Cars and their stories

Cars and their stories - Alternative energies

1952 Socema Gregoire turbine concept

In October of 1952, the visitors of the Paris Auto Show would discover an astonishing car with its shapely body hiding a gas turbine. At that time, the aircraft industry developed designs and construction schedules of turbojets and turbo propellers. The S.O.C.E.M.A (Company of Constructions and Mechanical Equipment for Aviation) exhibited several engines at the aviation show of 1949.

Detroit Electric

Combustion eventually won the battle, but it was not because it was not tried. In the early days of the automobile, electricity was one of the most advanced energy sources with a spectacular potential for evolution; it was the energy of the future and people like Nikola Tesla did everything possible to make it a reality. In fact, all the electrical systems we have today, or at least the basis of their development, were invented in those distant years at the beginning of the 20th century.

Volga "Atom" Soviet secret project!

En 1965 Soviet designers presented a prototype of the "Volga-Atom" based on the GAZ-21 Volga, manufactured at that time by the Gorky Automobile Plant. The story goes that the Volga Atom had a four-cylinder engine which used enriched Uranium 235 and that it was even successfully tested in the Russian city of Severomorsk. However, given that there is no documentary evidence to back these claims, this is most likely a myth.

Ford’s Experimental Turbine T-Bird

It's been more than 110 years since the first mass-produced automobile hit public roads, and cars are still largely powered by piston engines. But carmakers have experimented with all sorts of solutions in the past, including gas turbine powerplants of the aircraft variety.

1963 Chrysler Typhoon

This 1963 Chrysler 2-passenger concept car was called "Typhoon" and the essence of the design was used on the 4-passenger Chrysler Turbine cars. The design was by Charles Mashigan, directed by Elwood Engel. It was "futuristic retro", borrowed from Ford's advanced styling concepts of the 1950s.