Retrospective: Automobiles and aeroplanes: Chrysler

Chrysler didn't give up on the hemispherical combustion chamber design, however, seeing its potential for road car use with its efficient combustion and protection against heat losses. The layout was used in its Firepower V8 of 1951, effectively the first Hemi unit, though it didn't take that name at the time.

Conversely, Chrysler also looked into aeroplane technology for use in its road cars - and specifically the then-new gas turbine engines, which could run on unleaded petrol, diesel, kerosene or jet fuel, and had fewer moving parts than piston engines, thus promising potentially better reliability and smoothness. Though it concluded that gas turbines would be too expensive to develop and manufacture for road cars, its work led to a 1945 contract to create a turboprop engine for aircraft for the US military. An engine was developed which achieved similar fuel economy to equivalent piston engines, but it never saw production.

All this work was not quite wasted, however; by the mid-1950s, production of gas turbines was less expensive, and in 1954 a prototype was installed in a Plymouth Sport Coupe and demonstrated at Chrysler's proving grounds. Allpar.com says that thanks to new heat exchanger design, the 100bhp engine did not have a problem with over-hot exhaust gases, as in other attempts to adapt gas turbines for use in cars, and its constantly high, but controlled, operating temperatures kept fuel consumption down. Tests and reliability trials continued, and in 1956 a turbine Plymouth saloon drove from New York to Los Angeles, averaging 13mpg and proving reliable and driveable. A further Detroit-New York run was made in December 1958 using a new-generation version of the engine, now delivering nearly 200bhp and much-improved fuel economy in a '59 Plymouth saloon, and finally, three turbine-equipped models were publicly presented in 1961.

The most notable prototype of the three shown was a concept called Turboflite, which did the rounds of the motor shows that year; it also showcased retractable headlights, an automatically folding roof canopy and a plane-style deceleration air flap. The other two were a turbine-equipped 1960 Plymouth and a Dodge truck. All attracted much interest, but still not quite enough to justify full production.

Experimentation continued, though; a 1962 Dodge Turbo Dart also completed a successful New York-Los Angeles run in bad weather in December 1961, and this, along with a Plymouth Turbo Fury, was sent for customer clinic sessions at dealerships across the States and Canada. Press events were held, test drives were given, and over half of the people questioned said they would seriously consider buying one. Chrysler was convinced enough to announce an initial production run of 50-75 turbine cars for 1963. Fifty Ghia-bodied Turbine Cars were made, and loaned to selected private drivers for everyday-use evaluation, and a further five were made for internal testing. Over the course of the two-year loans, the response from the 200-odd drivers involved was largely positive, and reliability proved excellent, but issues such as throttle lag, poor fuel economy at low engine speeds, a lack of engine braking and high exhaust temperatures at idling meant that the project stalled again. It was also hampered by the US Customs decision to impose large import taxes on the Turin-assembled Turbine Cars: to avoid this, a deal was struck to send the cars back to Italy after their loan-outs. Around 40 were re-exported and destroyed; the surviving cars are now in museums. Chrysler produced several more prototypes over the years, including a Le Baron Turbine (1977) and a New Yorker Turbine (1981) which came very close to production, but the turbine project never came to full fruition.

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