Chrysler Turbine Car Gas Turbine
The 1963 Chrysler Turbine Car represents one of the most ambitious and fascinating experiments in automotive history. At a time when the American auto industry was focused on cubic inches and horsepower wars, Chrysler took an extraordinary detour into jet-age technology, building 55 identical gas turbine-powered cars and lending them to ordinary American families for real-world testing. It remains the only large-scale public evaluation of turbine-powered automobiles ever conducted.
Chrysler's turbine program had been underway since the late 1940s, and by 1963 the engineering team had developed the fourth-generation A-831 turbine engine. This regenerative turbine used a pair of rotating heat exchangers to recapture exhaust heat, dramatically improving fuel efficiency compared to earlier turbine designs. The engine produced 130 horsepower and an extraordinary 425 lb-ft of torque - and unlike a piston engine, all that torque was available essentially from idle. The turbine spun at up to 44,600 rpm, reduced through a gear set to drive the rear wheels through an integral automatic transmission.
Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the turbine engine was its multi-fuel capability. It could run on gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, jet fuel, alcohol, and even vegetable oil. During a publicity tour in Mexico, the car was famously demonstrated running on tequila. The engine had only one-fifth the moving parts of a conventional piston engine, required no antifreeze, no conventional oil changes, and produced virtually no vibration. Starting was pushbutton simple, and the engine was maintenance-free by the standards of the day.
The body was designed by Chrysler styling under Elwood Engel and built by the Ghia coachworks in Turin, Italy. Each body was hand-built by Ghia craftsmen and shipped to Detroit for final assembly. The design was distinctly jet-age, with a prominent turbine-inspired front end featuring a circular intake motif and unique rear treatment with sequential exhaust-themed taillamps. The bronze-colored metallic paint was exclusive to the Turbine Car and enhanced the aerospace aesthetic.
Between October 1963 and October 1966, Chrysler loaned the cars to 203 carefully selected American families for three-month evaluation periods. These families came from 48 states, represented diverse backgrounds, and collectively drove the cars over one million miles. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive regarding smoothness, power delivery, and the novelty factor, but drivers noted excessive fuel consumption and significant turbo lag - the delay between pressing the accelerator and feeling the turbine spool up to speed.
When the evaluation program ended, Chrysler faced a painful decision. Keeping all 55 cars would create an ongoing liability for a vehicle that was never intended for mass production. Under pressure from import duty regulations (the Ghia bodies were Italian-made), Chrysler destroyed 46 of the 55 cars. Nine survivors remain: six in Chrysler's own collection, and three in museums and private collections. These nine cars are among the rarest and most historically significant automobiles in the world. The Turbine Car represents a road not taken - a glimpse of an alternative automotive future powered by jet technology that ultimately could not compete with the relentless refinement of the piston engine.
Effectively unbuyable. Only 9 exist and most are in institutional collections. The last known private sale was Jay Leno's acquisition. If one were to come to market, it would be a multi-million-dollar event with global attention. Provenance documentation is everything. Any claim of a 'surviving' Turbine Car beyond the known nine should be treated with extreme skepticism.
55 identical cars built in 1963. Bodies hand-built by Ghia in Turin, Italy. 203 families tested the cars between 1963-1966. 46 cars were intentionally crushed by Chrysler after the program ended. 9 survive: 6 in Chrysler's collection, 3 in museums/private hands.