Thursday 7th April 1955

The Plymouth Belvedere Turbine car was first shown to the public at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Measuring 32 inches long, 33 inches wide, and 28 inches high, the turbine, rated at 100 hp, fit snugly into the Belvedere’s engine compartment. Mated to a standard Plymouth transmission with only reverse and high gears, the turbine weighed some 200 lb less than a conventional Plymouth 6-cylinder engine. Built essentially as a laboratory development tool, the first turbine, identified as the CR1, was considered by Chrysler engineers as a “milestone in automotive power engineering” because it embodied solutions to two of the major problems long associated with gas turbines: high fuel consumption and scorching exhaust gas. The key feature that contributed to removing these technical barriers was the heat exchanger or regenerator. Heat exchangers extracted heat from the hot exhaust gasses and transferred that energy back to the compressed air, thus easing the burners’ job of raising gas temperature, conserving fuel, and lowering the exhaust temperature. At idle, the turbine’s exhaust temperature fell to 170 degrees Fahrenheit, ranging up to 500 degrees under normal operating conditions. Almost a year later the same basic turbine engine was installed in a 1955 Plymouth Belvedere four-door sedan. Painted red and white, the 1955 Turbine Special carried a unique hood ornament and medallion, special body name plates and trunk medallion in addition to having an oval exhaust port built into the center of the rear bumper. The 1955 was never shown publicly but was driven on Detroit streets.March 1956 saw Plymouth’s third Turbine Special, an all-white Belvedere four door, take to the highway on the first cross-country test run of a turbine-powered automobile. Leaving New York City’s Chrysler Building March 26, the car arrived four days and 3,020 miles later in Los Angeles, California. Fuel economy on the trip averaged 13 mpg, using mostly unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel (the turbine would burn any combustible liquid, from expensive French perfume to rot-gut whiskey). The trip was to be driven nonstop, with various drivers taking turns at the wheel. George Stecher, who drove on the first and last legs, recalled that the trip was not without its problems. A bearing in a reduction gear failed; “due to somebody putting in a piece of copper tubing for an oil feed and it just fatigued and broke.” Later a cracked intake casting was replaced. Chrysler was prepared for any trouble en route; the entourage included not only the turbine car but three station wagons and a truck carrying fuel, spare parts, and a complete spare engine.