Let's Unwind with Some Turbine Car Photos

"SteveLehto" (stevelehto)
09/07/2014 at 10:10 • Filed to: None

I wrote !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and, as a result, have a hard drive chock full 'o Turbine Car photos. I know that when we are not debating !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! of the day we sometimes like to just stop and look at the pretty pictures. Am I right? Or Am I right? So, without a whole lot of words and stuff, here are some Turbine Car pics with minimal narration to get in the way.

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There are nine of these Turbine Cars extant. Jay Leno owns this one.

I always liked the tail. This is also of Jay's, basking in the Burbank sunlight.

One is owned by the Detroit Historical Museum. It is no longer being kept like this but for a while, it was stored in a bubble.

And here it is naked.

This same car can be seen today at the Gilmore museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan.

Where some knucklehead has managed to ding the paint on the deck lid (it was not chipped when I saw it at the DHM).

Chrysler owns two (they used to have three but they sold one to Jay). Theirs have been variously displayed, including up on a pedestal.

As you may have guessed, the survivors all kind of look alike. How do you tell them apart? Obviously, if you can spot the VIN tag:

These were old school VINs - only six digits and the last two were the only ones that changed here. This is the DHM car: #25.

The last two of the VIN are also stamped on a brace in the engine compartment.

The one other privately owned car made an appearance at the Glenmoor Gathering a few years ago. It did not run at that event but it did coast down to the display field which gives a great almost-driving effect.

Once down to the field, it looked great.

And we can't forget the Petersen in LA.

The !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! has one, as does the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Likewise, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Add 'em up (remember Chrysler has two) and that should be nine survivors. I have a ton of pics so if there is a wacky angle you'd like to see and you think others would likewise be intrigued, let me know and I will try posting them below. If you have any of them word-questions about the cars, fire away. We can clutter up the comments with those and not disturb the pretty pictures above.

[Quickly, let's get the basics out of the way: Of 55, nine survive. The museum cars were disabled when donated by Chrysler but St Louis got theirs running. The two privately owned cars run. The cars ran on any flammable liquid but diesel fuel is preferred. No, the exhaust will not melt asphalt. The 46 were not doomed by a Big Three conspiracy.]

Follow me on twitter: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

All photos courtesy of the author. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , including other cars from Chrysler's Turbine Car program (which started in the '50s and ran until the '80s).

Steve Lehto is a writer and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and has been practicing consumer protection and lemon law for 23 years in Michigan. He wrote !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

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DISCUSSION (100)

Brian Silvestro > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 10:17

Turbine cars are like the coolest things ever. They must drive like nothing else.

Sam > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 10:18

I have a non-Turbine car question.

When is that Daytona/Superbird book due to be released?

SteveLehto > Brian Silvestro
09/07/2014 at 10:19

And, I got to drive the one in the top two pics (Jay's). A REALLY COOL experience.

SteveLehto > Sam
09/07/2014 at 10:20

Still writing it! Next year sometime. Not 100% on the pub date. But if you follow me on Twitter you will not miss anything! @stevelehto

Brian Silvestro > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 10:20

Wow, that's amazing.

TheRallyStache > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 10:32

This will always be my favorite car from the 60's.

SteveLehto > TheRallyStache
09/07/2014 at 10:36

Close call. For me it's a tie - this or the 1969 Charger Daytona. (Although if you are talking investment, a running Turbine Car is worth a bit more).

TheRallyStache > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 10:46

I do love the Charger, but I like the grille on the '70 slightly more than the '69. I never really got into the Daytona. I think it's cool and all, it just didn't do a whole lot for me.

Saf1 > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 10:51

Let's unwhine with...

K I'M SORRY

STREPITUS > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 10:52

Yamahog and I saw the one at the Chrysler museum during this years CEMA show. That thing is and incredible work of art.

Kinja'd!!!

What do you think the chances of finding the remains of one in buried in some forgotten corner of some Detroit area scrap yard are?

Racescort666 > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 11:03

Steve,

First off, awesome. Second, can I refer to you as the Turbine Car Expert from now on? Third (and after) I have a few technical questions.

Were the turbine engines a derivative of an existing turbine engine? Pratt & Whitney, Honeywell, Rolls-Royce, etc.?

What sort of gearbox did they have? As far as I know, every turboprop/turboshaft engine has a gearbox of some sort to reduce the shaft speed to a usable rpm. Did these have just 1 gear or multiple?

What did they do about air inlet filtration? Anything? Most turbine engines don't use filtration since they usually operate in fairly clean environments. There are a few military engines that have vortex filters and screens but that's all I can think of.

From the pictures, the exhaust goes right out the back with a stylized diffuser. Pretty cool. I'm assuming that this was to decrease the exhaust temperature?

Thanks again!

SteveLehto > TheRallyStache
09/07/2014 at 11:05

Sacrilege! The 1969 was the classic! (Okay, I just say that because I had one in high school).

SteveLehto > Saf1
09/07/2014 at 11:05

If you hear them run, you'd know you are right on the money.

Thanks for the note.

SteveLehto > STREPITUS
09/07/2014 at 11:06

That is the same one I showed on the pedestal. The odds of finding one are zero. There is film on youtube of them being crushed and burned. When those guys destroy a car, they DESTROY a car.

pdx107 > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 11:06

My grandfather has a model of that somewhere, he got it when he worked for Chrysler

SteveLehto > Racescort666
09/07/2014 at 11:12

Thanks.

Yes.

These were entirely of Chrysler's own design, descended from a turbine which was put on the road in 1953. That wast the "first generation." They evolved. The one in this Turbine Car was the 4th Gen. They had a 10-1 reduction gear that fed into a modified torqueflite with no torque convertor.

The air cleaners were huge and yes, they had filters. They were very concerned about foreign matter ingestion. Yes, the exhaust system was huge - it passed a lot of exhaust - and cooled it quite well. Let me dig up a pic of the air cleaner assembly. (The big box between the grill and the engine. The man is George Huebner, father of the program).

Kinja'd!!!

SteveLehto > pdx107
09/07/2014 at 11:13

Chrysler handed them out at car dealers during the program. I've got one too. You can find them now on Ebay. They made a lot of them so they go for $20 - 50, depending on condition, the box, etc.

Saf1 > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 11:16

Thanks for your posts, legal and others!

STREPITUS > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 11:16

Thats really sad. You occasionally hear of people finding bodies of long forgotten supposedly destroyed concepts in junk yards, so I was hoping some bits would still be somewhere. http://bortzautocollection.com/news/biscayn_s…

SteveLehto > Saf1
09/07/2014 at 11:17

You're welcome. And if you do the twitter thing, follow me and you'll never miss a post! @stevelehto

pdx107 > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 11:18

Good to know, his has been sitting in his basement since as long as I can remember

SteveLehto > pdx107
09/07/2014 at 11:22

Check out the box if it's still there. It's got some pretty cool info on it.

Kinja'd!!!

This is the front of the box. The back has technical specs etc.

SteveLehto > STREPITUS
09/07/2014 at 11:30

That is a great story. I had heard of it but not seen that article. I interviewed some guys who were at the scrapyard in Romulus MI when the Turbines were destroyed. He told me that several grown men were crying. Makes me tear up thinking about it.

pdx107 > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 11:32

Yup, I remember that box well

SteveLehto > pdx107
09/07/2014 at 11:34

It's also available as a Hot Wheel. I've got one on my desk right now.

XJDano > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 13:24

Well off to the transportation museum! I have wanted to see one in person. That's about ½ hour away. Now have to find time. I'll have to do a write up & photo dump here.

amanda_yurf > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 13:24

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SteveLehto > XJDano
09/07/2014 at 13:25

See if you can time it with a show. They routinely take it out and fire it up. I drove down there a few years back and they had a minor problem the night before. Hence, why I have no photos of that one that I took.

honi > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 13:28

Start working at home with Google! It's by-far the best job I've had. Last Wednesday I got a brand new BMW since getting a check for $6474 this - 4 weeks past. I began this 8-months ago and immediately was bringing home at least $77 per hour. I work through this link, go to tech tab for work detail

www.jobs7000.com

Krash-Kadillak > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 13:41

Great photos, Steve!. I would have seen one at an L.A. Auto Show when they came out, and the one at the Peterson. I was particularly impressed with the interior, par for the course from early 60's Chrysler Corp. vehicles.

Wondering what a full line of Chrysler turbine vehicles would have looked like.......

Krash-Kadillak > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 13:41

Wondering what a full line of Chrysler turbine vehicles would have looked like.......

Krash-Kadillak > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 13:41

Wondering what a full line of Chrysler turbine vehicles would have looked like.......

SteveLehto > Krash-Kadillak
09/07/2014 at 13:42

Thanks. The interiors WERE cool too. They really did a great job of coming up with a platform for the turbine (they made a whole bunch of other cars where just dropped in the turbine - and you would never know it was a turbine until you heard it run).

Maxxuman > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 13:44

I assume you'll include this bit of trivia, which appears on Wikipedia: Ironically, in 1969 a Dodge Charger Daytona won at Talladega, and a Ford Torino Talladega won at Daytona.

SteveLehto > Maxxuman
09/07/2014 at 13:47

I'm sure I can work it in. As you might guess, the car companies thought they could get brownie points from Bill France when they named their cars after his tracks (hoping that would keep him from noticing how un-stock they often were).

desertdog5051 > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 14:00

Another great story, Steve. A side note. When I was just a wee lad, my uncle took me someplace to see one. Don't recall where, but it was in the Metro area. My uncle had a company that sold supplies to the automakers. Mostly tooling stuff. He knew a lot of connected people. He had 3 early T-Birds. 55, 56, 57. He also had a hand formed set of front fenders that were from the development stages of the 55. He also had a number of now rare cars in his collection. He was a bit of a visionary as he knew some cars were gong to be unique and collectible down the road. Thanks for the post.

picoFarad > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 14:02

I've seen mention of using micro turbines as long-range chargers in electric cars. Any other attempts to resurrect this concept?

SteveLehto > desertdog5051
09/07/2014 at 14:06

Thanks for the comment. Since there were 50 of them scattered around the country for two years, they popped up a lot. I was in Detroit at the time and they were fairly easy to see since Chrysler execs often took them home to show them off.

SteveLehto > picoFarad
09/07/2014 at 14:07

That is one of the more feasible suggestions. Some companies have toyed with it but nothing yet. It would be the best of both worlds since the turbine does best when it is run at a constant speed - which it could if it was simply running a generator.

lianne_ak9y > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 14:12

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PatriciaLCooper > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 14:19

———————————> www.jobspug.com

K5ING > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 14:24

If I'm not mistaken, the designer of the Turbine car and the 1958 Ford La Galaxie were one in the same...Elwood Engel.

Kinja'd!!!

SteveLehto > K5ING
09/07/2014 at 14:25

Yes. He also did some work on T-Birds, which inspired some people to jokingly call this the Englebird.

Greg03 > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 14:33

Chrysler brought one of these to my High School auto shop class in the mid 1960's, cool car

SteveLehto > Greg03
09/07/2014 at 14:35

Where was the high school? I know these things got around. A lot of times, the families that got them would do things like that - take them places to show them off and demo them. But I also heard of Chrysler guys showing them off too. One guy I talked to was an engineer on the program and he lived next door to a Ford engineer. He brought it home one weekend and tossed the guy the keys to let him take it out for a while.

bafazane3 > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 14:54

Any chance of an MP3 or something of what they sounded like?

SteveLehto > bafazane3
09/07/2014 at 14:58

There are several videos on youtube which show them running where you can hear the sound. Here is one:

shop-teacher > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 15:02

Gotta love the turbine cars!

300hp30mpgrwdfor30k > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 15:13

Was this just a matter of a business case lacking to put turbine cars into production? Fuel efficiency?

SteveLehto > 300hp30mpgrwdfor30k
09/07/2014 at 15:16

Several issues, including both of those. To tool up and produce the engines cheaply enough would have taken more money than Chrysler had laying around. Then tailpipe standards came in from the EPA and the turbine guys had not been terribly worried about the exhaust before that - they had other things to work on (like fuel economy and so on).

Chrysler eventually skidded into some really bad financial straits and ended up making things like K-cars and so on.

Uak42 > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 15:17

Great post, love these.

Do we know who the non-Leno private owner is and has he got his up and running now?

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 15:17

I heard the same said about rotary engines...

300hp30mpgrwdfor30k > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 15:20

That's too bad. I wonder if Chrysler had been able to pull off a Turbine revolution whether they'd be in better now than they are today, not to say anything bad about them, I just want to live in a world with turbine cars.

SteveLehto > Uak42
09/07/2014 at 15:22

Yes. The other private one is owned by David Kleptz, son of a famed car collector who passed away a few years ago. He has since gotten it running as well. That car has an interesting story: It was donated by Chrysler to a museum that sold it. It was owned at one time by pizza magnate Tom Monaghan. He sold it to Kleptz who was a friend of Jay Leno (small world!) Leno pulled some strings and helped Kleptz get a running motor for it (the car did not run when donated initially) from his buddy Bob Lutz.

alexlam24 > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 15:22

Meet Turbo Yodas American cousin, Turbine Yoda.

Kevin Barrett > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 15:25

Kinja'd!!!

That right there.

SteveLehto > Kevin Barrett
09/07/2014 at 15:26

That would be a "25," matching the last two digits of the VIN on this particular car.

phDiesel > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 15:31

If any of you have the opportunity, please pick up and read Mr Lehtos book.

I loved the turbine car to begin with, but this book definitely drives home how unique and advanced this technology was.

Maxxuman > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 15:37

Yep, surprising the Cyclone II wasn't a Mercury Martinsville...

SteveLehto > phDiesel
09/07/2014 at 15:38

Thanks for the plug. I'm glad people are reading it (and this, after I was told repeatedly that "Car guys don't read books." Seriously.)

Axial > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
09/07/2014 at 15:40

The same is also true of reciprocating engines; every engine has an operating speed that's optimal for fuel economy and power output.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > Axial
09/07/2014 at 15:53

But I recall reading that with rotary engines, changing rpms disproportionately wastes more fuel than with a piston engine.

Boss2452stolemylunchmoney > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 15:56

The engine in these was fascinating. I still think these would make an ideal candidate for a electric drive generator. With the reheater, they're very efficient. Without a mechanical drive, there would be no need for idling.

alan666 > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 15:56

I wonder how much Chrysler sold theirs to Jay for?

Jay has the only one that runs by the sounds of it.

& the new!

SteveLehto > alan666
09/07/2014 at 15:58

No idea on the price. Jay's runs, as do the ones kept by Chrysler, the one at the St Louis Museum and the one other privately owned one. I have sat in the Eco Jet but did not get to ride in it. That thing is COOL.

Axial > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
09/07/2014 at 16:08

Oh, it does, I just wanted to say that all engines are more fuel-efficient when run at a constant speed.

I'll let this image tell the story:

Kinja'd!!!

picoFarad > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 16:24

The idea of fuel flexibility, light weight, and fewer parts is definitely intriguing. Some of the turbine hybrid concepts have been mentioned on jalopnik, but the motorcycle version Suzuki is reportedly working on is really interesting to me.

SteveLehto > picoFarad
09/07/2014 at 16:35

Yes, there are huge potential benefits. The funny thing is that in the mid 1960s, no one thought gas would ever get all that expensive.

CRider > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 16:37

I saw the one at the Petersen. It might not be the coolest car there (good luck picking one) but it has to be in the top 5.

I want to know what one of these would actually cost to buy and get running. The one at the Petersen had the engine on a stand in front of the car, and everything looked in good condition.

SteveLehto > CRider
09/07/2014 at 16:41

The engine in the car does not run. The one on the stand might. Each museum was given an "extra" engine. I have heard alternately that the extra ones did run, did not run, and/or may have run with just a little bit of work (like what St Louis did.) Here's the Petersen engine on a stand.

Kinja'd!!!

phDiesel > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 16:46

No problem!

It kept me reading because it wasn't a narrative as well as the fact that I'm mildly infatuated with that whole project.

I'm pretty excited for your book on the Winged Warriors.

journeymanbaiter > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 16:56

When I was maybe 16 I saw one of these pass through my little flyspeck town in southeast Texas. This was in the early 60's, maybe 64?

SteveLehto > phDiesel
09/07/2014 at 16:58

Thanks. The cool part is that I get to write books like this. Almost seems like it's not work!

SteveLehto > journeymanbaiter
09/07/2014 at 16:59

Yes, right around that time there were 48 of these on the road (two more were at the World's Fair and the five "others" were being used by Chrysler) - scattered all over the contiguous US. I've spoken to people ALL OVER who saw them. Hard to forget, right?

Roger Vansteenkerke > picoFarad
09/07/2014 at 17:12

Turbines are horribly inefficient in the small power size and when you want to get somewhat remotely acceptable efficiency, you need a recuperator = lot of extra weight, packaging and cost.

trunk_monkey_ChimChim > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 17:24

Here's the video on Jay Leno's Garage

SteveLehto > trunk_monkey_ChimChim
09/07/2014 at 17:27

I was going to post that but I thought it might seem a little self-serving (I'm in it).

Thanks for the note.

ChrisVette > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 17:35

I didn't realize this was a production car. I would love to learn about how it works.

Mustang 'DontHitTheCrowd' GT > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 17:35

Such a beautiful design!

journeymanbaiter > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 17:37

Absolutely. I was working in a gas station and all I saw was the back end of it going away, but I knew instantly what it was because I remembered reading about it in a magazine and seeing the pictures. I remember that there were 50 or so being placed with families all across the USA for consumer testing. How lucky they were.

SteveLehto > ChrisVette
09/07/2014 at 17:39

Not a production car in that sense. They built a fleet of 55 and lent most of them to the public as part of a big test program. Eventually, they rounded them up and scrapped 46 of them. Whole books have been written on how they work, or so I'm told . . . .

SteveLehto > journeymanbaiter
09/07/2014 at 17:39

Yes, 203 different families. I have spoken to quite a few of them as well.

Alternative Facts > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 18:02

In the mid-60s, I worked summers and weekends at Six Flags. One day one of these pulled in, family in tow. Made a nice whine. What I remember, though, is that several minutes after it was parked, it was still whistling. Fifteen minutes or so later, still whistling a little. Caused quite a stir among all the workers there. Glad I got to see one in the wild actually being driven on the street.

SteveLehto > Alternative Facts
09/07/2014 at 18:06

I had not heard about that but I guess as things cooled down, air could still move through the system. It had no torque convertor and there was no direct connection between the engine and trans (it was a fan output on the engine side blowing over a fan input on the trans side) so I guess it could do that in park.

CheesePatrol > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 18:07

No engine bay pics?

SteveLehto > CheesePatrol
09/07/2014 at 18:13

Ask and ye shall receive. (This is the DHM car.)

Kinja'd!!!

BadMotorScooter > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 18:14

One of the privately owned cars is in my small midwestern town. I have not seen it, but know people who have. It comes out now and then for shows and last I heard it was not running. It may be the one you pictured here that was at a show but not running.

Alternative Facts > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 18:22

Well, it turned at 30,000 RPM, IIRC, so it would take a while to spin down with no load. High end was about as high as you can hear, low end was fairly low frequency, but still very audible. I knew all this as I worked driving the trams, so I passed by it several times. The poor guy had to park it with the great unwashed, just like everyone else. He was pretty calm about the whole thing, as white bread as they come.

SteveLehto > BadMotorScooter
09/07/2014 at 18:25

That is the one. Last I heard, it was repaired fairly recently.

SteveLehto > Alternative Facts
09/07/2014 at 18:27

Yes, Chrysler was also pretty calm about it if you consider how valuable the cars were. They insured them and just told the people to pay for the fuel and call if anything went wrong. At least one was involved in a pretty severe collision and more than a few needed engine swaps in the field (there was an early problem with the welds on one of the fans but once they figured it out it was no big deal - except for swapping out the engines which failed.)

Alternative Facts > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 18:28

Pretty easy to spot the family resemblance, especially the roof. Move the headlights to the back and there you have it. Also pseudo-blade fenders, almost there.

John Kimble > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 18:38

I remember reading a pretty lengthy account years and years ago of actually having one of the turbine cars. I think the guy's father worked at Chrysler or something. How did they decide who got one?

Crazy cool machines

SteveLehto > John Kimble
09/07/2014 at 18:40

People wrote to Chrysler, 20, 000 or so, and the PR dept picked a cross section.

John Kimble > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 18:48

Wow. Everything about this car seems so crazy, nowadays.

Miles Teg > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 18:57

It's rather sad that Chrysler and is subsidiaries routinely occupy the absolute bottom of satisfaction surveys.

SteveLehto > Miles Teg
09/07/2014 at 19:01

Times have changed . . .

gkwilly > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 19:37

Wow.

Back when they were lending them out to private owners we spotted one at the owners house. We went up and talked to him (people were outside) and he gave us a nice tour of the car. It was awesome.

SteveLehto > gkwilly
09/07/2014 at 19:42

I've heard that a lot. I think a lot of the users were chosen because they were outgoing. (They were interviewed extensively before final selection.)

Charles Spratlin > Racescort666
09/07/2014 at 19:59

quick correction, what you think is the exhaust is actually just a styling element, they ejected the exhaust down from the rear so it wouldn't spray it directly on other cars. looks neat as hell though.

AlwaRightAllTheTime > SteveLehto
09/07/2014 at 20:06

Back in the late 1960's/early 1970's I worked at Blazo's Restaurant (not positive of the name) that was next door the the Grosse Pointe Theater, on Mack Road.

I regularly saw a red Chrysler Turbine parked in front of the theater and only once saw it being driven away.

Being in Grosse Pointe, the restaurant and theater were regularly home to many cars like this, as the honchos of Chrysler, Ford and GM all lived in the area.

What was far, far more amazing, is that I lived in Harper Woods, (Harper Woods was where the lower middle class folks lived) just west of Grosse Pointe, and was walking down the street where I lived several years before that with a couple of my buddies, when we saw an amazingly awesome looking car in the driveway of a neighbor. As even then I was a huge car nut, I thought it was a VW kit car, as they were quite the thing in the late sixties. I told my friends that this was a VW kit car as I had seen many in the car mags I was already buying (at the ripe old age of eight to twelve from my paper route money). The owner of the car heard me, and told us that, nope, this was not a VW kit car, it was a Ferrari GTO!!