1963 Chrysler Turbine

Cars

I’ve been obsessing recently over the 1963 Chrysler Turbine, a concept car Chrysler Corp made 55 of, loaned out to select customers for testing (and lots of breathless publicity), and then they unceremoniously destroyed all but a few of them (as can be seen in the last horrifying video above). As far as I can tell, there is only a single vehicle owned by an individual car collector in Indiana. The rest are in museums (with the motors hobbled) and Chrysler has a working one at their Proving Grounds. Short of stealing one, I don’t know how I’m ever going to get my hands on one, but a boy can dream…

Mister Jalopy posted about the Turbine on D+R today, so I guess I’m not the only Maker who covets this crazy-cool car.

Here’s a nice piece on Allpar about the Chrysler’s turbine cars and engines.

This Turbine Car fan site has all sorts of tech info, history of the car, details and pics of Chrysler Turbine Car model kits, and all sorts of other great stuff. The site is run my Mark Olson. His family was one of the ones chosen to test out the Turbine.

4 thoughts on “1963 Chrysler Turbine

  1. Jim Cook says:

    Many many years ago when I was going to Northeastern University in Boston for my degree in Mechanical Engineering I got a chance to drive the Chrysler Turbine car. I belonged to an engineering society and this car was the subject of our meeting. We went out on Huntington avenue and made a guick loop around the block. The thing that stands out most in my mind was when we drove over the trolley tracks the engine was so quiet that inside the car you could hear the suspension squeeking.
    The driver after me trompted on the throttle and I think I heard a little squeel. It must have slipped on some sand. They ran that car all afternoon with three students and the Chrysler rep. on each ride.

  2. Anonymous says:

    MG Rover, the British car manufacturer, ran a trial on a gas turbine car in 1950 at the Silverstone racing circuit. During testing the car topped out at 90 mph and 50,000 rpm. The car is currently on display in the London Science Museum. More information can be found here:
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/8/newsid_2516000/2516271.stm

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Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.

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