Cars
Forgotten Legends A dream called turbine
This article explores the history and challenges of using turbine engines in land vehicles, particularly cars. While the aeronautical industry found success with using turbines for propulsion in planes.
As early as the beginning of the century, there had been several attempts to use turbines for the propulsion of land vehicles. However, it was the aeronautical industry that found two important and very different ways to use this type of engine: transferring the power generated by a kerosene turbine to a classic propeller (turboprop engine), or even using the turbine to generate a jet capable of giving the necessary thrust for flight.
However, it was when the small passenger plane by Vickers Viscount came into service in the late 1940s that this type of propulsion started interesting car manufacturers. At the end of the war, commercial flight was becoming more widespread, and the idea of having a car that took its technological underpinnings from the world of aeronautics was a valuable marketing tool.
