"Fascinating." —Vanity Fair  "A delightful history."
—Wall Street Journal  In 1964, Chrysler gave the world a
glimpse of the future. The automaker built a fleet of turbine
cars—automobiles with jet engines—and lent them out to members
of the public. The fleet logged over a million miles; the exercise
was a raging success. These turbine engines would run on any
flammable liquid—diesel, heating oil, kerosene, tequila, even
Chanel No. 5. If the cars had been mass produced, today we might
have cars that do not require petroleum-derived fuels. The
engine was also much simpler than the piston engine—it contained
far fewer moving parts and required much less maintenance. The cars
had no radiators or fan belts and never needed oil changes. Yet
Chrysler crushed and burned most of the cars two years later; the
jet car’s brief glory was over. Where did it all go wrong? Steve
Lehto has interviewed all the surviving members of the turbine car
program, from the metallurgist who created the exotic metals for
the interior of the engine to the test driver who drove it at
Chrysler’s proving grounds for days on end. Lehto takes these
firsthand accounts and weaves them into a fascinating story about
the coolest car Detroit has ever produced.
General
Imprint: |
Chicago Review Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
May 2012 |
First published: |
May 2012 |
Authors: |
Steve Lehto
|
Foreword by: |
Jay Leno
|
Dimensions: |
154 x 229 x 15mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
240 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-61374-345-4 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
1-61374-345-9 |
Barcode: |
9781613743454 |
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