1963 Chrysler Turbine | Retro Review

[@Motorweek]

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[@punchy207]

mrmpht

[@timbrown9731]

How is Craig doing these days?

[@nessuno5403]

Doesn't advertising cover it?

[@matthewlibanio8227]

Seeing it in person, the car is absolutely magical. There is literally nothing in the world like it, especially in the fact that you can own it. Timeless. Totally timeless.

[@abelucious]

Can you actually own it ? how much is this car worth today ?

[@matthewlibanio8227]

@@abelucious there is one up for auction currently. I wish I had the money to buy it...

[@jareknowak8712]

Never seen one in person, but thats true, cant be mistaken with any other car /except T-bird :) Yes, its for sale, have seen it on instagram, on BAT iirc.

[@joedesalvo3316]

@@abelucious the only one currently owned privately is Jay Leno... until the one coming up for auction

[@RustyVigero2005]

It's timeless, and of its time.

[@rontauscher6335]

My Dad was one of the customer experience drivers and we were fortunate to spend a lot of time in the car (road tips etc.). To this day I recall the power / torque when Dad nailed it to the firewall on an open road

[@Tracert-mc1hu]

@Kinky Streets It went really fast from one gas station to the next though.

[@Tracert-mc1hu]

@Kinky Streets Wow, that's better than most of the modern cars I've driven. I don't know why people don't give those old slant 6's any credit, they were good on gas, reasonably powerful, and indestructible even when run hot or outright abused. Not to mention that on the rare occasion they did break, they could be fixed with just about anything by just about anyone.

[@MariktheWolf]

14/19mpg isnt bad...esp back then...and it could run on anything...and start in alaska if needed...turbine engines are very power dense...would be nice to see another try...

[@Seasonal50]

One of the coolest cars ever

[@kennethoats2322]

Besides GM F bodies

[@jeromecabral192]

If I had my license I would love to own one of these.

[@austindavid1862]

@@jeromecabral192 baby steps

[@1985_Honda_CRX_Si]

Nightmare to work on one though lol

[@jamesslick4790]

400 Ft .Lb. from 130 HP is impressive (And we Americans LOVE our torque!)

[@damonefranklin3261]

And fish lol.

[@honkhonkler7732]

But it obviously comes too high in the rev range! Lol

[@jamesslick4790]

@Kinky Streets It's 1963, Who cares about MPG. Strap that MF to a Buick Dynaflow transmission for a real smooth push of torque! 😉

[@jamesslick4790]

@Kinky Streets Come on man! It's the early 60s, The economy is booming, and I need frequent pit stops to guzzle a Coca cola every so often.😛

[@AkioWasRight]

@@josema6694 Torque, in any amount, can come at any RPM.

[@VaughnJogVlog]

You will never run out of uploads.

[@56clipper2]

I worked for a small town dealership, that the owner was fortunate enough to have been able to drive one of these. He said it was a heck of a car, just to advanced for the time.

[@EmperorNefarious1]

In the end Chrysler did find a place for its turbine engine, the M1 tank. Kind of a waste in my opinion, turbines, while not very fuel efficient (especially not while at idle) are great for long term operation at constant rpm. Not a terrible choice for a truck, depending on the route of course.

[@b-genspinster7895]

I was curious about the efficiency. Thanks for commenting and pointing it out. Incredible torque though.

[@shuginubi]

hybrid system, using batteries for idling and low speed scenarios, would increase efficiency.

[@EmperorNefarious1]

@@shuginubi Sadly not. Turbines aren't like ICEs, they take a lot more time and energy to start. The only way a hybrid system would work is as a boost. Allow the engineer to use a smaller turbine and use the electric to boost acceleration and charge as a load while idling... but its really scraping the bottom of the barrel...

[@themanformerlyknownascomme777]

The M1 tank engine is more or less a direct decendant of the Turbine car

[@rockets4kids]

@@EmperorNefarious1 The way you make a turbine work is to go turbo-electric, not hybrid. You use a small turbine and only run it at full speed to keep the batteries at full charge otherwise you shut it down.

[@imnotusingmyrealname4566]

Damn. Cars were really unique back then.

[@eclipse9304]

Not really, this car is unique

[@jamesmylife6578]

@@eclipse9304 I mean you had the bmw isetta.

[@Victoria3232-j7o]

A retro retro review

[@jimreinhardt9165]

When I was a kid living in Dallas TX in the 60’s there was one of these Chrysler Turbine car somewhere in my neighborhood. Usually on Sunday on my way to church walking on Preston Road I would see the car parked near another Church . I had read about them in a car magazine and knew what it was even if I didn’t understand it. I even waited one time hoping the owners (users) would return and once they did. I watched and listened to them fire it up and leave. It was a thrill I will never forget.

[@hennpaul]

I thought you were going to say you converted to the other church. LOL

[@dw8840]

Probably sounded like you were in an airpor

[@landyachtfan79]

As much as I LOVE the Retro Reviews, I love Craig's REALLY Retro Reviews even more!!!!!

[@jackjohnson7396]

Saw one at the 1964 NY World's Fair. It was a big deal back then! 🚗

[@FELIPE8226M]

Damn you are old LOL

[@jackjohnson7396]

@@FELIPE8226M Old as my buddy T-Rex, part of my dinosaur family! ☝

[@douglasb.1203]

@@FELIPE8226M the observational humor of the Milly. Unfortunately nobody laughed.

[@Sebastian_Dinwiddie]

I saw one of these for sale recently. I believe on Bring A Trailer. One of two I’m private hands I believe. Leno has the other

[@dcanmore]

it's being advertised everywhere, even in the UK

[@jeremyb4493]

Jay Leno's Garage is a staple channel for any car enthusiast

[@drivedb7]

To hell with electric cars. Just give me one of these! 😂

[@kens97sto171]

Such a unique car. Jay Leno has a great video on this also. I believe he's one of two people that have one in private collections. He had a very good interview with someone and a pretty detailed video about its operation and he took it for a little drive

[@plastiksurgeon9129]

I actually saw this car in person as a little kid, but had no idea what it was at the time. This would have been 1965-‘66 and here in Central PA there was a family that had one on the other side of the river from us. One day, a good family friend was taking us somewhere and all of a sudden he whipped into this parking lot. A bunch of people were gathered around this car and I can remember the vacuum cleaner like sound. It was indeed the Turbine Car and for the longest time I thought it was some sort of T-Bird. In fact, the man in the video said it was designed by Virgil Exner. I had read it was designed by Elwood Engle who came from Ford and had designed the 1961-‘63 T-Birds.....the reason it had a “familiar” look to me. I’d LOVE to see this car in person again....maybe at a show. As a five year old kid I couldn’t appreciate just what I was seeing and hearing. ☺️ Interesting memories! 👌🏽

[@BanBiofuels]

I remember seeing that car at the 1964 World's Fair in New York City. The fuel economy was nothing to brag about, but it looked great then and still looks good now. I would love to have one today, but with a conventional engine. *QUOTING* "There were numerous functional challenges and limitations with the Turbine Cars, of which sluggish throttle response was the biggest. This is an inherent design limitation of turbines, as they need to spin up to over 40,000 rpm to develop full power. The Turbine Car had a one and a half second lag from first pressing the throttle. That could be considered dangerous; it certainly would by today’s standards. Throttle lag was noticeable at higher speeds too. Performance was reasonable, about 12 seconds 0-60, but substantially less than if a 383 V8 were under that sleek hood. *One extended test produced an average fuel economy of 11.5 mpg.* Not terrible, but far from good. A comparably-quick conventional car at the time would be expected to achieve about 15 mpg."

[@grantmills4184]

11.5 isn’t as bad as I thought, considering some cars from that era were even worse lol

[@gojoe2833]

Virgil Exner didn't design this car, he'd been with Chrysler for 10 years by 1963. Elwood Engel designed it and yes, he had recently come from Ford, where he had designed the 1961 Thunderbird and the Lincoln Continental

[@noelkeenan7329]

Yep, assume it was a nervous slip of the tongue.

[@mikes.4136]

This is one of the most aesthetically pleasing cars ever designed. The Jet Age on wheels!

[@BrewBlaster]

@ 2:33 this makes since why this looks so much like a Thunder-Bird.

[@Sanpedranoazul]

Chrysler always delivering great designs!

[@avlisk]

I remember seeing one in 1963 and have been waiting to get one ever since. (PS Always thought it looked like a T-Bird, and now I finally know why.) Thanks for this review!

[@eddierools]

Such an absolutely BEAUTIFUL car..... I wish we could've gotten these in production, heard you could run these things on ANY liquid that was combustible such as gasoline, vodka and even perfume! Wouldn't have to worry so much on fuel when you could just buy a few bottles of your favorite alcohol and run it on that.

[@CoastalAutoReactionCAR]

If they had offered this with the regular range of engines woulda sold so many! Man I’d love one!

[@VARITHMS]

It's a retro review of a retro review. I still enjoyed it.

[@kennethoats2322]

Just imagine if Chrysler put those in Daytonas and Superbirds

[@mikebell2750]

It’s a decent looking car that in my eyes looks like a cross between a Dodge Polara and a Ford Thunderbird.

[@dm5374]

A '61 T-bird, to be precise!

[@BryceLovesTech]

I thought the problem was the cost and the fact that it got about 5 miles per gallon

[@judethaddaeus9742]

Well, one of the benefits of the turbine car is you could run it on a wide range of combustible fuels other than gasoline.

[@kens97sto171]

@Kinky Streets Actually turbine engines produce less pollution than piston cylinder design internal combustion engines. You're essentially burning fuel in an open flame which is always much cleaner than when you burn it under heavy compression in a piston engine.

[@kens97sto171]

Yeah but cars comparable to it at the time or getting significantly better gas mileage. And I think out on the open highway it was a little bit better. the problem is turbine engines are just not really suited to start and stop type operation. Toyota played with these for a little bit but they did it I believe as an electric hybrid. So you've got a turbine engine generating electricity at a constant RPM but the car being moved by electric motors. There is also a prototype of a semi truck I believe Walmart was involved with that was a electric hybrid truck with a turbine engine as a power source for generating electricity when necessary.

[@Bartonovich52]

Bartonovich52 @ kens97sto171 No... just..... no.... First, an open flame by itself means nothing. A campfire is an open flame. It produces smoke. Throw some gasoline on it and you’ll see lots of black smoke too. Second, it’s a closed flame in turbine engines. That’s why you have a combustion chamber.. lol. “No compression”. Lol.. turbine engines have a pressure ratio of up to 35:1. With any combustion, how complete the combustion is is based on how well the fuel and air mix. On early turbine engines, the injectors or vapourizer tubes were primitive and the fuel and air were poorly mixed. Look at photos of old airliners and fighter jets. They have copious amounts of smoke pouring out the back. It wasn’t until the 1970s that they improved injector design and made swirl vanes in the combustion liners that particulate emissions decreased, but they are still terrible at idle which is where most of the emissions from aviation comes from today. Go drive by a major airport and you can see and smell it. The next are emissions like CO. You can’t put a catalytic converter on a turbine engine, so these go straight out the back. There are fewer of them per amount of fuel burned because of the higher temperatures in turbine engines, but they still are still there. Finally is the NOx. This is as a result of high temperature lean burns just like it is in diesels. Again, no way to make an EGR or put DEF in a turbine engine and this is one of the most harmful turbine engine emissions. So no... “an open flame” does not make emissions better and turbines are worse than most engines-possibly only exceeded by two stroke engines.

[@shazash1]

@Kinky Streets why did you write a comment which was a lie, and you made it sound like you were stating a fact?

[@jeremyb4493]

Just a random tidbit, the instrumental background song playing starting around the 37 second mark is called Telstar. Still remember hearing that when i was a young kid in the 80s and my dad explaining what Telstar was.

[@quad5186]

I remember an retro article in a Road & Track yearbook (‘90?) which stated that the car didn’t take off , rather it “oozed forward” . Always thought it was cool looking both inside and out . To me it resembled the then current 3rd gen T-Bird .

[@GT6SuzukaTimeTrials]

I'm only 37 but I love that song Telstar at 40 seconds in. I remember finding it on Kazaa or Limewire back in the early 2000s in high school...

[@roddydykes7053]

That’s something, this super retro review was as removed from time as the 1993 reviews are to us now

[@torres3800]

Imagine getting an aftermarket autolite tachometer from Auto zone if this actually got the green light and made production. LoL

[@Mikefoxx55]

I remember seeing this car at the NY Worlds fair in 1964😊

[@plastiksurgeon9129]

If you want to witness a crying shame....out there is a video where they’re scrapping 40 of these GORGEOUS cars. Not a pretty sight and it’s too bad they couldn’t keep all of them to be sold to the general public due to probably product liability issues.

[@douglasb.1203]

Sort of like GM with the EV-1. Rolling test beds not meant for production.

[@fooloco]

How cool it would be to hear turbines spool up from the car in front of you at a red light before a full throttle launch.

[@jst7714]

It's really odd the Chrysler Man named the wrong designer in the interview. Exner was the king of fins and came from Studebaker. Elwood Engel had designed the new mopars and had come from Ford.

[@patrickmartin3322]

And Exner came to Chrysler in 1954 and left around 1963

[@plastiksurgeon9129]

Yes, I had read that too years ago. It’s the reason the Turbine Car has a “Thunderbird” like appearance. He had a hand in designing the 1961 T-Bird and then came to Chrysler sometime in the early ‘60’s.

[@JasonDelarosa2000]

Ah, _MotorWeek_ One of my favorite PBS shows besides a certain amount of British TV and (two years ago) the _Peanuts_ specials I still watch each year on DVD!

[@pl5624]

That car should have been made with conventional drivetrain....could have been Chrysler's halo personal luxury car...like thunderbird.

[@toyotaprius79]

It rings very similarly to the story of the AMC Pacer and Citroen GS, cars which were built around a rotary wankel engine drivetrain, only for it to be scrapped last second and replaced with big, lethargic conventional enignes.

[@pl5624]

@@toyotaprius79 the monza was also supposed to feature the rotary...

[@gaborcsuzdi7006]

@@toyotaprius79 You are thinking of the Citroen CX, which was initially designed for a tri-rotor wankel engine and ended up inheriting the DS's old inline 4. The GS was always designed for an economical, air-cooled flat-4. But indeed not long before the launch of the CX, the GS line-up got a bi-rotor Wankel as a test ... Just in time for the 1973 oil crisis, which made them call off the Wankel-project. Nonetheless, both the GS and the CX won every award imaginable and had very long and successful careers.

[@Jonathan-dq8hb]

Front of the Ghia cars inspired the '63 Dart.

[@briandjordjevic9969]

That was ahead of it’s time. It looked great.

[@albear972]

Man! I love this car so much! It still looks so futuristic even approaching 60 years! What a timeless design. In my opinion, one of the most beautiful cars ever designed. Too bad about the noisy jet engine.

[@Jonathan-dq8hb]

Noise was not a problem inside the car.

[@robertc4795]

3:17 - The pictured Convair 990 jetliner with its unique wing fuel pods and the Chrysler Turbine car had a similar history. Only 37 of the jets were built, most going to AA and Swissair. Introduced in Spring 1962, it was the fastest commercial jetliner until the Concorde SST. However, it was not as fast or fuel efficient as first promised to the airlines. Orders were quickly cancelled, and Convair quit building commercial jets.

[@PearComputingDevices]

It reminds me a little of the Valiant. I had a '63 and it was fairly unique for that year but didn't have a turbine, but a slant 6 and a 3 on the tree. I was16 back in 1994, it was already a classic. I kept it for a few years but honestly I didn't know what I had back then. But you can clearly see the heritage of that car.

[@StuPedassol]

Going that fast on bicycle tires is pretty, pretty, pretty ballsy.

[@muziklvr7776]

Used to do 120 MPH all of the time in the 90's with 50's/60's/70's cars running 14"/15" tires. Me and my gearhead buddies are all still here.

[@plestj]

They should have used the design of the car and put 318 V8 in it. Would have competed with the T-Bird at the time and it would have been a hit! Beautiful car. 😊

[@1983jblack]

That's exactly why they scrapped most of the cars. Chrysler and Ghia didn't want people taking the turbine engine out and something else in so they were burned and crushed

[@Porsche996driver]

Wow great, never saw this episode before! Thanks DoE for sponsoring this tech effort! Virgil Exner had designed the Thunderbird, that’s why it looks like ... a Thunderbird.

[@JBuddis]

I think the guy got a little mixed up there. Elwood Engel designed the Turbine Car as one of his first projects after coming from Ford in 1961 to replace Exner, who was fired after the controversial 1962 cars. Exner did, however, build a working partnership with Ghia beginning in the early 1950s and effectively designed all of Chrysler's show cars before his dismissal, and would still collaborate with them on some personal projects even post-Chrysler. Exner never did work for Ford, though.

[@Jonathan-dq8hb]

Department of Energy had nothing to do with the program until the 1970's. The Ghia cars were funded by Chrysler.

[@dobermanpac1064]

My mailman had one. We were all Jealous of that deal.

[@philipwilliams3427]

1 of 2 American made vehicles that had a turbocharger factory installed. Thank you for the turbo's and superchargers Chrysler and Chevrolet.

[@jjpds1]

The highly sought after much anticipated controversially late finally the wait is over

[@dangerousbusinesses788]

Forget Ferrari and Lamborghini. This is the most beautiful vehicle ever built in my opinion.

[@Doobie1975]

Is that "Telstar" by The Tornadoes playing?

[@RWildekrav66]

May have been the Ventures . Maybe .

[@Bartonovich52]

It’s definitely Telstar.

[@brendas.1374]

I saw one of these in a movie called “The Lively Set” (1964). I wonder if its the same car.

[@JenGM24]

Wow that's a really unique piece right there.

[@mattaz2315]

I still would love to have one in the metallic blue.

[@briansparrow5322]

What about Burgandy Red Metallic and convertible top.

[@grabir01]

Henry David appears to be a Godless man.

[@Bartonovich52]

God doesn’t exist.

[@grabir01]

@@Bartonovich52 Yea.. You are just some cosmic accident!! lol

[@CHMernerner]

chrysler was a helluva automaker. somewhat respected.

[@douglasb.1203]

Had the Johan model of this car BITD. Stunning in copper

[@4406bbldb]

Pardon me if i mantioned this before. In 63/64 i drove my 55 Chevy beside one of these Lease cars. In Detroit on 8mile rd. Then i went in the service. I got out and got a job a Chrysler engineering in Highland park in 1969. I ended up in further development of this one and 2 more major upgrades. I had keys to one of these cause we needed cold start and carbon build test. So i could start and stop this anytime i wanted for a couple years, it never failed. To bad German people have all our research now cause Chrysler got bought out. I have lots of history with understanding that.

[@Jonathan-dq8hb]

You should share your stories. Consider contacting Hemmings Classic Car .

[@tbrown5657]

Love the choice of music for this segment! Telstar, by The Tornados, if I'm not mistaken ;)

[@rockets4kids]

I believe this is the Ventures version.

[@jaymase3735]

Chrysler has had some of the best engineers for a long, long time, their issue is that their quality control goes up and down over the years. Stay away from the bad years and you'll be fine

[@chuckselvage3157]

It sounds like a huge vacuum cleaner but wow so much torque.

[@robertphillips6296]

Thank you for posting.

[@1983jblack]

You can tell Engel really borrowed from the Thunderbird styling of 1961-63 (Since he also did the Continental). But that's OK, I loved that car and this one too. What's awesome about these cars was they could run on gasoline, alcohol, even perfume. They were and I think still are a viable answer for an alternative energy source. It's a shame the government cut the ties and Chrysler had to abandon it when they went through bankruptcy and scrapped the whole thing in 1981. UPDATE: I did update saying this was Engels design, initially saying Exner (I had meant Engel since I knew Chrysler plucked him from Ford). Exner did the "Forward Look" style trend in the '50s for Chrysler.

[@bb_lz9790]

A friend of my dad's took us for a ride in one. I don't remember much other than I thought that the back seat was different from any other car I had ever ridden in (in my 4 years of life).

[@hertzair1186]

That keyboard song is “Telstar”....by The Tornado’s...named after the Telstar space satellite from the 60s....

[@bertram46]

I am 61 years old it is so bizarre seeing this video I remember this car when I was a little kid seeing it in car magazines and I actually had a model kit that I put together when I was probably 6 or 7 years old

[@henryovalles7311]

Pretty car and cool factor of the charts 😲

[@CoastalAutoReactionCAR]

Thank you!

[@2packs4sure]

The guy misspoke when he said Virgil Exner,, he meant Elwood Engel..

[@wildcat64100]

Sheesh, it was Elwood Engel who had just come to Chrysler from Ford who designed the Turbine Car. That’s why it resembles a 1961-3 Thunderbird. Chrysler had just fired Virgil Exner for his bizarre 1961 and off-key 1962 cars. As cool as this Retro Review is, I can’t believe that glaring error hasn’t been edited.

[@donnyb9214]

they have one of these in the gilmore museum in michigan...awesome car

[@bryanmchugh1307]

130 HP and 430 lb ft of torque? Sounds like power that just never stops coming at you. Nice

[@Edsecondstocomply]

I love Virgil Exner designs.

[@Welcometofacsistube]

So do i

[@repnatl]

There is a difference in Turban and Turbine.

[@JohnJBrowne11209]

Love the music. "Telstar" by the Tornadoes

[@anthonyfrench3169]

It was amazing they leased it out to customers. Just a cool car

[@rockets4kids]

IIRC they didn't lease it out, it was provided for free.

[@judethaddaeus9742]

They kept the turbine engine program until the late 1970’s, though. Obviously there was some merit to continuing the project until then.

[@stillbill6408]

I am sure that the data gathered from this turbine engineering project inspired/reflects in the development of the modern M1 Abrams tank (initially designed by the Chrysler Corporation which has developed tanks for the U.S.A. since WWII) which has rewritten tank warfare tactics.

[@User-cb4jm]

They probably felt the same way watching this 60s car in the 90s as we do a 90s car in the 20s

[@corssecurity]

Jay Leno featured a Turbine Chrysler on his podcast. Same colour and Steve Lehto presented the information on the car

[@robertusa1234]

All the jet cars where the same color for all.we.know it's the same car as Jay's as this was recorded befor Chrysler's died as a single company

[@plombo5728]

But what about an oil pressure readout?

[@m1t2a1]

Interesting timing. There's one for sale, with spare engines.

[@revolution1one]

I wonder if the power was linear.

[@0utc4st1985]

With modern start-stop engine technology I wonder how much more practical this would be.....

[@panji7793]

I cant imagine,how i would be react when this is new,even today

[@fjp912]

The US Department of Energy was created in 1977, during the Carter administration. Thus it could not have had anything to do with the development of THIS Turbine Car. It is true that Chrysler kept experimenting with turbines off and on through the 1970's., so if there was any DoE involvement, it was at that stage.

[@thetechlibrarian]

I have always liked this car.

[@davidallen5776]

It's a shame that it never saw regular production!

[@BrewBlaster]

I'm thinking this engine is what inspired the Abram's power-plant.

[@xeong5]

The Abrams M1A1 tank was designed by Chrysler Corp.

[@rykerelwyn5433]

I love this car

[@charlie_nolan]

My question is what sort of transmission does it have?

[@eurekasevenwave2297]

I think Jay Leno's just had a 727 torque flite in it.

[@Jonathan-dq8hb]

The Ghia cars all had a slightly modified Torqueflite.

[@BigWheel.]

I hope this car is still around.

[@rockets4kids]

I believe there are nine remaining, five of which were running before Leno blew the engine on his. Jay is working hard to get his running again, and I bet there is going to be a great story behind that. I'm not sure which one this is, but it is certainly one of the nine documented cars.

[@highvoltge422]

Hybrids and fuel-cells remind me of the turbine. The way of the future...that fell short of all expectations.

[@AdamAdamHDL]

Very lovely car. I bet it was thirsty

[@1983jblack]

@@phantomcorsair8476 Yep even perfume

[@Fleetwoodjohn]

This is so cool. Back when engineers took pride in making something instead of subcontracting it out and taking all the credit. The big 3 need to go back to innovation.

[@dallisb1047]

I love this car!!

[@eddieschwab864]

The guy must have designed the T-bird for Ford that's why the Chrysler turbine car looks so much like a T-Bird

[@PaddyMcMe]

Makes you realise how utterly unimaginative the current car market is. What's the fuel consumption like though? I'd say that was what really killed it.

[@nessuno5403]

When was this filmed? Add it in the title or description 🙂