The Chrysler Turbine Car program is best remembered for the unique 1962-1964 two-door sedans that were tested by the public. But there is much more to the story. The start of the turbine car program came in 1954 in the form of a Plymouth coupe that had been undergoing testing at Chrysler Engineering Proving Grounds. The turbine used was a 100 SHP (shaft horsepower) unit that was being used to fix two problems that are always present when attempting to combine a production automobile with a turbine engine: exhaust gas temperature (EGT) and and fuel consumption. By developing a regenerator, heat was extracted from the exhaust and used to heat up gas before the combustion phase, greatly reducing the fuel consumption. A similar engine was put into a 1955 Plymouth for further testing, and in 1956, a Plymouth Sedan made a cross-country journey using mostly gasoline, with some diesel being used.
In 1962 the CR2A gas turbine was installed into Dodge “Turbo” Darts and Plymouth “Turbo” Fury for testing acceleration lag times. Acceleration lag is the time between throttle position being selected and the point where the engine catches up. In the 1952 cars, it took seven seconds. By 1962, it was about a second. Around this time period the Chrysler Turbine cars were being built by Ghia in Turin, Italy. Fifty of them were built and tested over two years by over 200 drivers to determine production feasibility. After the Turbine Car test ended, Chrysler collected the cars back up. Nine exist out of the fifty, the remainder were destroyed.
But the turbine program did not end there. Deep in the recesses of Chrysler, a team was still messing with turbines. They had reduced the acceleration lag to nearly unnoticeable. A 1964 Fury was the next car, then the prototype Dodge Charger, and three different 1973 B-body cars, Sensing that they could have production ready in moments, Chrysler built what ended up being the last uniquely-bodied Turbine prototype. Mostly it’s a 1977 Chrysler LeBaron T-Top, but the nosecone and front end are unique. This was more of a show car than anything else as Chrysler had other plans for turbine engine testing.
The last four turbine cars, three Dodge Aspen sedans and one Dodge Mirada coupe, were used for testing purposes by the Department of Energy after they gave Chrysler a grant to study the cars. They were tested in the Washington, D.C. area to determine if a turbine’s NOx (nitrogen oxide) emissions could be reduced enough to be a cleaner alternative to a piston engine. Unfortunately for everyone involved, this was right about when Chrysler hit the financial skids and the program was abandoned after the program was deemed to be financially risky.
Even though they contracted the engine itself out to Lycoming, the M1 Abrams probably belongs in this history of Chrysler turbine vehicles.