I saw this vehicle parked on the streets of our neighboring town, Attleboro, Massachusetts, back in 1963. I was a Junior in High School at the time, and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this car parked on the street.

I struck up a conversation with the driver who told me it was an expirimental car that he was lucky enough to drive so he could give his opinion about it. I never saw this car again after that day. The manufacturer abandoned the project and the car was never mass produced. Does anyone here recognize this mystery car? Did you ever see it in person?




Bob M

 

The Chrysler Turbine car?

 

I second that answer !

 

OK, I cheated. http://www.familycar.com/Classics/ChryslerTurboCar.htm

 

We have a winner...

1963_Chrysler_Turbine

 

I had a 1963 Riviera if drove like a rocket ! 400ci, pw, air, ps, pst, etc. nice ride stock. paid $3,500 with 40,000 miles on the clock !

 

OK, DISQUALIFIED...

 

I acctually saw one of these run at a car show in Wisconsin a few years ago. ( Iola I think ). If I'm not mistaken, Chrysler had about 60 or so of these that they gave to the general public as a test. I believe the looming emission requirments killed this car.

 

I thought Chrysler only made like 5 of the turbine cars?

 

Is that not on a Dart chassis ?

Just my Dos Centavos !

 

I don't believe it was the Dart chassis, just designed by the same guy who had a lot to do with the original Dart. Then again, they do look as though they use the same "A" pillar, and door window vent.

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...ad.php?t=20237

 

I clearly remember going with my dad to Tri-County mall here in Cincinnati to enter in a lottery to get a chance to drive a Chrysler turbine car. I believe the test period was 30-60 days and there were about 50-60 turbine cars placed into service for "regular folks" to drive. The idea was to follow up with a survey and see how the cars did in "real world" conditions. There was an article in either Popular Science or Popular Mechanics magazine with a summary of the various driver's experiences. The cars were built as a short run contract with Ghia in Italy. Chrysler had a history of using Ghia for show car/prototype/limited production projects. If I recall, the test was generally pretty successful; very few mechanical problems reported by the drivers. The cars could run on about anything, diesel, kerosene, jet fuel or common heating fuel oil. Highway fuel consumption was OK but city driving economy was poor.

Here's a link to www.allpar.com turbine car page; more info than you ever thought possible !

http://www.allpar.com/mopar/turbine.html

Enjoy, it's a pretty remarkable story...

Cincinnati Slim

 

This is a pretty funny video of a Turbine engined "test" car that Chrysler used in a cross country trip from New York city to L.A.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g3QvkpMqc0&NR=1
I had the chance to take a ride around the block in this car too when I was about 11 years old.

 

So what happened to the turbine car prototypes ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKumq...eature=related

seems like an awful waste....

Slim

 

Due to "Personal Property Tax" regulations, it wasn't economically feasible for Chrysler to keep them. All but a handfull were destroyed. I think only two are in private hands, and the rest are in museums.

 

Wow, you guys are unbelievably well informed! I felt priviledged to have seen one in person, but I never knew the complete history of this vehicle. I guess I know the rest of the story now.

Bob M

 

You're right about the general public getting to try these cars out. When I lived at home, the guy next door, who was a fireman applied for and got to use the turbine car for I believe one month. I still remember him starting it up in the driveway, it had a high pitched whine like a jet engine. When he shut it off, it took a while to wind down. He had to keep a log of his mileage etc. with the vehicle to turn back in to Chrysler.

 

Jay Leno has one.