No car company has successfully marketed a turbine-powered car. But that hasn’t stopped a long list of hopefuls from trying their luck at cracking the turbine code. If you feel up to it, you too can try your luck at building one of these legendary beasts—courtesy of this seventh-generation Chrysler turbine engine listed on eBay Motors.
The term turbine is a catch-all used to describe any engine that spins an internal wheel to generate power. The most common modern application of these motors is generating electricity at hydro and nuclear power plants, where water or steam is used to turn the splines, or in a jet engine where the burning of fuel spins the turbine via exhaust gases that generate forward thrust.
In automotive applications, the turbine rotates as a result of the exhaust gases from the burning of fuel in the combustion chamber—which in turn spins a compressor that crams more air into the intake to keep the entire process moving along. A secondary turbine, also spun by the exhaust gases, transforms the energy into forward motion that can be used via a transmission to power a vehicle’s wheels. Turbines can run on a wide variety of fuel types, such as kerosene, gasoline, or vegetable oil—essentially anything that can be burned.
Why Not Cars?
If turbines are so good at powering jets, turboprop aircraft, and even big machinery such as locomotives and military tanks, why didn’t they catch on with automobiles?
It turns out that many of the advantages enjoyed by turbines such as reliability and efficiency at high altitude and in steady-state operation don’t translate well to the stop-and-go dynamics of modern commuting. Having to power up and down, over and over again, sunk the turbine from a gas mileage and emissions perspective by the end of the 1970s, despite several experimental cars being built by a variety of automakers.
One of the nine remaining Chrysler Turbine cars.
One of the few concepts that made it into the hands of private owners was the Chrysler Turbine car, which first hit the streets in 1962. Chrysler had in fact been working on turbine vehicles for more than a decade before this model was released. Only 55 examples were built, and just about nine remain today after the trial period ended in 1964. Still, Chrysler kept trying to make turbines a reality, working with the federal government to reduce exhaust gas temperatures and improve fuel consumption up through the 1970s.
A number of additional concepts were produced through 1977, with the engine in this listing purportedly from the final batch of seven produced by Chrysler for use in test beds like the Dodge Aspen and the Chrysler LeBaron concept. It generates roughly 125 horsepower, and is said to come with everything needed to drop it into a rolling chassis, hook up a transmission, and rekindle the turbine magic.
Of course, you would need a fair bit of experience with turbine motors to do so, but think of the unique slice of Chrysler history that this engine represents. With so few of these motors in existence, and an even smaller number rolling under their own power, the potential for a unique turbo-mod is truly exceptional.
