History of gas turbine vehicles

[BIGBARNEYCARS]

Jer, Looking forward to some "proving grounds" stories.
Did you know a fellow, "Jerry Service" from Manchester.....?

If that the Jerry that livez in Manchester on ah gravel country roadah bit north and east of town and iz ah butcher by trade and just happenz to own the mother of all Black'69 Daytonaz plus ah few other toyz of equally remarkable make your tongue hard elegance, Naw never heard of him. lol. Tell yeah ah story of how close I came to owning that '69 'Tona before Jerry even knew it waz there and bought it. Seller waz ah Proving Groundz Engineer and lived on the same road as we did from the '70s into the '90s 'bout ah 1/4 mile from us. I used to go by hiz place every day and see that 'Tona pokin' out of hiz garage with ah lawn mower stuck underneath the fuel cell and hiz kidz life jacketz hung up on the wing to dry, OUI. It waz an 18K car in "85-'86, OUI,OUI

 

[bluefury361]

If that the Jerry that livez in Manchester on ah gravel country roadah bit north and east of town and iz ah butcher by trade and just happenz to own the mother of all Black'69 Daytonaz plus ah few other toyz of equally remarkable make your tongue hard elegance, Naw never heard of him. lol.

Good guess......
Aside from the hemi Daytona he had a Hemi Superbird in Petty blue and a one of none 68 hemi Charger 500. You remember that yellow one....? He snatched right out from under Ma Mopars's wing from the proving grounds.
It was the mule for the 69 Charger 500. His sister worked there, in admin. Somehow got the car tagged in the pool garage and Jerry bought it after the mandatory 1 month waiting period.
They tried hard to get it back, made some great offers to him. Last I talked to Jerry,(been awhile now), he still had all three.

 

[BIGBARNEYCARS]

Good guess......
Aside from the hemi Daytona he had a Hemi Superbird in Petty blue and a one of none 68 hemi Charger 500. You remember that yellow one....? He snatched right out from under Ma Mopars's wing from the proving grounds.
It was the mule for the 69 Charger 500. His sister worked there, in admin. Somehow got the car tagged in the pool garage and Jerry bought it after the mandatory 1 month waiting period.
They tried hard to get it back, made some great offers to him. Last I talked to Jerry,(been awhile now), he still had all three.

 

[BIGBARNEYCARS]

The Superbird and the 500 are the other 2 toyz I referred to az remarkable and elegante without naming them. He'z ah good Guy and hard to even be envious of. You did know that Daytona started life in Hemi Orange didn't you?

 

[bluefury361]

[QUOTE="BIGBARNEYCARS,You did know that Daytona started life in Hemi Orange didn't you?[/QUOTE]

Yeah. He told me it sat on the lot for a long time when someone said they would buy it if the dealer painted it black. Still orange in the trunk.
I have another good story involving that car, to be told at Carlisle.

 

[Jim 68cuda]

This one is priced a bit higher.
1963 Original Chrysler History of Chrysler Corporation Gas Turbine Ve

 

[MoPar Maniac]

There is a turbine at the national museum of transportation in St. Louis.

 

[BIGBARNEYCARS]

[QUOTE="BIGBARNEYCARS,You did know that Daytona started life in Hemi Orange didn't you?

Yeah. He told me it sat on the lot for a long time when someone said they would buy it if the dealer painted it black. Still orange in the trunk.
I have another good story involving that car, to be told at Carlisle.[/QUOTE]
I'll supply the St Pauli and we'll Bench Race lol, Jer

 

[BIGBARNEYCARS]

How'd I do that funny post???????????

 

[Moparmat2000]

I came across a rare piece of Chrysler ephemera today. Titled "History of Chrysler Corporation-Gas Turbine Vehicles".
A 29 page soft cover published by Chrysler Corporation Engineering Staff, Technical information section. January 1964.
Date range is March 1954 - January 1964........ In NOS condition. First I've ever seen.

View attachment 120573 View attachment 120574 View attachment 120575

Back to the OP. I bought a copy of this pamphlet off evilbay. What awesome engineering back then. The jet age was upon us back then. Its a shame they didnt stick with it. I heard that before they finally pulled the plug on the gas turbine they were actually concidering a variant of it for actual production and sale to the public and the launch car for it was going to be the 1966 dodge charger.

I built a JoHan 1964 chrysler turbine car model kit as a kid in the 70s, and in grade school always checked out this one library book about future cars, and they talked about electric highways where there were wires imbedded in the roadway on major freeways so the future cars would drive themselves.

We are close to that day now, though i'd rather drive myself. I dont think they could envision 40-50 years ago the computers we have now. The car i read the most about in that old hard covered book was the 1964 chrysler turbine car. It was almost magical to me. Had these gone into production for sale to the public, it would have changed everything.

The power to weight they have compared to gasoline, and flexability of different fuels. Piston engines would be gone from most use except in lawn mowers, weed eaters, and stuff like that. You pull up to the pump and diesel is cheapest that week, so you fill up with that, or kerosene, or jet fuel etc.

 

[Carmine]

Back to the OP. I bought a copy of this pamphlet off evilbay. What awesome engineering back then. The jet age was upon us back then. Its a shame they didnt stick with it. I heard that before they finally pulled the plug on the gas turbine they were actually concidering a variant of it for actual production and sale to the public and the launch car for it was going to be the 1966 dodge charger.

I built a JoHan 1964 chrysler turbine car model kit as a kid in the 70s, and in grade school always checked out this one library book about future cars, and they talked about electric highways where there were wires imbedded in the roadway on major freeways so the future cars would drive themselves.

We are close to that day now, though i'd rather drive myself. I dont think they could envision 40-50 years ago the computers we have now. The car i read the most about in that old hard covered book was the 1964 chrysler turbine car. It was almost magical to me. Had these gone into production for sale to the public, it would have changed everything.

The power to weight they have compared to gasoline, and flexability of different fuels. Piston engines would be gone from most use except in lawn mowers, weed eaters, and stuff like that. You pull up to the pump and diesel is cheapest that week, so you fill up with that, or kerosene, or jet fuel etc.

The project ended in 1981 with a (?) gen version mocked up in wood for use in a FWD car. While they were close to offering it in '66, they came close again in 1980 in the Mirada and the R-body NY'er of all things. But the money for tooling just wasn't there. Iacocca pulled the plug on the project, likely the right call because the money was needed elsewhere and it's doubtful that a public dubious of buying a Chrysler from a floundering company would have doubled-down on a new powerplant with few advantages beyond reduced maintenance. It wasn't all for naught however, because turbine-power was the reason Chrysler Defense's M1 tank was selected over a GM Diesel design. There has been talk of using a turbine to power electric generators for hybrid models, but I don't know if anyone is working on that idea... Chrysler's Pacifica hybrid uses a 3.6 V6 running a modified (Atkinson) combustion cycle.

On the net, there are pictures of the '77 LeBaron coupe-based car. The front end looks like an '81 Imperial with a narrower grille. The was also a Mirada with no mods beyond a special paint scheme. Chrysler still owns both of them. I pleaded with the person in charge of the museum to display them, but because their condition is less than showroom perfect (faded, patina-type damage, not rust or collision) they would not consider it. Disappointing.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

There has been talk of using a turbine to power electric generators for hybrid models, but I don't know if anyone is working on that idea

This would make more sense than the way a Chevy volt does it(a small turbine engine is great at single speed and has almost no support systems, namely cooling). I believe some private jets have a small turbine for aux power if you were to land somewhere with not enough ground support for a plane like that.
Would make way more sense than the Prius style of hybrid where you have 2 different propulsion systems, both with complicated support systems, both mashed together to make maintenance and repair a sure early death based on percent of repair cost over remaining value of the vehicle.
Someone needs to jump on that while the EPA is reigned in a little, that might be more difficult under a demo EPA when they are at full power.

 

[Carmine]

This would make more sense than the way a Chevy volt does it(a small turbine engine is great at single speed and has almost no support systems, namely cooling). I believe some private jets have a small turbine for aux power if you were to land somewhere with not enough ground support for a plane like that.
Would make way more sense than the Prius style of hybrid where you have 2 different propulsion systems, both with complicated support systems, both mashed together to make maintenance and repair a sure early death based on percent of repair cost over remaining value of the vehicle.
Someone needs to jump on that while the EPA is reigned in a little, that might be more difficult under a demo EPA when they are at full power.

Pretty much fully agree. I'll just say that auto companies have stayed with piston engines in hybrids because they lose enough money on them as-is, without even more tooling. They're also a known tech for dealer/warranty service.

 

[Moparmat2000]

This would make more sense than the way a Chevy volt does it(a small turbine engine is great at single speed and has almost no support systems, namely cooling). I believe some private jets have a small turbine for aux power if you were to land somewhere with not enough ground support for a plane like that.
Would make way more sense than the Prius style of hybrid where you have 2 different propulsion systems, both with complicated support systems, both mashed together to make maintenance and repair a sure early death based on percent of repair cost over remaining value of the vehicle.
Someone needs to jump on that while the EPA is reigned in a little, that might be more difficult under a demo EPA when they are at full power.

Commercial jet aircraft all have small turbines besides the main engines, so do private jets. Its called an APU or auxilliary power unit. This provides 24VDC and 120VAC thru 2 generators attached to its accessory drive gear box.Typically these are started, managed, and run by a full authorative digital engine controller or FADEC.

On some aircraft these APUs are big enough to provide compressor side bleed air to run the air cycle turbine for the A/C packs, as well as provide electrical capability to start the main core engines.

Typically they are located in the aft end, and theres a small exhaust for it located at the very aft end of the fuselage.

FYI, Turbine engines typically make their best fuel efficency at altitude, and their worst fuel effiency at sea level.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

Pretty much fully agree. I'll just say that auto companies have stayed with piston engines in hybrids because they lose enough money on them as-is, without even more tooling. They're also a known tech for dealer/warranty service.

There is no way any car company is making money on a Prius style hybrids. They are supplying 2 Powerplants that cannot stand alone, even Porche and Ferrari are just adding a electric motor to existing engines to make insane power. The Volt is a electric car with range extending gas engine to charge battery if the gas engine fails the car will still operate till the battery goes down or will run okay as long as you keep plugging it in. That's where the turbine engine would be be a improvement it has no cooling system and the ignition and fuel systems are much less complicated that a piston engine.
The Toyota style hybrids need to stop, those cars are economical and environmental disasters. The energy that will be consumed in the dismantling of one Prius is more that the energy it saved through its life and you will never get back the extra energy it consumed in it production over a standard I.C. powertrain.