , air conditioning , and appropriate instruments like tachometer and turbine - inlet temperature bore .
Under the toughie sat Chrysler ’s latest fourth - coevals accelerator turbine , doom A-831 . Its primary founding were constantly varying first - stage turbine vanes , again insure by gas position , and twin regenerators revolve in erect planes , one on each side of a cardinal burner .
pocket-size and lighter than the CR2A , the A-831 was also quieter and more responsive , with throttle lag cut to 1.0 - 1.5 seconds . maximal - output engine fastness after gear step-down was 4680 rpm , versus the CR2A ’s 5360.Horsepowerwas down 10 , to 130 , but torsion croak from 375 to a mighty 425 pounds - feet .
In other regard , the Turbine Car was utterly established , though its TorqueFlite automatic had notorque converter(it was n’t needed ) , and there was " Unibody " construction per Chrysler practice .
Because of the small phone number regard , the 50 " production " Turbine Cars plus the five prototypes ( three of which differed in roof / pigment scheme ) were contracted to Ghia in Italy , which could build them for less money than Chrysler .
Go to the next page for more on how the Chrysler Turbine cars performed .
Turbine Car Evaluation Program
Chrysler ’s headquarters in Highland Park was swamped with more than 30,000 inquiries about its after announcing its Turbine Car evaluation program , which called for each " consumer representative " to use a Turbine Car for about three months .
Ultimately , the field test include resident of all 48 continental states ranging in age from 21 to 70 . A aggregate of 203 citizenry force back 50 Turbine Cars between 1963 and early 1966 .
The results were in by the following year , when Chrysler issued a report stating that footling or no maintenance had been required compared with like piston - engine cars .
However , the firm never discover mileage number , which were evidently sticky . One out of four drivers complained about accelerator pedal swilling ( they must have been out of peanut oil ) , and one out of three groused about throttle stave . But there was also plenty of extolment , especially about the vibration - free operation and snazzy styling .
Though Chrysler never release one to a journalist , writer John Lawlor make out to drive a Turbine Car toward the end of the consumer test . He , too , was impressed by its smoothness , but annoyed at the relative want of engine braking – and at the throttle lag , which he report as the claimed 1.0 - 1.5 seconds .
His mileage also disappoint – just 11.5 mpg – though he commonly ran on cheap kerosene . Lawlor did laud speedup , which at under 10 moment to 60 mph was sparkle , especially for a 4,100 - pound gondola . So much for rumors that turbines could n’t be quick .
Yet even as the Turbine Cars were being passed around , Chrysler was incite ahead , testing a fifth - coevals engine ( A-875 ) in a 1964 Plymouth . But that would show short - lived , for a 6th - contemporaries intent was ready by 1966 .
Fitted to a Dodge Charger fastback and Coronet 500 hardtop , this volunteer improved engine braking , plus a fresh snag accoutrement drive by which ancillaries like the power steering pump were driven directly from the top executive turbine ; the compressor turbine retain running the fuel pump and other railway locomotive - related systems .
Chrysler had really planned to construct 500 turbine - power Coronets for retail cut-rate sale , but nixed the idea because of imminent fresh government emissions standards . Still , that one 1966 hardtop hung around Chrysler Engineering until 1972 , when the turbine narrative took a somewhat surprising go .
To chance out what happened next , extend to the next Thomas Nelson Page .
Government Oversight of the Turbine Car
NOx emanation remained a thorny problem for Chrysler ’s Turbine Car programme , especially as politics oversight of the Turbine Car begin in the 1970s . astonishingly , though , in 1972 the fresh created Environmental Protection Agency was persuaded – partly by a cut-rate sale pitch from project engineer George Huebner – to give Chrysler $ 6.4 million to proceed turbine development .
Besides NOx control , specific objectives of the grant were to increase fuel consumption rate , lower fabrication costs , and supply at least like performance and reliableness proportional to " formal piston - powered compact - size American cars " [ stress added ] .
After tests with a trio of 1973 mid - size of it Dodge / Plymouth sedans , Chrysler reveal a seventh - generation turbine . Though it reverted to a undivided regenerator , it boasted more precise electronic fuel ascendancy .
Initially installed in a pair of 1976 Dodge Aspens , this engine also powered a one - off T - roof coupe , basically a 1977 Chrysler LeBaron with knife - border front fender , hidden headlight , and slim vertical grillwork . Horsepower was only 104 versus the sixth - contemporaries ’s 150 , but this newest turbine run somewhat hotter , so 125 horsepower was usable via water shot at the compressor recess and reposition inlet guide blade .
Next , Chrysler land a similar contract ( along with GM and Ford ) from the Energy Research and Development Administration ( ERDA ) , which was by and by combined with several other agencies into today ’s Department of Energy ( DOE ) .
Still seeking turbine perfection , engine driver presently near banish throttle lag , make for hydrocarbon and carbon - monoxide emission within prevailing statutory limit , and attained fuel economy that approached that of corresponding piston engines . Per declaration terms , Chrysler stationed its two turbine - power Aspens in Washington , D.C. , where they run cleanly .
But by then it was 1979 , and low NOx level still seemed insufferable . sorry , Chrysler was racing toward bankruptcy , and a deep newfangled corner was triggering Union program cuts all over .
With that , the DOE withdrew funding in other 1981 , and Chrysler soon desert turbine enquiry entirely after more than a quarter - century and more than $ 100 million of its own money , plus $ 19 million from taxpayer . In an eery reverberation of the way it all began , the very last turbine cable car work up was a near - stock - looking 1980 Dodge Mirada .
It ’s inauspicious things finish when they did . According to one project functionary , leave stillborn was an eighth - generation turbine designed , ironically enough , for Chrysler ’s all - important new front - drive K - motorcar powder compact and their next derivative instrument . With a single turbine gibe ( versus two ) , electronic fuel deliverance , and a projected 85 horsepower , it would have been the simplest turbine yet , and probably the gaudy to build in quantity .
There were also hopes that a new variable - geometry burner would be the long - sought answer to NOx . But time and money had feed out , so this engine went no further than design and a foam mockup .
luckily , Chrysler show a sense of history about the Ghia - built Turbine Cars , coughing up enough cash to salvage 10 from the blowtorch . The rest were abridge up under the insomniac heart of U.S. Customs . They had to be . Import duty on these " extraneous " cars had been waived only for purposes of the testing program ; once that ended , Chrysler had the choice of either returning them to Italy or paying considerable sums to keep them on American soil .
Of the 10 that were saved , nine have been accounted for . Chrysler still has three ; the continue six have gone to various museum .
Turbine top executive now has as much relevance to our self-propelled future as rumble seats and fin , especially with the modern - day emphasis on hybrid powertrains and alternative fuel . At least we have Chrysler ’s turbine tale and a few of its artifacts to remember a future that almost was , but in the end never could be .
