Under the hood sat Chrysler's latest fourth-generation gas turbine, designated A-831. Other amenities included power steering, brakes, and windows, plus modified TorqueFlite automatic transmission, radio, air conditioning, and appropriate instruments like tachometer and turbine-inlet temperature gauge. Interiors were also done in bronze, and offered seating for four on individual vinyl-covered seats, plus a full-length cylindrically shaped center console. Test driver George Stecher with one of the famous bronze 1963 Turbine Cars and the turbine engines Chrysler had developed to that point. All the "consumer cars" wore a black vinyl roof covering to contrast with the "Turbine bronze" paint. Headlamp bezels and wheel-cover centers had a similar rotary-blade motif. The front was simple, if unfortunately blunt, but the back was wild, with deep "boomerang" cavities holding large, angled taillights astride backup lamps in big "turbine-styled" housings. At 110 inches, Turbine Car wheelbase was three inches trimmer than the T-Bird's, and styling was unique at each end. Of course, there were many differences even apart from the powerplant. In fact, the resemblance was so strong that some referred to the Turbine Car as the "Engelbird." It was designed expressly for the consumer program by Elwood Engel, who had replaced Virgil Exner as head of Chrysler Styling two years before.Įngel had come over from Ford after working on the 1961-63 Thunderbird, and his work on that car was clearly evident here. The result was the now-famous bronze hardtop, unveiled in May 1963. Buoyed by the uniformly favorable reaction to all this, Chrysler decided to build 50 turbine-powered passenger cars for consumer evaluation. The 1962 turbines were also shown at various Dodge and Chrysler-Plymouth dealers, and even went to Europe for track demonstrations at Montlhery in France and Silverstone in England. For more on concept cars and the production models they forecast, check out: Learn about the development of Chrysler's turbine engines on the next page. Turbine," developed what they termed a "regenerator." This was essentially a rotating heat exchanger that removed exhaust-gas heat to reduce internal temperature and boost fuel mileage above what it would be otherwise.Īlso studied early on were improved operating flexibility and development of materials resistant to ultra-high temperatures. To attack it, Chrysler engineers under George Huebner, Jr., soon known as Highland Park's "Mr. Nevertheless, Chrysler would solve or at least minimize all of these problems over some 25 years of development. Offsetting these pluses were four big minuses: high internal heat (upwards of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit) operating traits better suited to steady speeds, as in aircraft but typically not cars no inherent "engine braking," vital on the road and high oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions. 5), negligible oil consumption, and no need for antifreeze. Other attractions included near instant warm-up (and available engine heat in winter), dependable cold-weather starting, the ability to run on a wide variety of fuels (Chrysler claimed the turbine could gulp everything from peanut oil to Chanel No. This photo illustrates the cool-running nature of the turbine despite its high internal heat. This 1954 Plymouth was an early Chrysler turbine concept car. For owners, the turbine promised operating smoothness unknown in reciprocating engines, because it produced rotary motion to begin with. This simplicity appealed greatly to Chrysler and others because it meant fewer parts, which implied less maintenance. In many designs, including most of Chrysler's, this "power turbine" also ran a "first-stage turbine" linked to a compressor the latter, of course, squeezed the mixture for firing, which was accomplished by a spark plug-like device called an igniter. Like a jet, the turbine's basic element is a wheel ringed with blades or vanes a fuel/air mixture flows past the vanes, causing the wheel to rotate and produce power. Of the Detroit producers, only Chrysler seemed as serious about turbine-powered automobiles Ford and GM put most of their turbine emphasis on trucks. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics in 1948), but didn't begin thinking about roadgoing applications until the mid-Fifties, perhaps inspired by Rover of Britain's 1952 experimental turbine car. Rolls-Royce speeded the development of jet fighter planes, which came too late to significantly affect World War II but which proved decisive in Korea.īetween those wars, America's Big Three automakers began working on aircraft turbines (Chrysler built a turbo-prop for the U.S. The gas turbine relates to the jet engine, patented by England's Frank White in 1930.
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