Detroit Show: Chrysler 300S Turbine Edition

At the Detroit Show we will be able to see quirky cars such as the Chrysler 300S Turbine Edition, a concept that brings nothing new to the brand’s line-up, but that will undoubtedly help attract visitors to its stand. The concept is a tribute to the historic Chrysler Turbine, a 1963 concept that used a turbine and never got beyond the prototype stage.

However, the new model is only meant to be a tribute to that unusual concept from the past. It does not incorporate any turbine, nor any special preparation; instead, it only features an aesthetic treatment that makes it resemble its distant relative.

The Chrysler 300S Turbine Edition is a Chrysler 300 painted in matt bronze (the same colour as the original concept) combined with a black-painted roof. It does offer some different styling details, such as the wheels that resemble a turbine in motion, a new fully chromed grille, as well as chrome-finished mirrors.

There are no plans to produce a “turbine” special series, nor have they shown much more creativity in customising the engine, as the cost of a greater preparation (let alone developing a new turbine engine concept) would most likely have been prohibitive.

The original concept incorporated a turbine engine that could run on a wide variety of fuels: diesel, aviation fuel, petrol, vegetable oil or kerosene. 55 units were built and tested by selected users chosen by Chrysler. The project continued until 1977, giving way to two other turbine concepts, which never got beyond unfinished projects, due to Chrysler’s near-bankruptcy in the 1970s.