Although inline and V-configuration piston engines were well established by the middle of the last century, automakers continued to experiment with other engine forms, including radial piston engines, rotaries and jet-inspired turbines. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler each developed automotive turbine engines, but Chrysler took them the furthest, refining seven generations of gas turbine engines between 1954 and 1981. The most famous examples of Chrysler's turbine engineering were 55 metallic bronze two-door hardtops, whose bodies were hand-built by Italy's Carrozzeria Ghia in 1963 and 1964.
Chrysler engineers publicized their early turbine engine work by driving a 1962 Dodge Dart sedan, powered by a third-generation CR2A turbine, from New York to Los Angeles without issue in four days, while running the car on gasoline, diesel, kerosene and JP4 jet fuel. The promotional film made after the drive concluded with the following: "The turbine engine has moved out of the laboratory and onto the highway; another step forward from the forward-looking Chrysler Corporation."
That step would put 50 of those Chryslers in the driveways of 203 lucky Americans for a short time. In the February 1992 issue of Special Interest Autos
magazine, automotive historian Michael Lamm explained the idea behind the field test: "After each three-month trial, Chrysler would gather information, sift reactions, and study how well gas turbines compared with conventional piston engines. Were they reliable? Could they compete in terms of performance and fuel economy? What were the various pros and cons? Most important: Would the public accept gas turbine automobiles either alongside or instead of conventional cars?"
These coupes' two-stage gas turbine engines were fourth generation designs designated A-831. The A-831's vertical-plane ceramic regenerators, visible on both sides of the burner, took heat from the turbine's exhaust and fed it into the incoming air to control the unit's internal temperature and pre-heat the air for maximum efficiency; a single nozzle injector introduced fuel.
With its 4:1 compression ratio, this engine made the equivalent of 130hp at 3,600 rpm, as measured at the output shaft, as well as 425-lbs.ft. of torque at stall speed. The turbine's idle speed was roughly 8,000 rpm, and full throttle was a dramatic 50,000 rpm.
Lamm continued, "The gas turbine is an extremely simple engine and contains only 20 percent as many parts--moving or otherwise--as a piston V-8. A turbine has no pistons, no valves, no crankshaft, rockers or so forth. There's also no radiator or cooling system.... A turbine weighs a quarter to half as much as the equivalent V-8. A gas turbine can burn virtually any combustible fuel, so at least in theory, it could help wean a nation's economy off fossil fuels. This type of powerplant also runs extremely cleanly." On the debit side, he noted the higher costs of materials, turbine lag, the lack of engine braking and comparably poor fuel economy (roughly 11.5 mpg) at part throttle.
This Turbine coupe public program ran from October 29, 1963, through early January 1966, racking up more than a million test miles; Chrysler was forced to destroy all but nine cars to avoid paying hefty import duties. The company still owns three, and one of those three still runs on its original gas turbine engine. Despite years of further study, Chrysler's turbine development was dropped in 1981 due to lack of funding.
This article originally appeared in the May, 2008 issue of Hemmings Motor News.
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