History Concept Cars-what happened to them?

61 Chrysler Turboflite

 

Pretty sure it's in the Studebaker National Museum now, not sure if its been here before though.....

 

With the speed minder yellow needle... My buddy's '68 SS/RS convertible has one....

 

Chrysler Turbine Car

The Chrysler Turbine Car is an experimental two-door hardtop coupe powered by a turbine engine and manufactured by Chrysler from 1963–1964. ... The car was styled by Elwood Engel and the Chrysler studios and featured power brakes, power steering, and a TorqueFlite transmission.

Hello,

During our time as teenage hot rod guys and deeply involved in various cars, it was a surprise to have our dad come home from work one night and tell my brother and me about a new car. It was the Chrysler Turbine car. While his friend in Los Angeles had a bunch of connections to those in the hot rod/auto parts businesses, this was a surprise to have the knowledge given to us.

The offer was to have our dad drive a new 1963 Turbine Car for free and at the end of the trial period of several months, give his honest opinion of the car overall compared to his line of Buick sedans over the years. This was just before he was ready to buy a new Buick Riviera that had just come on the market. He wanted a very stylish car for his choice and the 63 Riviera was pretty stylish with all of the new features. A/C being one, as the new Turbine did not have A/C.

But, who could say the Chrysler Turbine Hardtop was not stylish and way before its time? He came home with the offer to ask the family what we thought. Well, of course, my brother and I had our thoughts about being able to cruise around in this new Turbine hardtop. Also, we wanted to try it at the drags and wondered what class it would be entered.

It was stock, but with 130 hp, it would be in the lower classes of stock cars. So, that was a new idea. 14 seconds to 60 was not the fastest car on the block, since our 58 Impala could do it in at least 7-8 seconds. But, the ability to cruise around driving the Chrysler Turbine was going to be something in the local So Cal Bixby Knolls cruising area. That certainly would have been a first...


Jnaki

So, what happened was that my brother and I said... "Great and get the turbine." My mom said it looked funny and it was a Chrysler, not a Buick. So, my dad went to the Buick dealer and looked at the new 1963 Buick Riviera and came home with a brand new cool looking new Buick Riviera, with A/C.

He told us later that the A/C was the deciding point as well as the new Buick styling. The next day, he told his friend in Los Angeles to cancel the Turbine offer and appointment, although it was only offered to a random sampling of families in our So Cal area.

My brother and I were disappointed at not being able to drive the Chrysler Turbine, but now we had a new 1963 Buick Riviera for a cruiser when we wanted to be different. "Hey, Dad, we are going to borrow your car for the night..." was heard many times. HA!

 

54 Oldsmobile Concept, found on the book of faces.

 

1954 Fire Arrow III

 

That Olds front end was way too heavy looking on the front of the Vette!

 

great thread

 

Dick Stevens, post: 14377087, "That Olds front end was way too heavy looking on the front of the Vette!"

My thoughts exactly. Reminded me of this -

 

Any history on this one?

 

Unfortunately this one never got ant farther than the drawing stage. Lot of f100 in this one.

 

How about the prototype Corvair Monza coupe? Chevrolet built up two Corvair coupes to present at the 1960 New Car Shows in Detroit, Chicago and New York. This was months before the production versions were readied for sale to the public. The Monza was to be an upscale sporty version of the Corvair. Ford exec Lee Iacocca saw the twins (Mr. and Mrs. Monza) at the shows and according to his autobiography this gave him the idea for the Mustang. The first Monza was built up from a "body-in-white", so it didn't have a VIN and was scrapped after the show circuit. The second one - "Mrs. Monza" was upgraded from the 7th coupe body built by Fisher Body. It was sold to an employee in 1961 and it has survived to this day. The exterior trim (hand-made from brass) and the upfitted interior trim (Cadillac-grade brocade cloth) are what makes this one special. The car is currently in my garage awaiting Springtime warmer weather to put it back together.

 

1960 Plymouth XNR.

 

How about the 1967 Chevrolet Astro 1 show car? After a while GM lost interest in it and it was scheduled to be pulled from a warehouse storage facility in downtown Detroit and scrapped. It was snatched from a certain death and spent a night or two in a garage that looked just like mine. The following Monday an arrangement was made with then-Head of GM Design Chuck Jordan to restore the car at the GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan. Many months later the Astro 1 emerged with a fresh coat of paint (it was painted 1973 Corvette yellow when we found it) and is now housed at the GM Heritage Center also in Warren. The car was never actually powered - but it did have a brand new Corvair flat 6 engine in the rear.

 

54 Buick Wildcat II.

 

That was to be the NEW Edsel Rambler.

Future Batmobile!

 

Looks like it says Studebaker across the front.

 

Sorry old eyes.
That was to be the New Edsel Studabaker Packard Rambler. Note the Marlin roofline.

 

You can't bullshit a bullshitter!

 

Yea, but I can try? My favorite saying is “You Can’t Shit This Old Turd!”

 

Hello,

We were fortunate to be considered to drive around a Chrysler Turbine Car. Well, it was my dad that got selected from people in So Cal, He went through the process and brought the idea home to the family. His mechanic friend in Los Angeles thought it would be something different than his long line of Buick sedans.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...-happened-to-them.984546/page-7#post-14368188

But, at the end, he gave up the idea of a Turbine Car and got his new 1963 Buick Riviera sedan. He remained a true die hard Buick sedan owner since his ownership of a 1941 Buick Fastback Sedan.

Jnaki

So what happened to those turbine cars? Some are still around in collector’s garages and warehouses. The others were destroyed. But, my brother and I always talked about how it would have been interesting to take the Turbine Car to Lion’s Dragstrip and see the look on the tech committee guys’ faces. What class, stock, modified, gas or whoops, any fuel class? The listed times in publications made the car slower than most 6 cylinder Chevy sedans. Not the fastest at the drags… for sure.

“Chrysler's Turbine Engine program ended in 1979, largely due to the failure of the engines to meet government emissions regulations, relatively poor fuel economy, and as a condition of receiving a government loan in 1979.”