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Old 08-23-2010, 09:42 PM
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Default Re: chrysler turbine car?

The Chrysler Turbine car has always been one of my favorite cars, and it wears my favorite color "Turbine Bronze". One of it's chief designers was Chuck Mashigan, who was responsible for the "port hole" window in the "Baby Birds", and was on the design team of the future T-Birds in the late 50's and early 60's. (Probably why the Chrysler Turbine Car looks so much like a T-Bird).
He then went to Chrysler, where he was instrumental in the Dodge A100 pick up design, as well as the Dodge Dart, and the Chrysler Turbine Car.
His next assignment took him to the design studios of American Motors where he penned the Tarpon (a prelude to the Marlin) and a few years later worked on the AMX design team.
As a matter of fact, I believe he was personally responsible for the design of the scoop sitting on my Crossfires hood (since it is nearly identical to the 1958/59/60 T-Bird scoop when viewed through the windshield).

Franc, When you mentioned the Turbine Cars being White, and Blue, I think you were thinking of the 1962 Plymouth Fury Turbine Car which was painted pearl white. The 1962 Dodge Polara Turbine Car was painted Metallic Blue.
All the Turbine Car "Fleet Cars" were painted "Turbine Bronze" except for one that was painted white and appeared in the movie titled "The Lively Set".
Here's a good web site:
Turbine Main Page - Turbinecar.com - 1963 Chrysler Turbine User

One look of the Turbine Cars interior, should explain why I like the Cedar/Slate in my Crossfire so much.

I had an opportunity to ride in the Chrysler Turbine Car when I was 13 years old. My Dad managed a Dodge dealer, and one of the "Fleet" of Turbine Cars was there for service. As I remember, it's performance left alot to be desired. My Dads's 318 Demo would run away from it. I seriously doubt if "Brake Torqueing would have cut it's 0 to 60 times in half.
They deliberately "tuned" the exhaust to make it sound like a Jet plane to attract lots of attention. It could have been produced with a much quieter exhaust.
I guess there were 9 cars saved from the scrap yard out of the original 50 or 55 cars built.
On a side note, I did my high school senior year science fair project on the Chrysler Turbine Engine. Got a B+, only because I didn't have a "working" model of the engine.
 

Last edited by +fireamx; 08-23-2010 at 09:48 PM.