Motion Pictures Oh the HORROR !,... Crushing of the Chrysler Turbine Cars

I think I'll be sick now.....................

 

Saw one new at the New York Auto Show way back when. Wish I'd taken more of the free sales brochures. Bob

 

Why on earth would thay do that? Did they save the drivetrains or a couple of the cars or did everything go onto that great dog food can factory in the sky?

That's just wrong on so many levels.

 

Our old pal Bill posted this with this warning...

"Here is the infamous Chrysler Turbine snuff film. This is what happened to all but 9 of the fabulous Ghia coupes. Not for the weak or squeamish. Parental discretion advised"

 

They were experimental cars, think they were crushed for legal reasons. Google search will turn up more info. As I remember things everyone knew they would be crushed from day one. I think Jay Leno has one, maybe his website has more info. Bob

 

I remember seeing one of them at the local DeSoto dealership when I was a young man. As I remember they would run on practically any fuel, even perfume. I also remember that their fuel economy was not the greatest but that was when gasoline was 30 cents a gallon or less. It had a very unusual sound to it as the turbine wound up. I must be getting old or something.

 

Back then the turbine was just seen by Chrysler as a bad idea...which, really, it was.

I know this is O/T but have you ever heard the story of the Suzuki RE-5? Rotary engine motorcycle from the 70s. Design problems and production delays put the project years behind schedule, and then they didn't sell. The management at Suzuki was so pissed because they "lost face" in the industry that they ordered all the unsold bikes, parts, tooling, and the entire production line dumped into the sea of Japan...

 

I saw one of the Chrysler turbine cars parked in front of Frederick's of Hollywood on Hollywood Blvd. in the fall of 1963. As I recall the turbine was running, the hood was open and there was a coin standing on edge atop the engine to demonstrate the smoothness of the turbine.

 

I saw one at the old Harrah's car museum. I also heard that Jay had one. Up in the Nortwest there is a turbine powered 32 Ford. I heard it run at the LeMay open house several years ago.

 

uhhggggggggggg... no way to start a Sunday morning!

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From the clip, looks like the turbines were taken out before the cars were desctroyed.

 

Those were Pretty Cool Looking Cars.. its a shame there gone..

 

This is nothing imagine all the 32 Fords that have been crushed over the years

 

I did get to sees one running and driving at the monster mopar show in St Louis a cupple years back.
Guess if we had footage of all the cool stuff that has been crushed wait I dont even want to know.
I just said I didnt want to know.

 

I wonder why they made the front look like the rear of a Thunderbird...

 

The designer was Elwood Engel, formerly of Ford and the designer of the similarly styled Thunderbird. These were dubbed Engelbirds because of the similarities.
.

 

There is one at the Gilmore Museum in MI. They have quite an impressive collection of vehicles from virtually every era, most of which are displayed in huge vintage barns. The lowest mileage Tucker is on display there also.

 

Not wanting to redirect my own thread,.... But if that bothers you, This should put "a real lump in your Depends"

1953 Battle Cry "DEATH TO ALL JALOPIES !!!"

I know this is an "A" coupe,.. but you get the idea

 

I saw one at the Museum of Transportation in st.Louis Mo. Last year they
started it up an ran it . It was awesome..

 

.
These cars have many interesting details that often go unseen. Here are some photos of some of those details that I took of one of the remaining cars:






















.

 

One of the few Concept cars(For lack of a better term) that was actually driven and used by people on city streets.
When I was growing up the father of my brother's best friend worked for Chrysler (Upper middle management) and drove one of these home for lunch. He took some of the neighborhood kids for a ride but not me as I was the youngest of the bunch plus I don't think that he liked me as I used to step on his lawn walking home from school

 

The turbine recuperator technology got put to use when Chrysler got the contract to build the M1 Abrams.

 

Jay Leno's Chrysler turbine. HRP

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You can see why it didn't sell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHv_OAb1Gj8

 

last year Big A told me he was reading this book about those turbine cars :

Chrysler's Turbine Car by Steve Lehto

I've been meaning to check that book out, he said it was pretty interesting.

-W

 

hmmm
proof that the deed was done unlike the GM cars where they were hidden away when they were dropped off for a simular fate

 

Of the fifty imported from Ghia, Chrysler agreed to pay the tax and import duties on ten cars. They went to museums. The rest were crushed in agreement with the IRS to allow them to be imported from Italy for testing. That's what the film was for. To prove to the IRS that they were destroyed.

Maybe if Chrysler had paid the tax on the other 40, stashed them for a few decades, they could have sold them and kept themselfs out of bankruptcy.

Duane in Tennessee.

 

I was 17 and a caddie at Camargo Country Club in Indian Hill ( a wealthy suburb east of Cincinnati, Ohio) in the spring of 1965. We would wait across the street in the caddie shack until the caddie master sent us out. One sunday morning I cross the street to the first tee. Right behind the tee is the pro shop, and in front of the pro shop is a Chrysler Turbine Car, idling, with a guy unloading his bag. I had a few minutes to discreetly look it over. The driver wasn't part of our foursome, and I never saw the car again.

 

I remember them, I thouhgt that they was "The way auto makers of the time was going" so sad to see them crushed. The interior was cool, love the drive shaft tunel.

 

That is pretty cool technology for 1963. I'd like to think I possess a lot of general automotive knowledge, but I don't think I ever knew these cars existed... They were around about 9 years before me though..