10 Incredible Vintage Concept Cars

June 30, 2019

5. Chrysler Turbine Car

Hemmings

Turbine jets in passenger vehicles aren’t usually a good idea. That being said, it’s still fun to experiment with them (the MTT Turbine Superbike is a good example). Whether the Chrysler Turbine Car is truly a concept car is up for debate: 50 were built and tested by 203 drivers between 1963 and 1966. Between all of these drivers, over a million miles were covered by the cars. All but nine of these were destroyed, two are kept by Chrysler, five are in museums, and two are owned by private collectors.

An up-close look at the turbine engine.
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The main advantage of the turbine engine, the A-831, was that it could run on diesel, unleaded fuel, kerosene, and jet fuel. These are all confirmed to work, while Chrysler also said it could run on furnace oil and vegetable oils. Then Mexican President, Adolfo Lopez Mateos, ran one on tequila. Despite running well, the engines weren’t without their problems, which eventually led to the concept not reaching production. The engines wouldn’t fire at high altitudes, it required eight steps to start, and made a ton of noise. There was also the problem that leaded gasoline would damage the engine, and this was by far and away the most common fuel at the time.

Hemmings

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