Jon Hamm look-alike drives Chrysler turbine around the world picking up girls (video)

October 31, 4:35 PMClassic Autos ExaminerJim Cherry

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1963 Chrysler Turbine was driven around the world by a Jon Hamm look-alike.

Chrysler went farthest of all in terms of developing the jet turbine engine for real world use. The zenith of their efforts was the road-legal 1963 Turbine coupe with body by Ghia. To promote Chrysler's engineering leadership, the company sent a turbine coupe on an around the world tour in a DC-7C. In four months, the Turbine Coupe toured 21 countries on five continents. Two mechanics drove the car, one of whom closely resembles actor Jon Hamm of AMC's Mad Men TV series set in the same era. Check out the second video below and watch the Hamm get wry.

"I'll tell you one thing--there's not a girl in the world who wouldn't go for a guy in a Chrysler Turbine, I just happen to know." boasted the globe-trotting grease monkey.

Fifty of the sports luxury Turbine coupes were lent to 203 ordinary Americans in order to get real-world testing results on its radical drive train. This was similar to current programs like Honda's FCX Clarity hydrogen car and the experimental electric MINI Coopers.

The Chrysle Turbine Coupe's styling was overseen by design vice-president Elwood Engel, He'd been hired away from Ford where he designed Lincolns and Thunderbirds. You can see traces of Ford's La Galaxie dream car and some vague T-Bird references in the Turbine Coupe. 

Turbine Engine Advantages:

• 80% less moving parts than an internal combustion engine.
• Runs on any flammable liquid--the president of Mexico filled its tank with tequila; it ran fine. 
• Exhaust emits no carbon monoxide or raw hydrocarbons
• Simplicity means long life with little maintenance. No oil changes.

Disadvantages:

• Turbines aren't picky about what they burn, but they burn a lot of it. 
• Acceleration is leisurely up to a point, then switches to full-on as it spools up.
• Turbine engines reach extreme heat and require expensive, exotic metals for construction.
• Exhaust  emits hard-to-control nitrogen oxides.

Chrysler continued to experiment with turbines into the 1980s but their thirst for fuel, expense to build, and emissions issues doomed the radical powerplant. Of the fifty-some coupes built, nine were spared the crusher and three of those still run. The Petersen Automotive Museum owns one, as does Jay Leno.

For more info see the slide show below and:

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Happy 50th Birthday to the Mini

Chrysler Designer Virgil Exner, American master

Carmaker Archives Part 3: Walter P. Chrysler Museum