Chrysler Turbine Car: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:37, 10 November 2005

Revision as of 03:22, 16 November 2005

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{{cleanup-date|September 2005}}

[[Image:Tcar.jpg|right|thumb|Chrysler Turbine Car]]

The '''Chrysler Turbine Car''' was the name given to the fifty [[automobilesautomobile]]s which the [[Chrysler Corporation]] assembled in a small plant in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]] for use in a consumer test.

The bodies and interiors were crafted inby [[Ghia]] Italy by the Carrozzeriain [[GhiaItaly]] Auto works. As each body was finished and shipped to [[Detroit]], [[Chrysler]] employees installed [[gas [[turbine]] engines]], drivetransmissions train and electrical components to prepare the cars for use by the 203 average motorists who were chosen to test them.

The [[Chrysler]] Turbine Car was a two -door hard tophardtop coupe with four individual bucket seats. The exterior was painted "Frost Fire metallicMetallic" - later it was called "Turbine Bronze" and available on production automobiles. All theThe roofsroof were covered in black [[vinyl]]. The interiorseats was alsowere done in a bronze colorcolored "English calfskin" [[leather]]. and Athe plushinterior was covered with a plush-cut pile bronze colorcolored carpet was on the floor. It'sIts most prominent design features were the two large horizontal taillights and nozzles mounted inside a very heavy [[chrome]] sculptured bumper.

The car had both power steering, andpower brakes., Powerpower windows, but notno power seats. The car was only available with an [[automatic transmission]]. The "turbine theme" was carried through to the center console, and the hubcaps. and evenEven the [[tires]] were special productionspecially-made with littlesmall [[turbine]] vanes molded into the white sidewalls.

The dashdashboard was lighted with "Electroluminescent"[[electroluminescent]] panels in the gauge pods and on a call-out strip across the dash. This system did not use bulbs,; instead, a [[transformer]] raised the [[battery]] [[voltage]] to over 100 volts and passingpassed that high [[voltage]] through special [[plastic]] layers, causedcausing themthe gauges to glow with a blue/-green light.

The car itself was designed in the [[Chrysler]] studios under the direction of [[Elwood P. Engle]], who had worked for the [[Ford Motor Company]] before his move to [[Chrysler]]. The designer credited with the actual "look" of the car was Charles Mashigan, hewho designed a two -seat show car called the "Typhoon", which was displayed at the [[1964]] [[World's fairFair]] in [[New York]].

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(Photo: from personal collection of Mark Olson, son of user number 160 in [[Chrysler]] Program)

[[Category:Chrysler vehicles|Turbine Car]]