Chrysler Turbine car

Henno Kruger — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 07:26:08 +0000

At first glance the Chrysler Turbine car looks like a classic car. The Chrysler Turbine was an automobile powered by gas turbine engines that were assembled in a small plant in Detroit, Michigan, USA in 1963. The automobile was only used for consumer tests for gas turbine-powered cars. The vehicle was the high point of Chrysler’s decades-long project to build a practical turbine-powered car. The 4th generation Chrysler turbine engine ran up to 60,000 RPM. The engine could use diesel fuel, unleaded gasoline, kerosene, JP-4 jet fuel, and even vegetable oil. It could run on virtually anything. The president of Mexico put this tot the test. He ran one of the first cars successfully on tequila. Air/fuel adjustments were required to switch from 1 kind of fuel to another. The only evidence of which fuel was being used was the odor of coming out of the exhaust. Only 55 of these cars were built. When Chrysler finished the program and when public displays ended, 46 of the cars were destroyed. 6 of the 9 remaining cars engines were de-activated and donated to museums around the US. Chrysler retained the 3 remaining cars for historical reasons. The Chrysler turbine program did not die either. A re-engineered version of the turbine engine would appear in the 1966 Dodge Charger.

If car manufacturers or entrepeneurs could find a cost-effective way of making a turbine engine it could change the face of cars and reduce the demand for oil worldwide. One can not buy the Chrysler Turbine car anywhere. A few of the old car’s engines are owned by a few private collectors and Chrysler themselves. I guess I’ll have to look around in the classifieds to find another car instead.

Kief Cars » Chrysler Turbine car

Chrysler Turbine car