If there’s one thing that car manufacturers like to do, it’s to make sure their cars can go fast. And in the era after WWII when jets and their turbines were the new and exciting prospects in the world of speed, it only made sense to try and strap the two together to make a car that had the possibility of going very fast. Though the most well known Turbine car is Chrysler’s version—they had the only version that was actually driven by the public—they were far from the only company to experiment with turbine propulsion.
Rover’s JET1 Turbine Car Paved the Way For The Rest
Just a few years after the end of WWII in 1949-1950 the Rover company in England became the first to successfully put together a gas turbine car with their JET1 prototype. After some refining for better aerodynamics, the car was able to reach an impressive 152 miles an hour on a speed test. Though only one of these prototypes were actually made, Rover still gets to hold the title of the first.
The Fiat Turbina: The Mid-Engined and Sleek Turbine Car
While Rover was in the process of building their JET1, over on the continent, the Italian Fiat was making its own investigation into the feasibility of a gas turbine powered car engine. Their result was the exceedingly sleek Fiat Turbina prototype, which was first displayed in the 1954 Turin Motor Show. Unlike Rover, who initially put their turbine into the body of one of their existing Rover 75 model types, the bodywork was made special for the Turbina. It was wind tunnel tested and had a low drag coefficient which gave it the possibility of incredible speed, with the estimated top speed given by Fiat as 250 km/h, which is roughly 155 mph.
Unfortunately, the Turbina’s gas turbine engine wasn’t perfected, and it was prone to overheating. Because of this the single prototype was put on the shelf, and remains on display at the Automobile Museum of Turin.
A Land Speed Shooting Star from Renault: The Étoile Filante
Not wanting to be left behind, Renault decided in 1954 that they would also make a gas turbine powered car of their own—this one with an eye on breaking the land speed record for turbine cars. Their turbine car was called the Étoile Filante which translates to the Shooting Star. And the name was apt. Renault took their shooting star to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah to put it to the test. In an impressive display, the Étoile Filante shot up to an impressive 191 mph, securing the record for those rare cars with turbine engines.
Though the car did secure the record, after appearing in auto shows all over the world in the late 50s, the Étoile Filante prototype was also been left to the world of history.
The 1963 Chrysler Turbine Car: The One That Almost Made It
The gas turbine car most familiar to the typical gearhead is Chrysler’s version. As Rover, Fiat, and Renault developed and then abandoned their prototype turbine cars in the 1950s, Chrysler pushed onwards. Chrysler first began looking into turbine engines during WWII in relation to the war effort. When the war was over, the natural thought was to try and put one of these turbine engines into a car. They were actually a car company, after all.
In some ways the cars were simpler than a typical piston engine because as Car and Driver put it, they were “devoid of cooling systems, mufflers, pistons, valves, carburetors, and the need for gasoline.” The gas turbine engine could run on just about anything from kerosene or diesel to vodka. What they didn’t particularly like, however, was the leaded fuel that was the standard gasoline available in the U.S. at the time.
The first Chrysler turbine car prototype that was ready in October 1953 was encapsulated in the body of one of their 1954 Plymouth models. Over the better part of a decade Chrysler ran through and extensively tested multiple gas turbine car prototypes, including a one in the body of a 1956 Plymouth that was driven from coast-to-coast from NYC to LA, and required no repairs related to the engine on the whole trip.
The People’s Turn: The 45 Cars That Actually Got Driven
After the decade of development, multiple turbine prototypes and a press tour, Chrysler was finally ready to release a turbine car to the public. 50 copies of the iconic “turbine bronze” Chrysler Turbine Car were built by 1964. Though the turbine itself was designed by Chrysler in the U.S., the iconic body was hand built in Italy by Carrozzeria Ghia, the design firm that was also responsible for the look of some of the most iconic European cars, including some by Ferrari, Jaguar, VW and Alfa Romeo.
45 of the Chrysler Turbine Cars were driven by members of the public for three-month stints. This is the first and only turbine car that was given such extensive testing. And though the public appreciated the smooth ride and general lack of maintenance, the gas turbine car had other problems. It was slow to accelerate, complicated to start, loud, and thirsty; with poor gas mileage. Collectively, however, the cars put on over a million miles and proved that while the gas turbine car may not be the best option, it was both feasible and reliable.
Despite nearly 3 decades of development and seven generations of gas turbine engines, the poor fuel efficiency put the final nail in the coffin in 1979 for the Chrysler turbine car program. A handful of the Chrysler Turbine Cars still exist in museums, with Jay Leno owning one of the few running models.
The Future of Turbine Cars: A Possible Electric Dynamo
Though turbine cars are very much a thing of the past, they haven’t been forgotten entirely. Jaguar came up with their C-X75 hybrid-electric concept car in 2010 that used “two diesel-fed micro gas turbines” instead of a traditional piston engine to recharge the motors. Though this car remained a prototype, it was an interesting experiment in whether or not there really is a place for gas turbines in the automotive world. We haven’t given up hope for our turbine car of the future, and we look forward to seeing where turbines will pop up again in the automotive world.
