Whatever Happened to Chrysler's TURBINE CAR? (Part 7)

(From Allpar.com)
Consumer Reaction Tours

The two turbine-powered cars began extensive consumer reaction tours at dealerships throughout the country in cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Kansas City, St. Louis, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, etc. Two other turbine cars, a second Dodge and a second Plymouth, were added during the month of April in order to expand coverage of the tours. All four cars were powered by versions of the CR2A turbine engine.

The tour schedule was similar in each area. When the cars arrived in a given city they were first displayed to members of the local press. The press events involved explaining the turbine and answering questions, giving each newsman a ride in one of the cars, and, in some cases, staging special tests. After members of the press had viewed the cars, they were then displayed at various dealerships. The cars were shown at Plymouth and Dodge dealerships in approximately 90 major cities in the United States and Canada.

During this time hundreds of thousands of people came to see the turbine vehicles, and public interest was intense and serious. When asked, "if this car were offered for sale to the motoring public, do you think you would buy one?" 30 per cent of the turbine viewers said "yes" they would definitely buy one and 54 per cent answered they would think seriously of buying one.

As a result, on February 14, 1962, Chrysler Corporation announced that it would build 50 to 75 turbine-powered passenger cars which would be available to selected users by the end of 1963. Typical motorists would be offered an opportunity to evaluate turbine cars under a variety of driving conditions.

On February 14, 1962, in Chicago, Chrysler Corporation exhibited another gas turbine vehicle - the Dodge Turbo Truck. This medium-duty truck (also equipped with the CR2A experimental engine) had just completed a 290-mile test run from Detroit to Chicago.

From February 17 through 25, three gas turbine-powered vehicles (the Plymouth, Dodge, and Dodge Truck) were exhibited at the Chicago Automobile Show.