Designed by the same person, Elwood Engel, after leaving Ford.

I call BS these cars were never sold to my knowledge rather Chrysler loaned them to people for a very short time to "try out" then they were destroyed. For your grandparents to have one kind of laying around would mean that they actually purchased one. I don't doubt for a minute that you sat in a very cool old Mopar in your grandparents' yard, Not at all. just think that you are mistaken on which very cool old Mopar it was.

He’s talking about a Turbine scale model, not the real car. And they weren’t uncommon…even now, dealer promos don’t command much money (check them out on eBay), because Chrysler released tons of them to help advertise the turbine program. They gave them away every chance they could and did so for a few years. How do I know? I have a couple sitting on a shelf.

@@TheWhitetailrancher I think PJ means a car model, as in model car that he played with. But you are right, the real cars were not sold to the public.

@@TheWhitetailrancher I'm thinking they are talking about one of the models. However, one of the actual cars escaped being destroyed and Jay Leno owns that lone existing car and it is in good running order.

Very cool Mark!

The reason Chrysler wasn't allowed to go broke in the late 70's is because they were primary contractor on the XM-1 Tank proposal....The XM-1 also had a variant from GM with an Allision V12 motor for a power plant.....

Chrysler's Turbine Car: The Rise and Fall of Detroit's Coolest Creation is the name of Steve Lehto's book. Pretty cool stuff, as is chatting with Steve Lehto.

@@itsnotme07 yes, I wasn't going to write that as I don't like promoting others one someone else's channel. You are right he is a very interesting car guy.

I'm a big fan of Steve. He pronounces it 'tur-bin' based on everyone he's talked to when writing his book on it.

I agree. The car bodies were crushed but I think the turbines had been removed. The physical car bodies were imported and subject to the tax but the powertrains were installed here. Those turbines were a fortune to produce and my guess is that Chrysler used them for continued development.

Hello c300g, THANKS for watching - and writing! Indeed, the original issue was the best from a sharpness-of-tooling / absence of flash perspective. I bought one AFTER I had made the video (of course, it always works out like that) and treasure it now. I also agree with your new/old Turbine Promo statements. The one I show in the video is an original with the slotted screws and knurled axles. I enjoy making each and every video but - as you know - the main frustration is "what to leave out" either due to time constraints or mere lack of data / in-the-moment memory. That's why the COMMENTS segment is so important. Thanks again for writing, Steve Magnante

​@@SteveMagnante I've noticed that the earlier production models are definitely sharper than later issues. Researching these old models can be very challenging. Very few books exist that go into a significant amount of detail. There are a few good Facebook groups that I've found very helpful. Promo Model Car Show and Scale Survivors are the best in my opinion. Passionate enthusiasts

Models: a deep rabbit hole, for sure 👍🏼

Hi Raymond, Steve Magnante here responding to you on March 27, 2022, several weeks after I posted the Turbine Car video. Your recollection of the Turbine Car at NASA's Cleveland, Ohio facility is why I'm writing. in my video I reference the fact I spotted a leter Turbine car with "Department of Energy" logos on the doors. That was very likely THE SAME CAR you spotted at NASA. I say this because my "tour guide" at the Chrysler warehouse that contained the D.O.E Turbine car was Brandt Rosenbush (long time Chrysler archivist) and he said to me: "we retrieved that car - pointing to the car marked DOE - from an outdoor storage spot where it was wasting away to nothing". Another thing, my memory of the markings spelling "Department of Energy" is about 90-percent reliable. There is a chance it said something else, but it was clearly marked in a "thank you" to some government agency that undoubtedly played some role of sponsorship. I wasn't allowed to take pictures (ARGH!!!) but I'm betting you and I saw the same car. That said, we can rest happily knowing it is "safe" or at least indoors now. The Chrysler warehouse in which I spotted it was NOT the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills. Rather it was in Highland Park on the former campus of Chrysler headquarters. The actual building i was in (as were about 50 other Chrysler historical specimens including a 1940 Thunderbolt dual cowl show car!!!) was a former radiator factory and before that, a seat plant - complete with remnants of ceiling-mounted mass-production rails and trolleys to move seat units from station to station during assembly. IF THE PLACE COULD TALK!!! OK, Thanks again for watching and writing, Steve Magnante

@@SteveMagnante wow Steve! Thanks for all that information! Yes, now I remembered the Government markings on the doors did say Department of Energy, thanks for refreshing my memory! The car was really sitting out in the parking lot in front of the building entrances with a plexiglass riveted over where the hood would be, filled with some leaves and you had full access to the car other than getting inside. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera on me to take pictures of it because I wasn't expecting to see a car in the NASA exhibits. Never knew it had connections to the bronze 1963 Turbine Car then. Thanks again!

That Suzuki was likely an RE5 model, which was powered by a rotary engine (like an RX-7), not a turbine.

Simply put its American versus European metric / imperial measurements when scaling down prototypes.