Hey, I got to ride in one of those. My friend's dad was one of the 'test' drivers of the Chrysler Turbine car... They were from Ohio, and came down to Wrightsville Bech every year. I remember them showing up with this thing, and later we took it for a spin...whoooooosh!
That Chrysler turbine seemed the coolest thing to me. Too bad it didn't work out.
Although the recommended fuel was diesel, the Turbine Car would run on ANY flammable liquid. At one point or another, Turbine Cars were run, without adjustments, on unleaded gas, kerosene, jet fuel, home heating oil, peanut oil, tequila and even Chanel No. 5.
Public reaction to the car was very favorable, but the EPA's ever-tightening restrictions on the emissions of piston engines would cause Chrysler to forsake development of the turbine engine in favor of getting the piston engine up to par. Almost all of the gorgeous Turbine Cars were crushed or melted to avoid paying import tariffs on their Italian-built bodies. The new Turbine Car design they were planning for 1966 got a conventional piston engine and became the 1966 Charger Fastback. That's right, the Charger was originally designed as a turbine-powered car!
Maybe we should be looking at this again.