63 Chrysler Turbine

Does anybody know the value of one of these cars? I know it's somewhere in the million range considering there were only 50 made for experimental use. Can't quite find a specific value for one.

The reason you cannot find a specific value for this car is because they were not sold to the general public.

The Chrysler Turbine car was manufactured by Ghia in Italy. Chrysler made 50 of these cars for real life testing over a three year period. Selected volunteers were given a Turbine car for three months for use in normal driving circumstances. At the end of the test period, specific information was collected from the tester and each car was passed to another tester.

These cars were not very spectacular compared to contemporary Chrysler products of the day. They were as powerful as a full-size Plymouth equipped with a 318 2-barrel. Respectable acceleration but no head snapper.

Each Turbine car cost Chrysler quite a bit of money to produce. Since they were assembled in Italy, Chrysler was subject to paying import duties on each vehicle, proportionate to the cost to build. Chrysler avoided paying the import duties by not selling these cars at the end of the test period. At the end of the testing in 1966, 40 of the 50 cars were purposely destroyed. Chrysler retained two of them for further development and testing. The remaining eight were loaned to private collectors, but their engines were removed before delivery. The Bill Harrah collection had one with the engine removed when Bill Harrah was still alive (He died in 1978). I was aware of Chrysler displaying one of the two remaining, functional Turbine cars at Chrysler shows in the late 1980's. I also viewed video clips of the first 40 being destroyed.

These car would have been worth quite a bit of money by now, if they still existed and were available for private sale.

What got me interested about this was seeing one at the Peterson Car Musuem. Have tons of famous cars including the fastback from Bullitt. You saw there's only two right now with engines in them.

I realized these cars would be too pricey too maintain for the public and that's why they where experimental only. I guess there really isn't a price on them if only two of them remain functional with an engine. I belive I have a picture somewhere I'll post it when I track it down.

It would be great to have one of the Turbine cars, even if it was equipped with a gasoline engine. A beautiful piece of rolling art.

Here is a little bit of information about this car that most people don't know. In 1961, Chrysler hired stylist Elwood Engel to head the styling department at Chrysler. Engel came from the styling department at Ford and worked on the styling of the Thunderbird while he was there. Engel had major design influence on the Turbine car after starting work at Chrysler. If you compare a picture of the Turbine car next to a picture of a 1964 - 1966 Thunderbird, you will notice a similarity in design and this is no coincidence.

And thanks for getting me to think about Turbine cars again. While writing this I suddenly remembered a movie I saw on TV back in 1966 (and haven't seen since) that featured a Chrysler Turbine car and separate engine in the movie. I vividly recall seeing a Turbine car going head to head against another sports car on some back road during some sort of racing or rally event, part of the movie story line. I remembered that the movie starred actor James Darren. When I researched the Internet Movie Database, I confirmed the name of the movie was "The Lively Set" and was released in 1964, during the initial phases of Turbine car testing. Now that is a movie I would like to see again, even if it has a dismal plot.

For a comprehensive history and status report on the existing Turbine cars go to the web site www.turbinecar.com (http://www.turbinecar.com). I found this since my last post and am truly amazed at the history and content. What an education and what an experience!

It would be great to have one of the Turbine cars, even if it was equipped with a gasoline engine. A beautiful piece of rolling art.

Here is a little bit of information about this car that most people don't know. In 1961, Chrysler hired stylist Elwood Engel to head the styling department at Chrysler. Engel came from the styling department at Ford and worked on the styling of the Thunderbird while he was there. Engel had major design influence on the Turbine car after starting work at Chrysler. If you compare a picture of the Turbine car next to a picture of a 1964 - 1966 Thunderbird, you will notice a similarity in design and this is no coincidence.

And thanks for getting me to think about Turbine cars again. While writing this I suddenly remembered a movie I saw on TV back in 1966 (and haven't seen since) that featured a Chrysler Turbine car and separate engine in the movie. I vividly recall seeing a Turbine car going head to head against another sports car on some back road during some sort of racing or rally event, part of the movie story line. I remembered that the movie starred actor James Darren. When I researched the Internet Movie Database, I confirmed the name of the movie was "The Lively Set" and was released in 1964, during the initial phases of Turbine car testing. Now that is a movie I would like to see again, even if it has a dismal plot.

I remember now that the engine was on display right next to the car so I guess it was one of the eight with the engine yanked out. Ya I noticed the similarity on the thunderbird. They had a baby blue thunderbird there belive it was a 66. I'll have to pick that movie up sometime. These cars would seem like good drag applicants having 50,000 rpm and doing a quarter in 10 seconds flat.

It would be great to have one of the Turbine cars, even if it was equipped with a gasoline engine. A beautiful piece of rolling art.

Here is a little bit of information about this car that most people don't know. In 1961, Chrysler hired stylist Elwood Engel to head the styling department at Chrysler. Engel came from the styling department at Ford and worked on the styling of the Thunderbird while he was there. Engel had major design influence on the Turbine car after starting work at Chrysler. If you compare a picture of the Turbine car next to a picture of a 1964 - 1966 Thunderbird, you will notice a similarity in design and this is no coincidence.

And thanks for getting me to think about Turbine cars again. While writing this I suddenly remembered a movie I saw on TV back in 1966 (and haven't seen since) that featured a Chrysler Turbine car and separate engine in the movie. I vividly recall seeing a Turbine car going head to head against another sports car on some back road during some sort of racing or rally event, part of the movie story line. I remembered that the movie starred actor James Darren. When I researched the Internet Movie Database, I confirmed the name of the movie was "The Lively Set" and was released in 1964, during the initial phases of Turbine car testing. Now that is a movie I would like to see again, even if it has a dismal plot.

I remember now that the engine was on display right next to the car so I guess it was one of the eight with the engine yanked out. Ya I noticed the similarity on the thunderbird. They had a baby blue thunderbird there belive it was a 66. I'll have to pick that movie up sometime. These cars would seem like good drag applicants having 50,000 rpm and doing a quarter in 10 seconds flat.