Did you know that Chrysler wasn't the only one working on a turbine powered car? A couple of other carmakers also tried to make their own turbine car, but never put so much effort in it liek CHrysler did. Did you also know the the Turbine Car went on a little world tour, and while in Mexico, the president took a drive while riding on tequila? You could practically throw every kind of substance in the car!
Ed, as someone training to be an aircraft mechanic, although I haven't started working with any turbine engines, I feel confident enough in saying - this idea isn't horrible
That last bit was heartbreaking. Even though I already knew the story, the thought of such a unique machine being crushed because the beancounters thought it best? Despicable.
It was the summer of 1963, I was 16 (born in 1946). My second gas station attendant job, Texaco being my first (sorry two, too long stories). I remember that Wednesday, the slowest day of the gas station week and here this copper color beauty was driving right out of a Sci-Fi comic book. I had read about it and seen the pictures in the "car magazines" - but here it was - THE TURBINE CAR. A soft spoken man got out of the car - VERY unusual at a Full Service station. He told me how much Premium gas to put in the tank. Paid. Showed me around. Answered my questions. Then gave me a RIDE ! ! !
I heard a story years ago (Motortrend has ran stories for years; the first time I remember reading anything about these cars was in 1983) about a housewife that was selected to drive one of these and she told her gas station attendant to put kerosene in; and he argued with her not knowing about the car.
I inspected one of these when I was a boy in 1963 or 4. It stopped in the small town in South Dakota where we lived. The driver stated that 50 of them had been turned over to individuals to use and evaluate for a period of time that I cant remember. It made a big impact on me (a car crazy 14 year old kid) at the time.
When I was a kid I lived directly across the street from the Dearborn Heights, MI city hall. One day when I was out playing I saw one of these Chrysler Turbine cars go past my house and pull into the city hall parking lot and park. I was stunned! I’m guessing it was around 1963 or 64, sometime in that period. Years later I joined the Navy and became a jet engine mechanic. When I got out I was hired at Williams Research Corporation in Walled Lake, MI. They were and still are the worlds premier small turbine technology company responsible for developing the Tomahawk and Air Launched cruise missile engines. Founder Sam Williams was a Chrysler engineer in the 50s before starting Williams Research Corporation (now Williams International). Best place I ever worked in my entire career. I owe a lot to Sam Williams for hiring me to work there. These turbine cars would run just fine on diesel fuel.
I saw a documentary about these that said some of the engineers got a case of whiskey and poured it all in a Turbine, and drove it around the test track at 120 MPH. They were excited by that, but the older heads thought it was a waste of good whiskey. Another time, they got a shitload of bottles of perfume, and the Turbine actually ran perfectly on it. The engineers tried every kind of liquid that'd burn that they could think of, and the test cars ran on every one.
Those mad scientists a Dodge recently showcased a Charger electric muscle car with an ICE noise generator. I can imagine an OCD Williams Research turbine engineer secretly designing a small modern turboshaft engine to stuff under the hood to serve as an EV battery charger/short range supplemental propulsion engine/noise maker to give that EV Charger monster range.
Considering the size of those fins, it would mean an ice age. No sarcasm there, my favorite car is the 59 Cadillac/Miller-Meteor hearse/ambulance/convertible.
I had no idea that turbine program still limped into 1980. I thought they shut is all down and destroyed all evidence in the mid 60s. Tragic end, I remember from my earliest memories when the future looked like these. Instead, I grew up in the malaise era. Glad Leno has a running one.
@@pjtfinland1794 Chrysler had absolutely nothing to do with the design or manufacture of the AGT-1500 gas turbine engine that powers the M1 Abrams. The AGR-1500 was designed by former Nazi engineer Dr. Anselm Franz and was manufacturered by LYCOMING. Franz designed the engines for the Messerschmitt Me-262 and the Bell UH1 and AH1 helicopters and the Boeing CH47 helicopters
@@sandervanderkammen9230 oh dear! And another misinformation that I had... But didn't chrysler military have something to do with either the turbine or the tank itself?
@@pjtfinland1794 The M1 Abrams was designed by German company _Krauss Maffei_ to U.S. Army Ordnance Department specifications. General Motors and Chrysler Defense div. were the bidders to manufacturer the M1 in the United States.
For people who want more information, Steve Lehto wrote book about the turbine cars, and is probably a pretty good authority of what was what. Steve is a lawyer with his own YT channel, and a car guy on top of that. (He also wrote a book about the Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird- great reading!)
Steve is doing great work. Not just cars, but especially civil asset forfeiture, i.e. cash thefts on good people by law enforcement. I like Steve. He's one of the last voices of reason in a world of utter insanity and stupidity.
@@KarlHamilton He mentioned his books a couple times on his VinWiki appearances, but he seems to be a fairly humble guy, so it's not a major surprise that he didn't mention the books on his personal channel.
Jay Leno owns a fully operational Chrysler Turbine Car as part of his personal collection, there's a video on TH-cam of him driving it as part of his "Jay Leno's Garage" series. Very interesting to see it in motion. The turbine noise is significant, but seems comparable to the road & wind noise generated by old cars. Ignorable to a degree once you get used to it. I myself got to see one of the turbine motors in an automotive museum in Cleveland, OH. They somehow seem both bigger and smaller than one would expect. Wonder if turbine engines could see a resurgence as an alternative fuel vehicle in the modern age?
A major setback about using a gas turbine even as a hybrid generator is that thermal efficiency goes down when made so small. You want the turbine blades to be as close to the housing walls as possible to stop air leaking backwards, but when your engine is so small, getting the right tolerances becomes a nightmarish task. So for safety reasons you leave more of a gap, and therefore you have a bigger percent of air leaking out. Heavier though they may be, the valves of piston engines ensures that the air taken in upon intake is still there for compression.
@@Appletank8 With modern engineering I can only imagine how much more efficiency we could squeeze out of the engine, or at least retrofit them all. Too bad most were destroyed. This car and the Dobler steam car are my two favorites in Jay Leno's collection.. just wow.
@@Nathriel Eh, I doubt there's that much you can do there. Jet turbines are still being made for aircraft, and the M1 tank also uses a turbine powerplant. All indications over the 50 years of development since the Turbine Car cancelation is that turbine efficiency goes up with size, not down, which is a problem when confined to the hood of a car. While there are few moving parts, what parts you do have are inevitably expensive due to the high heat and RPM the turbine blades must endure. Hell, even as a hybrid generator there's a problem in that generators often have to turn on and off multiple times as the car starts and stops, which is a problem because turbine start up is one of the most significant stressors in its lifecycle. The only alternative is to keep them running, which will save you blade life but cost a lot of fuel, in which case you might as well use a wankel.
I was a kid growing up in Cleveland, Ohio during that time. Their automotive museum was called the Thompson Auto Museum,....I moved away from Cleveland in 1977, and I still wonder if the museum is still around or has the same name. I used to go to it all the time,...and I know I have hundreds of "Kodak Insta-matic" snap shots in a closet in my house. I saw the Turbine car, and many antique ones from every era there. My most favorite thing to do when I was a kid, was to get my folks to take me there. Cleveland also hosted many auto shows, in their downtown, indoors arena. Those were every year, and they featured many custom cars, and ones designed for the TV shows of the day.
I actually, very briefly, rode in one of these Chrysler turbine cars at the 1964 New York World's Fair. It was at the Chrysler Pavillion and families could wait on line to take the car for a quick drive around the building. Each ride lasted about two minutes.
The other major player with turbine cars was the British company Rover. Rover started playing with turbines in the early 50's also. By 1964, they ran a turbine powered BRM (I think) at LeMans. Rover also gave up on turbines, but probably more because of money problems than gov't regulations. As always, Ed, your videos are absolutely great (and funny)!
When Frank Whittle and Power Jets ran out of money, because the Air Ministry had "cold feet", the Govt. gave the work to Rover, which subsequently passed it on to RR.
@@john1703 Frank Whittle made alot of enemies in the British aircraft industry, in particular the Royal Aircraft Establishment after plagerizing the work of A.A Griffiths the Chief of Engine Development.
Back in the 60s, I'm not certain of the exact date for I was a small child, I was at the Reno Car show and from the corner of the floor of the large building I heard the sound of a jet engine firing up. It was the Chrysler Turbine Car. I did not get to see it up close but the sound was unmistakable, and I always had wanted to ride in this vehicle. Jay Leno's garage TH-cam channel featured this car in one of its episodes, for Jay Leno owns a rare surviving example.
Jay's channel is beyond belief. Is there any car he doesn't have? If I did mushrooms and dreamed up a car, I'd probably get a notification from Jay's Garage the next day, and it'd be on the video.
@@TheOtherBill He also had his own Turbine car made, I believe with an engine out of a helicopter. It has a custom body with Corvette suspension. It's so loud you have to use headset radios to be able to talk inside of it.
Unless you were there, it is so hard to imagine America in the early 1960s. John Kennedy, John Glenn, the future. The Bronze Beauty from Chrysler was the epitome of that time. So great to see it again. Thanks, Ed!
Hey, Ed. A great history lesson on these wonderful cars. FYI, those turbine nozzles on the rear near the taillights are not exhaust ports -- they are back up lights. The cars had rectangular dual exhaust that stopped just short of the rear valance.
Ed, you've rapidly become a foremost expert throughout this endeavor. Superb work, man. For a time, I lived mere blocks from the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, making an annual membership sensible. Previously, I'd been on many visits there throughout my youth (just about every SE Michigan school makes field trips there,) but suddenly I could just walk over and stroll at my own pace, rather than trying to see everything in a single visit...which is impossible. I'm thrilled you were able to visit, sparking new ideas and topics. This car, on display as long as I can recall, always made a deep impression on me. A fave for decades, even in light of the storied Kennedy Lincoln mere yards away. Keep up the great work! You consistently reside up there in my Top 10 TH-cam channels.
Grew up in a Ford family in Dearborn MI., just down the street from design engineer Bill Brownlie. I remember vividly the day Mr. Brownlie brought the newly completed bronze turbine car home. In a neighborhood that was rather jaded to new vehicles, it still made a tremendous impact. She was whisper quiet with an absence of vibration glinting past in the sun. I felt it was one of those rare moments when there was a sense of community. Those were special times; now just nostalgia.
Another awesome and informative video! I've heard the story of the copper colored cars many times, but didn't realize how extensive the whole program was! 👍
That's not true, Chrysler had absolutely nothing to do with the development or production of the Lycoming AGT-1500. The engine was designed by Nazi engineer Dr. Anselm Franz who also designed the engines for the Messerschmitt Me-262, Bell UH1, AH1 and Boeing CH47 Chinook helicopters. Franz was the head of gas turbine engines and Vice President of Lycoming.
@@kevinbarry71 No, you are obviously not familiar with the history of the Lycoming AGT-1500 gas turbine engine. Dr. Anselm Franz developed an enlarged version of the Jumo -004 Orkan turbojet called the 109-012, this became the core gas generator for the GT 250 gas turbine tank engine, it was intended to complete again the BMW GT 101 tank engine first tested in a Panther tank in 1944. Franz moved to America after the war as part of Operation Paperclip and went to work for Lycoming, work on the GT250 resumed as the Lycoming PLT-25 and tested in a M-48 Patton tank. The PLT-25 became a U.S. Government program in 1965 and was renamed the TF-15 for the Navy and AGT-1500 for the U.S. Army. Dr. Franz would become the vice-president of Avco-Lycoming. Any questions?
@@sandervanderkammen9230 But still, among all the participants in the competition, only Chrysler Defence submitted the layout of the tank with a gas turbine engine. As far as I know, before that there were no tanks in mass production with a gas turbine engine. Only inspired by Abrams, the Soviet Union soon after that created their T-80 with the same type of engine. So it is quite possible that they still applied some experience with such engines.
@@arround1 There were 4 different engines proposed and tested during the XM1 trials 3 Diesel engines and the Lycoming AGT-1500 . The first production tank powered by a Gas turbine engine is Sweden's S-Tank powered by a Caterpillar gas turbine engine in 1967. Gas turbine tanks are nothing new in 1975, the first was the German Panther II in 1944, powered by a BMW GT 101 (based on the -003 turbojet engines that powered the Arado AR-234 jet bomber) And second the British FV200 Centurion in 1954, powered by a Parsons 2979 gas turbine. Lycoming originally installed the Junkers Jumo GT-250 aka "PLT-25" in a surplus M48 Patton tank in 1968. It was submitted for consideration as the possible powerplant for the Krauss Maffei _KpfPz 70_ the American version called the MBT-70 which involved into the Krauss Maffei XM815 and eventually renamed the XM1 program. Ford/FMC and Krauss Maffei dropped out of XM1 contract submissions leaving General Motors and Chrysler as the only bidders. The Army picked the winner of trials test which was the Diesel powered GM version.
I really enjoy this video, I didn't know beyond the 63 copper turbine car the history of the turbine for Chrysler. Or that Chrysler continued producing limited versions for 30 years. Your videos never cease to amaze me!
It’s crazy to think that Jay Leno has the only one in private hands and it’s also the only running one if I remember correctly. But if anyone was going to own it besides me I’m glad it’s Jay, because he actually loves the car and it’s historical significance.
My neighbor's father worked on the fuel delivery system for that car. That engineer also had one for 3 months. The fuel economy and very poor throttle response were his biggest issues.
Volvo developed a turbine engine for cars around 1980. It had a ceramic turbine disc and was designed to deliver 150 hp. A prototype was fitted in a Volvo 164 and was driven around town in Malmö, Sweden. The team doing this was built around Professor Kronogård, who designed the turbine engine used in the famous (?) Swedish, turretless S-tank. I worked there for a few weeks in 1980 as an engineering student, doing some programming work on their VAX computer…
Since Ed is so Interested in weird things in automotive from days gone by I'd love to see him do a dive into the large scale sterling engines that where tested in the 70's-80's the Dodge D150 that was owned and used by NASA was just recently found and put up for sale.
Great video Ed. As gear grinding as the 70s emission regulations were, air quality in some areas like Los Angeles was terrible. I was told after arriving at LAX, your eyes would immediately start stinging and watering from the smog. Auto shows that decade were hugely disappointing.
I'm a lifetime L.A. resident and old enough to remember how bad the air was 50 years ago. Driving north on the 405 freeway through Sepulveda Pass, I'd come over the crest and see the San Fernando Valley spread out before me -- with a thick brown haze hanging in the sky. Half the time the smog was so bad that I couldn't see the mountains just a short distance away.
@@scotpens Yeah, we moved there from Oregon in 1961. Many days in summer it was so bad I couldn't see to either end of our residential block, and we lived about in the middle. I'm in my mid-70s now with lung problems that I'm certain were caused from living around L.A. for about 40 years. The problem with newer cars with catalytic converters (since 1973 or 4) is that the pollution now is mostly not visible, but it includes acid generated by the converters and coming out the tailpipes.
I always thought that Ghia-bodied Turbine car looked just like a 1961 Ford Thunderbird. I was sure Elwood Engle had styled it. I thought the last turbine car was a 1976 Plymouth Volare. I didn't realize there was a 1980 Dodge Mirada that was also a turbine car. Great video!
Great video! The Turbine Car was an incredible machine. You did make one common mistake though. The US government didn't bail out Chrysler in 1980. They made a deal with the banks loaning the money to Chrysler guaranteeing repayment if Chrysler couldn't repay them. Luckily Chrysler recovered and was able to repay the loans with ease.
That's still a bailout; the government promised money to keep the lights on at Chrysler. That they weren't required to make good on that pledge doesn't change that.
I saw one traveling through Mound City, Illinois when I was in the 8th grade. At first I thought it was a '63 Thunderbird and then noted the tail lights as it went by. My friends would have been closer to believing me if I'd made up some story about seeing a UFO piloted by LBJ's dog over that I actually saw a Turbine Car.
I was born in 1964 in Grosse Pointe Farms, MI and raised in Detroit, MI. Car culture was a *huge* part of my growing-up time. I approve of your videos exploring it and other aspects of the automotive industry! And as a little girl, this was the car I wanted to have when I grew up.
When I was in the Navy in 64 I was at a A&W root beer stand and heard this car come in sounding like a jet. The guy was immediately swamped by all the guys there asking him all about it and getting him to open the hood I thought it looked better than the Tbird and was disappointed when it was cancelled
When I was a kid, one of those came down our block and EVERYBODY ran out to see it! It looked like a golden-glow scene from a Spielberg film about the 60's! It was the coolest thing I ever saw, AND HEARD! A few years later, I was at an Indy 500 where Andy Granatelli had one entered. It was a few laps ahead of everybody, then it broke down. They restricted the intake so much for the next year that I don't think they bothered with it anymore. All you hear when it flew buy was Whooooosh!
Wrong, Nazi engineer Dr Anselm Franz designed the Lycoming AGT-1500 gas turbine That powers the M1 Abrams. Chrysler had absolutely nothing to do with its design or manufacture.
No, it didn't... the Lycoming AGT-1500 gas turbine was designed by Nazi engineer Dr Anselm Franz who designed the engines for the Messerschmitt Me-262 and Bell UH1 and AH1 also the Boeing CH47 Chinook helicopters
I got to ride in one of these at the NY World’s Fair in 1964. Always loved it. My first car I owned in 1969 was a 1962 Ford Thunderbird convertible. If you look at the Turbine car, it was clearly obvious that it was designed by the same person who did the 61,62,63 Thunderbird.
"A grant from the EPA." The sort of thing the EPA would become known for. Coming down hard on small businesses with massive fines on technical infractions in order to drive them out of business, while giving grants to giant corporations to continue business as usual.
Now you know why the globalists invented things like the EPA. Weaken the West, ultimately destroying it. Make giant money more dominant every day. The Great Reset isn't some new idea that they've got up their sleeves, waiting to spring on the world one day. That's the cover story they invented so you won't notice that it's been going on for longer than any of us have been alive.
I didn't know a piece of hot climate headwear could produce thrust, much less thrust that could push a car! Way to go, turbans, you have a history of keeping heads cool *and* powering our cars! /j
Your introduction reminds me of a story about the Rover Jet-1 turbine powered car, built around 1950. When they were out testing it on public roads, because it had a turbine, and sounded like a turbine, whenever they drove past people, they would look up into the air, trying to find the jet that was making the noise.
Thank You so much for sharing such an Amazing invention in American Automotive History, and the Heartbreaking way those Cars were just destroyed and treated as scrap when they were Absolute Treasures! I'm an American and You taught Me something that I had Never known before Ypur Excellent Video! Thank You once again and please 🙏 keep up the Great work and continuing to educate others about Automotive Industry 😉👍
Growing up in Southfield, Michigan I got a chance to see a Chrysler Turbine car parked in a driveway down the street from my house,. It attracted quite a crowd.
I am pretty sure that old footage at 00:49 of a triple overpass highway is the intersection of 695 and Interstate 70 in Maryland - and it's still in use today!
I had a neighbor that was part of Chrysler's turbine experiment. The car was definitely cool. When they started the car, we neighbors all knew it. The car not only sounded cool... jet-like. It was a great looking car as well. It reminded me of a mid-sixties Thunderbird. That the car didn't go much beyond the mid-sixties was disappointing.
Great video, I didn't know about the early and the later cars. I have seen one of the limited-run turbine cars, first at the LA County Natural History Museum, and at the Petersen Museum (I believe they're the same car). Jay Leno has one in his collection and drives it on video. Jay also got to drive GM's turbine-powered Firebird III around Burbank airport with Michael Simcoe.
When I was in high school I got to see one of these running around in Downey, Cal., apparently on loan or lease to someone who lived in that area. I loved seeing and hearing it ! The other great experience in Downey was being able to sit in the Cobra Daytona coupe race car featured in the local Ford dealer's showroom. WOW !!!
WOW 2700+ views in 1 hr before loaded! Another amazing investigation, thks! the ring in the small finger of the italian designer... kiss my ring! XD Honneywell just produce turbines for tanks, hope they make a smaller version for smaller waights!
Thanks for explaining the advantages the turbines had over regular piston engines...most other videos just blame it on Chrysler chasing a fad (although that is certainly true to an extent)
I was SO disappointed by not having my Dad chosen to drive a Chrysler Turbine car, (of course I had entered his name into the "contest"), as I was only nine years old at the time. I was also very disappointed that they never made the car as a regular car to buy. As to the whereabouts of the Turbine cars that survived being crushed, one is owned by actor/comedian Jay Leno and was featured on his TH-cam channel, "Jay Leno's Garage", in the episode, "1963 Chrysler Turbine - Ultimate Edition", where he too goes over the history and legends of the vehicle and then drives it for a while .
One of the biggest thrills in my life was seeing a Turbine car on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA. As well as being an engineering wonder, it really is a very handsome vehicle. I would have loved to have driven one!
*Gasp* Simcity2013 Cities of Tomorrow music! Don't think I didn't notice. I'm very happy for all these videos, I'm going to a car show for my birthday and learning about the cars that I'll most likely see there is so much fun!
I'm so glad you made a new video! I was running out of interesting things to watch. I've heard a lot about the Chrysler Turbine Car. But I would watch a video of you describing my own 1996 Buick Roadmaster sedan to me. Even though I've practically rebuild it with everything I've done through the years I've owned it and I know every nut, bolt, dent and scratch that it has. It would still be interesting to hear you describe it with your knowledge and wit
Did you know that Chrysler wasn't the only one working on a turbine powered car? A couple of other carmakers also tried to make their own turbine car, but never put so much effort in it liek CHrysler did.
Did you also know the the Turbine Car went on a little world tour, and while in Mexico, the president took a drive while riding on tequila? You could practically throw every kind of substance in the car!
Ed do a video on the gm jet truck, rotary engines or thunderbirds
Yep; if you talk about turbine powered cars you can't ignore Rover (Jet 1 and such)!
Ed, as someone training to be an aircraft mechanic, although I haven't started working with any turbine engines, I feel confident enough in saying - this idea isn't horrible
Even FIAT developed a turbine car concept
I thought there was a production turbine Corvair, but after googling it was a flat 6 with a turbo?! In the 60s?
That last bit was heartbreaking. Even though I already knew the story, the thought of such a unique machine being crushed because the beancounters thought it best? Despicable.
agreed. they could have owners sign a waiver taking complete responsibility those cars are gems.
To many btch boy bean counters and not enough ✋ on engineers these days, and that plus unions torpedoed our Auto industry
Like the EV1 years later.
Eh, Mopar mo'problems
@@Jjrmtv In the sue-happy country called the United States of America? Good luck...
It was the summer of 1963, I was 16 (born in 1946). My second gas station attendant job, Texaco being my first (sorry two, too long stories). I remember that Wednesday, the slowest day of the gas station week and here this copper color beauty was driving right out of a Sci-Fi comic book. I had read about it and seen the pictures in the "car magazines" - but here it was - THE TURBINE CAR. A soft spoken man got out of the car - VERY unusual at a Full Service station. He told me how much Premium gas to put in the tank. Paid. Showed me around. Answered my questions. Then gave me a RIDE ! ! !
Cool story! I really don't think that he needed premium, tho. The turbines would run on anything that burned, including perfume and booze.
Wow thanks for sharing. That's just history beeing made right there!
I heard a story years ago (Motortrend has ran stories for years; the first time I remember reading anything about these cars was in 1983) about a housewife that was selected to drive one of these and she told her gas station attendant to put kerosene in; and he argued with her not knowing about the car.
How was the sound? I'm curious
Those were the days! Thanks, for recounting the tale. Amazing, American Car.
I’ve always thought that rear-ending a Nucleon would be a blast.
That's funny dad.
The insurance premiums would be low, but after a wreck like that, they'd mushroom.
And you thought the Ford Pinto was explosive.
Lol.
Realistically, you'd just end up with a really hot radioactive mess.
I inspected one of these when I was a boy in 1963 or 4. It stopped in the small town in South Dakota where we lived. The driver stated that 50 of them had been turned over to individuals to use and evaluate for a period of time that I cant remember. It made a big impact on me (a car crazy 14 year old kid) at the time.
Very cool John!
@@THROTTLEPOWER thanks🤓
@@Johnoines 👍👍
My day applied to be one of those test drivers but wasn’t selected - he and I were really disappointed! It would have been an amazing experience.
That should have read “my DAD”. (Fat fingers strikes again!)
When I was a kid I lived directly across the street from the Dearborn Heights, MI city hall. One day when I was out playing I saw one of these Chrysler Turbine cars go past my house and pull into the city hall parking lot and park. I was stunned! I’m guessing it was around 1963 or 64, sometime in that period. Years later I joined the Navy and became a jet engine mechanic. When I got out I was hired at Williams Research Corporation in Walled Lake, MI. They were and still are the worlds premier small turbine technology company responsible for developing the Tomahawk and Air Launched cruise missile engines. Founder Sam Williams was a Chrysler engineer in the 50s before starting Williams Research Corporation (now Williams International). Best place I ever worked in my entire career. I owe a lot to Sam Williams for hiring me to work there. These turbine cars would run just fine on diesel fuel.
I saw a documentary about these that said some of the engineers got a case of whiskey and poured it all in a Turbine, and drove it around the test track at 120 MPH. They were excited by that, but the older heads thought it was a waste of good whiskey.
Another time, they got a shitload of bottles of perfume, and the Turbine actually ran perfectly on it. The engineers tried every kind of liquid that'd burn that they could think of, and the test cars ran on every one.
Very cool!!!!!!!!!
I bet the emmissions were much lower.
Great story!
Those mad scientists a Dodge recently showcased a Charger electric muscle car with an ICE noise generator. I can imagine an OCD Williams Research turbine engineer secretly designing a small modern turboshaft engine to stuff under the hood to serve as an EV battery charger/short range supplemental propulsion engine/noise maker to give that EV Charger monster range.
It's Groundhod Day! If a '59 Caddy sees its tail fins shadow, it means six more weeks of winter.
Considering the size of those fins, it would mean an ice age.
No sarcasm there, my favorite car is the 59 Cadillac/Miller-Meteor hearse/ambulance/convertible.
More like Rodhog day..
Lol ☺
I had no idea that turbine program still limped into 1980. I thought they shut is all down and destroyed all evidence in the mid 60s. Tragic end, I remember from my earliest memories when the future looked like these. Instead, I grew up in the malaise era. Glad Leno has a running one.
This might interest you, if you long for turbines...
th-cam.com/video/gS2XwsIFVs0/w-d-xo.html
The Offspring of the turbine car still lives on in A1 Abrams around the world!
You could really say that its a different driving experience 😁
@@pjtfinland1794 Chrysler had absolutely nothing to do with the design or manufacture of the AGT-1500 gas turbine engine that powers the M1 Abrams.
The AGR-1500 was designed by former Nazi engineer Dr. Anselm Franz and was manufacturered by LYCOMING.
Franz designed the engines for the Messerschmitt Me-262 and the Bell UH1 and AH1 helicopters and the Boeing CH47 helicopters
@@sandervanderkammen9230 oh dear! And another misinformation that I had... But didn't chrysler military have something to do with either the turbine or the tank itself?
@@pjtfinland1794 The M1 Abrams was designed by German company _Krauss Maffei_ to U.S. Army Ordnance Department specifications.
General Motors and Chrysler Defense div. were the bidders to manufacturer the M1 in the United States.
For people who want more information, Steve Lehto wrote book about the turbine cars, and is probably a pretty good authority of what was what. Steve is a lawyer with his own YT channel, and a car guy on top of that. (He also wrote a book about the Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird- great reading!)
Steve is doing great work. Not just cars, but especially civil asset forfeiture, i.e. cash thefts on good people by law enforcement. I like Steve. He's one of the last voices of reason in a world of utter insanity and stupidity.
I knew about his TH-cam but i didn't know he was so much into cars he wrote books! That's so cool!
Funny enough, he only mentioned about his books on his channel today. I never knew.
@@KarlHamilton He mentioned his books a couple times on his VinWiki appearances, but he seems to be a fairly humble guy, so it's not a major surprise that he didn't mention the books on his personal channel.
Jay Leno owns a fully operational Chrysler Turbine Car as part of his personal collection, there's a video on TH-cam of him driving it as part of his "Jay Leno's Garage" series. Very interesting to see it in motion. The turbine noise is significant, but seems comparable to the road & wind noise generated by old cars. Ignorable to a degree once you get used to it. I myself got to see one of the turbine motors in an automotive museum in Cleveland, OH. They somehow seem both bigger and smaller than one would expect. Wonder if turbine engines could see a resurgence as an alternative fuel vehicle in the modern age?
A major setback about using a gas turbine even as a hybrid generator is that thermal efficiency goes down when made so small. You want the turbine blades to be as close to the housing walls as possible to stop air leaking backwards, but when your engine is so small, getting the right tolerances becomes a nightmarish task. So for safety reasons you leave more of a gap, and therefore you have a bigger percent of air leaking out. Heavier though they may be, the valves of piston engines ensures that the air taken in upon intake is still there for compression.
@@Appletank8 With modern engineering I can only imagine how much more efficiency we could squeeze out of the engine, or at least retrofit them all. Too bad most were destroyed. This car and the Dobler steam car are my two favorites in Jay Leno's collection.. just wow.
@@Nathriel
Eh, I doubt there's that much you can do there. Jet turbines are still being made for aircraft, and the M1 tank also uses a turbine powerplant. All indications over the 50 years of development since the Turbine Car cancelation is that turbine efficiency goes up with size, not down, which is a problem when confined to the hood of a car.
While there are few moving parts, what parts you do have are inevitably expensive due to the high heat and RPM the turbine blades must endure. Hell, even as a hybrid generator there's a problem in that generators often have to turn on and off multiple times as the car starts and stops, which is a problem because turbine start up is one of the most significant stressors in its lifecycle. The only alternative is to keep them running, which will save you blade life but cost a lot of fuel, in which case you might as well use a wankel.
I was a kid growing up in Cleveland, Ohio during that time. Their automotive museum was called the Thompson Auto Museum,....I moved away from Cleveland in 1977, and I still wonder if the museum is still around or has the same name. I used to go to it all the time,...and I know I have hundreds of "Kodak Insta-matic" snap shots in a closet in my house. I saw the Turbine car, and many antique ones from every era there. My most favorite thing to do when I was a kid, was to get my folks to take me there. Cleveland also hosted many auto shows, in their downtown, indoors arena. Those were every year, and they featured many custom cars, and ones designed for the TV shows of the day.
I actually, very briefly, rode in one of these Chrysler turbine cars at the 1964 New York World's Fair. It was at the Chrysler Pavillion and families could wait on line to take the car for a quick drive around the building. Each ride lasted about two minutes.
The other major player with turbine cars was the British company Rover. Rover started playing with turbines in the early 50's also. By 1964, they ran a turbine powered BRM (I think) at LeMans. Rover also gave up on turbines, but probably more because of money problems than gov't regulations.
As always, Ed, your videos are absolutely great (and funny)!
BMW produced the first gas turbine vehicles in 1944...
When Frank Whittle and Power Jets ran out of money, because the Air Ministry had "cold feet", the Govt. gave the work to Rover, which subsequently passed it on to RR.
@@john1703 Frank Whittle made alot of enemies in the British aircraft industry, in particular the Royal Aircraft Establishment after plagerizing the work of A.A Griffiths the Chief of Engine Development.
@@john1703 The real geniuses of the British jet engine program was Adrian Lombard at Rover and Stanley Hooker at Rolls-Royce.
Can't think of anything that would be wrong with a Rover built turbine vehicle🤣
Really excellent work, Ed! I remember walking around one in an airport parking lot in the 60s. Really cool!
Back in the 60s, I'm not certain of the exact date for I was a small child, I was at the Reno Car show and from the corner of the floor of the large building I heard the sound of a jet engine firing up. It was the Chrysler Turbine Car. I did not get to see it up close but the sound was unmistakable, and I always had wanted to ride in this vehicle. Jay Leno's garage TH-cam channel featured this car in one of its episodes, for Jay Leno owns a rare surviving example.
Jay's channel is beyond belief. Is there any car he doesn't have? If I did mushrooms and dreamed up a car, I'd probably get a notification from Jay's Garage the next day, and it'd be on the video.
Jay not only owns one of the two surviving cars in private hands, he also owns a turbine powered motorcycle. Nobody is cooler than Jay.
@@TheOtherBill He also had his own Turbine car made, I believe with an engine out of a helicopter. It has a custom body with Corvette suspension. It's so loud you have to use headset radios to be able to talk inside of it.
@@benkeysor7576 The EcoJet!
Unless you were there, it is so hard to imagine America in the early 1960s. John Kennedy, John Glenn, the future. The Bronze Beauty from Chrysler was the epitome of that time. So great to see it again. Thanks, Ed!
Hey, Ed. A great history lesson on these wonderful cars. FYI, those turbine nozzles on the rear near the taillights are not exhaust ports -- they are back up lights. The cars had rectangular dual exhaust that stopped just short of the rear valance.
Sad what happened to most of the limited run vehicles. They are essentially national treasures.
Ed, you've rapidly become a foremost expert throughout this endeavor. Superb work, man.
For a time, I lived mere blocks from the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, making an annual membership sensible. Previously, I'd been on many visits there throughout my youth (just about every SE Michigan school makes field trips there,) but suddenly I could just walk over and stroll at my own pace, rather than trying to see everything in a single visit...which is impossible. I'm thrilled you were able to visit, sparking new ideas and topics.
This car, on display as long as I can recall, always made a deep impression on me. A fave for decades, even in light of the storied Kennedy Lincoln mere yards away.
Keep up the great work! You consistently reside up there in my Top 10 TH-cam channels.
Grew up in a Ford family in Dearborn MI., just down the street from design engineer Bill Brownlie. I remember vividly the day Mr. Brownlie brought the newly completed bronze turbine car home. In a neighborhood that was rather jaded to new vehicles, it still made a tremendous impact. She was whisper quiet with an absence of vibration glinting past in the sun. I felt it was one of those rare moments when there was a sense of community. Those were special times; now just nostalgia.
When the future seemed unlimited and optimism reigned!
Another awesome and informative video! I've heard the story of the copper colored cars many times, but didn't realize how extensive the whole program was! 👍
Another excellent thorough report. Thanks Ed!
This is the only channel where I always hit the like button before the video even starts.
They have one in the Gilmore auto museum in Michigan. Very cool.
Also one in the Museum of Transport in St. Louis.
Jay Leno owns the only one in private hands, and he said you could even run it on cologne if you wanted too.
It was not all a waste; what was left of the program actually produced the drivetrain for the Abrams tank
That's not true, Chrysler had absolutely nothing to do with the development or production of the Lycoming AGT-1500.
The engine was designed by Nazi engineer Dr. Anselm Franz who also designed the engines for the Messerschmitt Me-262, Bell UH1, AH1 and Boeing CH47 Chinook helicopters.
Franz was the head of gas turbine engines and Vice President of Lycoming.
@@sandervanderkammen9230 have you lost your mind?
@@kevinbarry71 No, you are obviously not familiar with the history of the Lycoming AGT-1500 gas turbine engine.
Dr. Anselm Franz developed an enlarged version of the Jumo -004 Orkan turbojet called the 109-012, this became the core gas generator for the GT 250 gas turbine tank engine, it was intended to complete again the BMW GT 101 tank engine first tested in a Panther tank in 1944.
Franz moved to America after the war as part of Operation Paperclip and went to work for Lycoming, work on the GT250 resumed as the Lycoming PLT-25 and tested in a M-48 Patton tank.
The PLT-25 became a U.S. Government program in 1965 and was renamed the TF-15 for the Navy and AGT-1500 for the U.S. Army.
Dr. Franz would become the vice-president of Avco-Lycoming.
Any questions?
@@sandervanderkammen9230 But still, among all the participants in the competition, only Chrysler Defence submitted the layout of the tank with a gas turbine engine. As far as I know, before that there were no tanks in mass production with a gas turbine engine. Only inspired by Abrams, the Soviet Union soon after that created their T-80 with the same type of engine.
So it is quite possible that they still applied some experience with such engines.
@@arround1 There were 4 different engines proposed and tested during the XM1 trials 3 Diesel engines and the Lycoming AGT-1500 .
The first production tank powered by a Gas turbine engine is Sweden's S-Tank powered by a Caterpillar gas turbine engine in 1967.
Gas turbine tanks are nothing new in 1975, the first was the German Panther II in 1944, powered by a BMW GT 101 (based on the -003 turbojet engines that powered the Arado AR-234 jet bomber)
And second the British FV200 Centurion in 1954, powered by a Parsons 2979 gas turbine.
Lycoming originally installed the Junkers Jumo GT-250 aka "PLT-25" in a surplus M48 Patton tank in 1968.
It was submitted for consideration as the possible powerplant for the Krauss Maffei _KpfPz 70_ the American version called the MBT-70 which involved into the Krauss Maffei XM815 and eventually renamed the XM1 program.
Ford/FMC and Krauss Maffei dropped out of XM1 contract submissions leaving General Motors and Chrysler as the only bidders.
The Army picked the winner of trials test which was the Diesel powered GM version.
Absolutely amazing story! I was quite surprised to hear about the later prototypes that they managed to make. Thanks for the video.
A well deserved 1,000 likes so far!
That was the most detailed turbine car video I've seen. I had no idea they were still working in it in the eighties.
Keep doing these 50s and 60s history car videos. They are so good!
Excellent video, Ed. Thanks so much for your research and hard work posting these car videos for us to enjoy.
My 1975 Plymouth scamp shows just how far the Chrysler Corp. fell in just 10 years. Love the video! And as usual, hi ed.
I really enjoy this video, I didn't know beyond the 63 copper turbine car the history of the turbine for Chrysler. Or that Chrysler continued producing limited versions for 30 years. Your videos never cease to amaze me!
It’s crazy to think that Jay Leno has the only one in private hands and it’s also the only running one if I remember correctly. But if anyone was going to own it besides me I’m glad it’s Jay, because he actually loves the car and it’s historical significance.
Toujours un plaisir de voir tes épisodes!!
Wonderful. One of my favourite cars ever. Innovative and gorgeous. Heartbreaking to see them being scrapped
I see the '55 Chevy Biscayne show car in the junkyard!
It was rescued and underwent a 22 yr. restoration!
The exhausts were not in the two taillight pods. The backup lights were in those. The exhausts exited below the fascia panel under the rear bumper.
He did make thst clear.
If you watch the video where he mentions that, the word ‘Fake’ pops up bottom-right.
2:38 That picture of a Renault 21 with the huge engine (from a boat?) is hilarious.
One of the best episodes of the automotive history series! Keep it up!
It would have been really nice to have some of these cars still left driving around the roads of the world
love this channel, really helped me discover my love of classic cars.
My neighbor's father worked on the fuel delivery system for that car. That engineer also had one for 3 months.
The fuel economy and very poor throttle response were his biggest issues.
As always, Wicked video.
Volvo developed a turbine engine for cars around 1980. It had a ceramic turbine disc and was designed to deliver 150 hp. A prototype was fitted in a Volvo 164 and was driven around town in Malmö, Sweden. The team doing this was built around Professor Kronogård, who designed the turbine engine used in the famous (?) Swedish, turretless S-tank. I worked there for a few weeks in 1980 as an engineering student, doing some programming work on their VAX computer…
Since Ed is so Interested in weird things in automotive from days gone by I'd love to see him do a dive into the large scale sterling engines that where tested in the 70's-80's the Dodge D150 that was owned and used by NASA was just recently found and put up for sale.
Great video Ed. As gear grinding as the 70s emission regulations were, air quality in some areas like Los Angeles was terrible. I was told after arriving at LAX, your eyes would immediately start stinging and watering from the smog. Auto shows that decade were hugely disappointing.
I'm a lifetime L.A. resident and old enough to remember how bad the air was 50 years ago. Driving north on the 405 freeway through Sepulveda Pass, I'd come over the crest and see the San Fernando Valley spread out before me -- with a thick brown haze hanging in the sky. Half the time the smog was so bad that I couldn't see the mountains just a short distance away.
@@scotpens Yeah, we moved there from Oregon in 1961. Many days in summer it was so bad I couldn't see to either end of our residential block, and we lived about in the middle. I'm in my mid-70s now with lung problems that I'm certain were caused from living around L.A. for about 40 years. The problem with newer cars with catalytic converters (since 1973 or 4) is that the pollution now is mostly not visible, but it includes acid generated by the converters and coming out the tailpipes.
Great video- that footage at the end was absolutely crushing
I thought it was smashing.
I always thought that Ghia-bodied Turbine car looked just like a 1961 Ford Thunderbird. I was sure Elwood Engle had styled it. I thought the last turbine car was a 1976 Plymouth Volare. I didn't realize there was a 1980 Dodge Mirada that was also a turbine car. Great video!
The front and rear styling of the Turbine Car was strongly influenced by Ford's 1958 La Galaxie concept car, also designed by Engel.
Great video! The Turbine Car was an incredible machine. You did make one common mistake though. The US government didn't bail out Chrysler in 1980. They made a deal with the banks loaning the money to Chrysler guaranteeing repayment if Chrysler couldn't repay them. Luckily Chrysler recovered and was able to repay the loans with ease.
R.I.P. Chrysler 1924 - 1998
That's still a bailout; the government promised money to keep the lights on at Chrysler. That they weren't required to make good on that pledge doesn't change that.
I saw one traveling through Mound City, Illinois when I was in the 8th grade. At first I thought it was a '63 Thunderbird and then noted the tail lights as it went by. My friends would have been closer to believing me if I'd made up some story about seeing a UFO piloted by LBJ's dog over that I actually saw a Turbine Car.
I was born in 1964 in Grosse Pointe Farms, MI and raised in Detroit, MI. Car culture was a *huge* part of my growing-up time. I approve of your videos exploring it and other aspects of the automotive industry! And as a little girl, this was the car I wanted to have when I grew up.
When I was in the Navy in 64 I was at a A&W root beer stand and heard this car come in sounding like a jet. The guy was immediately swamped by all the guys there asking him all about it and getting him to open the hood
I thought it looked better than the Tbird and was disappointed when it was cancelled
Hallelujah. A new upload from Ed. It's even about the coolest car ever made.
You once said when you did your video on the Australian auto industry that it needed a part 2. Can you please do one?
Sadly there is nothing left to report.
@@moestrei The Mad Max car!!
When I was a kid, one of those came down our block and EVERYBODY ran out to see it! It looked like a golden-glow scene from a Spielberg film about the 60's! It was the coolest thing I ever saw, AND HEARD! A few years later, I was at an Indy 500 where Andy Granatelli had one entered. It was a few laps ahead of everybody, then it broke down. They restricted the intake so much for the next year that I don't think they bothered with it anymore. All you hear when it flew buy was Whooooosh!
Jay Leno has one in his collection and he drives it on one of his garage videos
Great remake video, you really did more digging into this story. Thank You good work!
Chrysler did get to series produce turbine powered vehicles, the M1 Abrams.
Wrong, Nazi engineer Dr Anselm Franz designed the Lycoming AGT-1500 gas turbine That powers the M1 Abrams.
Chrysler had absolutely nothing to do with its design or manufacture.
Dr Anselm Franz designed the engines for the Messerschmitt Me-262... the
BELL UH1, BELL AH1 and Boeing CH47 Chinook helicopters too
Merci beaucoup pour ce très intéressant documentaire 👍🙏
At least Chrysler’s Turbine development lead to the M1 Abrams motor.
No, it didn't... the Lycoming AGT-1500 gas turbine was designed by Nazi engineer Dr Anselm Franz who designed the engines for the Messerschmitt Me-262 and Bell UH1 and AH1 also the Boeing CH47 Chinook helicopters
I got to ride in one of these at the NY World’s Fair in 1964. Always loved it. My first car I owned in 1969 was a 1962 Ford Thunderbird convertible. If you look at the Turbine car, it was clearly obvious that it was designed by the same person who did the 61,62,63 Thunderbird.
"A grant from the EPA." The sort of thing the EPA would become known for. Coming down hard on small businesses with massive fines on technical infractions in order to drive them out of business, while giving grants to giant corporations to continue business as usual.
Now you know why the globalists invented things like the EPA. Weaken the West, ultimately destroying it. Make giant money more dominant every day. The Great Reset isn't some new idea that they've got up their sleeves, waiting to spring on the world one day. That's the cover story they invented so you won't notice that it's been going on for longer than any of us have been alive.
Another excellent video! I did not realise development carried on into the 1970's.
I believe that Jay Leon’s Garage has an episode with one.
I didn't know a piece of hot climate headwear could produce thrust, much less thrust that could push a car! Way to go, turbans, you have a history of keeping heads cool *and* powering our cars! /j
Why does the fate of the Turbine car sound a lot like the fate of the first GM EV.?
That's an amazing car, I've seen it in person a few times and have always admired it!!
Great job, Thanks
Fantastic history Ed, love the story of the Chrysler Turbine! Thanks for what you do, keep 'em coming!
Your introduction reminds me of a story about the Rover Jet-1 turbine powered car, built around 1950. When they were out testing it on public roads, because it had a turbine, and sounded like a turbine, whenever they drove past people, they would look up into the air, trying to find the jet that was making the noise.
BMW built the first gas turbine vehicles in 1944... and the first turbine powered tank.
Thank You so much for sharing such an Amazing invention in American Automotive History, and the Heartbreaking way those Cars were just destroyed and treated as scrap when they were Absolute Treasures! I'm an American and You taught Me something that I had Never known before Ypur Excellent Video! Thank You once again and please 🙏 keep up the Great work and continuing to educate others about Automotive Industry 😉👍
Thank you Ed for your brilliant insights and information as usual.
Growing up in Southfield, Michigan I got a chance to see a Chrysler Turbine car parked in a driveway down the street from my house,. It attracted quite a crowd.
and here I thought it was a bad day. Love your videos
I am pretty sure that old footage at 00:49 of a triple overpass highway is the intersection of 695 and Interstate 70 in Maryland - and it's still in use today!
Great video Ed!! I've always been fascinated by Chryslers Turbine car. Thanks for sharing this very informative video!!! 👍👍🙂
Back when Chrysler was offering the Turbine cars for testing my uncle was offered one to test. He turned it down, boy were we disappointed.
I had a neighbor that was part of Chrysler's turbine experiment. The car was definitely cool. When they started the car, we neighbors all knew it.
The car not only sounded cool... jet-like. It was a great looking car as well. It reminded me of a mid-sixties Thunderbird. That the car didn't go much beyond the mid-sixties was disappointing.
Great video, I didn't know about the early and the later cars. I have seen one of the limited-run turbine cars, first at the LA County Natural History Museum, and at the Petersen Museum (I believe they're the same car). Jay Leno has one in his collection and drives it on video. Jay also got to drive GM's turbine-powered Firebird III around Burbank airport with Michael Simcoe.
Always look forward to these.
When I was in high school I got to see one of these running around in Downey, Cal., apparently on loan or lease to someone who lived in that area. I loved seeing and hearing it ! The other great experience in Downey was being able to sit in the Cobra Daytona coupe race car featured in the local Ford dealer's showroom. WOW !!!
Saw them occasionally when I was a kid living in Detroit. Absolutely loved them.
I was fortunate and got to win a ride in the turbine car at the NY World's Fair. It was awesome.
Enjoyed the video, I wonder what was the improved gas mileage?
WOW 2700+ views in 1 hr before loaded! Another amazing investigation, thks! the ring in the small finger of the italian designer... kiss my ring! XD Honneywell just produce turbines for tanks, hope they make a smaller version for smaller waights!
Thanks for explaining the advantages the turbines had over regular piston engines...most other videos just blame it on Chrysler chasing a fad (although that is certainly true to an extent)
The Chrysler turbine car is utterly beautiful. Brilliant entertaining video as usual. Well done Ed.
Saw one of these as a kid in Livonia, MIchigan. Loved it !
Nice sound effects! Loved how the jet sound went from one side to the other!
I was SO disappointed by not having my Dad chosen to drive a Chrysler Turbine car, (of course I had entered his name into the "contest"), as I was only nine years old at the time. I was also very disappointed that they never made the car as a regular car to buy.
As to the whereabouts of the Turbine cars that survived being crushed, one is owned by actor/comedian Jay Leno and was featured on his TH-cam channel, "Jay Leno's Garage", in the episode, "1963 Chrysler Turbine - Ultimate Edition", where he too goes over the history and legends of the vehicle and then drives it for a while .
Woa i never knew it even existed! I love the humour you put in. Thanks for making these, super interesting! Subbed
Excellent job Ed. I can sympathize with the engineers
I'm still waiting for those flying cars they touted in the fifties. Ed, that would make a great video for you to do.
One of the biggest thrills in my life was seeing a Turbine car on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA. As well as being an engineering wonder, it really is a very handsome vehicle. I would have loved to have driven one!
*Gasp* Simcity2013 Cities of Tomorrow music! Don't think I didn't notice.
I'm very happy for all these videos, I'm going to a car show for my birthday and learning about the cars that I'll most likely see there is so much fun!
Deeper than the others on this compelling topic. Spot-on, Ed.....
Heartbreaking end to a great, informative video.
A new video.
Great!!!
Beautiful cars and that copper color looks magnificent
I'm so glad you made a new video! I was running out of interesting things to watch. I've heard a lot about the Chrysler Turbine Car. But I would watch a video of you describing my own 1996 Buick Roadmaster sedan to me. Even though I've practically rebuild it with everything I've done through the years I've owned it and I know every nut, bolt, dent and scratch that it has. It would still be interesting to hear you describe it with your knowledge and wit
Where does your intro music come from? I reminds me of the jingle from the AM radio station 93 KHJ Los Angeles.