Found a great piece of speed equipment today - Turbonique

I have a friend that buys scrap metal. He has found cool stuff in the past and he usually offers me anything he thinks is good. Today I am the new owner of a Turbonique auxillary power supercharger. It is good to have friends in the scrap business.

 

cool, build a car around it.

 

Awesome! What are you going to build with it?

 

that looks like one of the turbine engines they were adapting into almost anything.
scary horsepower for its weight.
cool find.

 

funny, that looks like the one i lost a while back, i'll give you my address so you can send it back to me

 

I sure hope you gave him a couple pennies over scrap price for it.

 

How exactly does that work? is it a turbo with a spark plug?...
Does look like a turbine motor thing...

 

I got one of those too! I am missing the velocity stack though. I hope someone chimes in and sheds some light on the operation and application of these units...

 

Some info for ya


http://www.tunersgroup.com/TunerWire_Live/Turbonique.html

 

http://www.tunersgroup.com/TunerWire_Live/Turbonique.html

 

Stand back. WAAAAAY back.

 

I would have had no idea what that was if it were sitting right in front of me! Good find!

 

Thats pretty awesome piece of obscure history there. I saw the write up in GARAGE when it was being published. They put one on a Beetle and it out ran TV Tommy Ivos 4 engine rail.

 

OH MAN! Now I want me a rocket powered go-kart. Capable of excedding 160mph in 4 seconds! That's fast enough to rip the ear to ear grin of you face! That or fold your upper lip over your forehead. "oh shit....who turned out the lights?"

 

Moriarity has a Turbonique pulse jet Rupp go kart but the part shown was a supercharger that works like a turbo charger but instead fo the exhaust driving the blower side the turbine fires and spins an inpeller and it turns the supercharger side. The spark plug fires a fuel called thermolene ( Butylnitrate). The spark plug uses a buzz coil like a model t and acts like a glow plug

 

Ya got that in black and white anywhere?
You might not want to talk to Mr. Ivo about Turbonique. They kind of pulled a fast one on him and used it in their ads.
Larry T

http://www.the-rocketman.com/myth.html

 

Damn, you mean some one in Dallas had that and didnt know what is was? I think I need to become a scrap dealer.

 

Dang! That thing is preeeety awesome! Any word on if u can get the "fuel" they are talkin about in that article?? You should definitely build a car (or GO cart) around that bad boy!!! Good luck with it!

 

Now a feller has to ask hisself. Where do I get me some of that there Thermolene?

 

I think it's called n poly nitrate (spelled wrong I'm sure),now and you have to be a doctor or have some kind of license to get it.

 

An insanity license?

 

Oh man, do I want one of them!

 

That thing is wild looking!

 

All or nothing, there was no way of regulating it, almost like nitrous. You pull the switch and off you go. Below are a couple of pictures of a friend of mines garage. The first is a picture of 3 Turboniques laying on his garage floor and the second is a picture of a Turbonique drag axel in the original crate it was shippped in.

 

Ky Michaelson is the expert and has more Turbonique crap than GOD. Check out his website for more info: http://www.the-rocketman.com

 

thats cool stuff

 

Sold! I'll take it. Just what my Banger needs to keep up with freeway traffic. Oh Yeah.

 

Wow. I've never seen a discussion on the Turbonique before. I'd seen the rocket karts in old karting books but the drag axle had only been described to me in such vague mystical terms that I had almost begun to believe the whole thing was imagined.

I'd've loved to have seen those things up against Ivo's Showboat! They sure knew how to put on a drag race back then. I love the auxillary power supercharger too. Kinda reminds me of the electric blowers that were produced
.

 

Here ya go.

http://jalopnik.com/5481005/video-the-demented-rocket+propelled-genius-of-turbonique

The best time posted in the Turbonique VW in their ads was 9.38. Then they turned it upside down. They said it was running 183 and flipped before the fiish line. I really don't know how you time a car before the clocks??

I don't know what the best time for the Showboat is. I think I saw a 8.15 somewhere but I'm not sure enough about that to say it's true.
Larry T

 

The ebay auction ended last night, high bid I think was 16,101.01, reserve not met.