A small, 7 1/2 x 7 1/2 inch brochure of the Chrysler Turbine car. Fifty of these elegantly styled cars were built to test the feasibility of a turbine engine in an automotive use. They were loaned out to "real" people around the country for three months at a time. I remember seeing, and hearing, one pass us on the "old road" to Stony Creek back when they were in the hands of a few private citizens. The color was very metallic and in the sun almost looked like fire. It sound was almost that of a jet plane. I've scanned this 12 page booklet large enough so the text is able to be read when you click on the images. For the Wiki on this Elwood Engel designed, Ghia-built car, and its very cool powerplant, click here, or for the AllPar.com story click here.
S C A L E M O D E L O D D I T Y :
As soon as I saw this 1/43 scale model, I started scratching my head. Did Chrysler really make a convertible version of the Turbine car? I've never seen one in photos, never read about one either. Of course, Hollywood may possibly have made a fake one for a movie at one time or another. What I'm positive though, is that if Chrysler DID make one, they would never have painted it bright chromium yellow with a gray and blue interior, lol. I just had to buy this to add to my "oddities" collection. Plus it was really cheap and the proportions are pretty much perfect except for the lack of a roof. And that color.
I'm surprised no one else has commented on this -- I went to high school with the son of a local Chrysler dealer. He usually drove to school in a Simca 1000, if you can believe it. Until one day, he showed up driving a Chrysler Turbine Car. Well, you can probably imagine the fuss that created in a New Jersey high school parking lot in 1965!
ReplyDeleteTo me the sound reminded me of a shop vacuum!
I love the 1/43 but who thought this was a real car. Or maybe they thought they'd improve on it. I've seen stills from a movie where a Turbine Car painted white with a big number on it was in some sort of auto race. It had to have been in one of the magazines from the period or perhaps it's in the Crestline 50 Years of Chrysler. I'll check on that when I get home!
Paul, NYC
i've seen that white one too, now that you mention it. was it one of the cars in it's a Mad, Mad, Mad World? I love that movie, but always space out the cars in it, there were so many stars!
ReplyDeletei can't imagine a high-school parking lot with a Turbine in it. Definitely the cool kid!
I'm not OLD enough to remember these cars on the street like the rest of you guys! lol! But I have seen them in person and have always been intrigued by their design. The styling always reminded me of the 61-63 T'birds - but in reverse - the headlights are so similar to the T'bird's taillights!
ReplyDeleteJoking aside, it is too bad development was continued on this engine design, we'll never know where it might have led.
Jaguar is using 2 micro turbines in it's hybrid supercar being shown in Paris. The C-X75. Very interesting idea.
ReplyDeletePX SAID HE WAS OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER THESE CAR, WELL I'M ALMOST OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER THE HORSE AND BUGGY. DID YOU EVER GO ON A HAYRIDE?
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GRANNY
CASEY, I POSTED SOMETHING ON YOUR CONTINETAL POST. A SHORT FUNNY STORY. FOR ME IT WAS FUNNY.
ReplyDeleteGRANNY
Sorry for "it's" instead of "its." I know better.
ReplyDeleteI've seen the Turbine convertible in red, too.
The white Turbine with the number was in a movie about racing I think or at least racing was a big part of it. It's A Mad (4x) World was in 1962 -- I think that the newest cars are 62s. I know Milton Berle has a 62 Imperial Convertible (a car I LOVE) and there are a number of other 62 Chrysler products.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad Chrysler wouldn't spend the money to keep all 50 cars in the country, although I wonder where parts for them would come from which they would likely need after almost 50 years! I suppose that besides economics there are the parts and liability issues -- the ones GM faced with the electric cars (EV1?).
And yes, the boy that drove the Turbine Car was, to me, a lowly nerd, the cool kid -- not so much when he was driving the Simca!
Paul, NYC
Paul: you're probably right about the movie year. I've seen it a few times, and it's actually one of my favorite movies. The cars for one thing, but I love all the stars in it and it's just a generally fun movie all the way around. I love the idea of driving through the desert too. I've done it a couple of times, but not since the early 80s.
ReplyDeleteIn 1974 I drove my 67 Skylark convertible across the desert for my first visit to LA -- I drove from NYC to LA in four days -- I had to stay overnight in Barstow because the couple I'd met that summer at Fire Island wasn't expecting me until the next day! I'll never forget noticing the different light in Barstow -- I'd never seen anything like it in the east.
ReplyDeletePaul, NYC
Chrysler never built a Turbine car convertible, although the diecast is a very cool phantom. Another color, check that, almost ANY other color would make it even cooler.
ReplyDeleteThe white #5 appeared in the 1963 movies, "The Lively Set" starring James Darren and Pamela Tiffin.
link
Pardon the bad link above, but a search of the movie title will bring it right up.
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