In the 1960s, Chrysler built a handful of cars powered by aircraft-style turbine engines. And where does one take a turbine when it’s in need of a rebuild? To the original manufacturer, of course.
Like the other cars in his collection, Jay Leno’s Chrysler Turbine Car saw regular use—until its engine failed. So Leno sent it to Williams International, the Michigan-based company founded by one of the engine’s designers, Sam Williams. An all-volunteer effort organized by Williams’ son Gregg, who now runs the company, made the rebuild happen.
As a refresher, the Chrysler Turbine Car was the result of an ambitious research and marketing project in the early 1960s. After experimenting with prototypes starting in the 1950s, Chrysler built 50 examples (plus five pre-production cars) that were handed over to customers for evaluation and feedback.
Chrysler Turbine Car on Jay Leno’s Garage
There was plenty of experimentation with turbine-powered cars in the postwar era. Ford built a turbine-powered Thunderbird prototype in 1955, and there were even a handful of turbine race cars, with the STP-Paxton Turbocar nearly winning the 1967 Indianapolis 500. But Chrysler was the only automaker to put a turbine engine in something resembling a normal car that customers (albeit a small number) were actually to drive.
The test program showed some positives for turbines, including smooth operation and the ability to run a wider variety of fuels besides gasoline. But, as Leno found out when the engine on his car seized, ease of maintenance was not one of them.
Turbines have fewer moving parts than the piston engines used in most production cars, but those parts require much finer tolerances and more exotic metals in order to deal with the high heat and rotational speeds (the Chrysler engine reportedly redlined at 60,000 rpm) of turbines. That also added to the cost of turbine engines—one of the factors behind Chrysler’s decision not to pursue high-volume production, along with fuel-economy and emissions concerns.
Williams International still builds small turbine engines, and even helped develop a series-hybrid version of the pioneering General Motors EV1, but rebuilding this engine still wasn’t straightforward. The lack of replacement parts and original blueprints meant essentially starting from scratch, although the availability of 3D printing helped.
This isn’t the sort of thing most people will be able to work on in their home garages, then, but luckily this Chrysler Turbine Car has found a home where it can be properly cared for—and appreciated.