A while ago my mom found something that was rather interesting while looking at stuff that I might be interested in: On a old but recently updated webpage was a story about a family who got to to experience the 1963 Chrysler Turbine car for a few months during the main stages of the Chrysler Turbine Car program, and it was told from the view of Mark Olson. Mark was a teenager at the time and his father Alden Olson was chosen to be the 160th user during the program, and Mark didn’t just write his experience down, but made an entire website dedicated to the Chrysler Turbine Car.
He was also able to find stories of owner #57 and owner #127 (Check these out too!), as well as lots of classic brochures, pictures and articles from the time about the car, including lots of information on Chrysler’s Turbine Program as a whole. After a longer look into the website I became so impressed with the amount of information and history on the Turbine Program that I knew I had to share it, it’s an old website but with lots of interesting and amazing information that shouldn’t be overlooked, and it’s fun just to scroll though if you really want to have an in-depth look at the Chrysler Turbine Car and the program in general.
The link to the Olson story is Here
The link to the main page of the website is Here
The link to the two articles of owner #57 and #127 are Here
My parents applied to get into that program. We had a beautiful brochure from Chrysler introducing that generation of the Turbine Car… but it was, sady, lost in the scuffle of my parents’ house over the years.
My Dad applied, too, Mark. He never expected to be chosen, but never lost hope, and chalked it up to “one of those things” when he wasn’t.
The roof of the Turbine Car looks like it was lifted directly from a ’63-’66 Valiant Signet hardtop (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing).
I had no idea that the 55 Turbine Cars that were built were spread out among 203 testers. Evidently, 148 families got ‘used’ Turbine Cars.
I am good friends with Mark Olson and what is noteworthy is that his family put more miles on the car than all but one of the 203 families. (It might be the most but the speedometer was broke for some time during their three-month loan.)
I’m writing features on the Chrysler Turbine Car I drove back in 2006 for several European publications and Mark has been invaluable in nailing down details on the car. The attached photo shows me driving the car at the Chrysler Tech Center in Auburn Hills back in 2006.
A short feature I wrote on the car is available online at
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=392658129232792&id=106859824479292
Which is also included in a print-on-demand anthology book that The Two Page Spread editor Keith Keplinger and I have available through Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Two-Page-Spread-Number-Models/dp/B09M4QWCJF/
I am now 73 years old, and our families use of the Chrysler turbine car for three months really changed my life. Being a 16-year-old “gear head” with a father who was also a “gear head” was like winning the lottery. Actually, since only 203 families out of the thirty thousand plus families who filled out the questionnaire got to use one, it was winning a lottery.
My dad let me drive the car and demonstrate its features many times when we were stopped by friendly people who wondered what the car was.
Over the years, i have maintained my website (turbinecar.com) and my Facebook page also (turbinecar.com) because the car was unique, and the program was the most courageous undertaking a car company ever did. I have been in personal contact with many of the engineers that made the car and ran the program. I helped authors of books and articles (like Richard) on the program over the years. My collection of books, magazines and memorabilia is extensive.
The electric car may be the future, but I had a chance to drive the future in 1965 and I will never forget it. Also, I had a chance to visit in person with Jay Leno a few years ago when he finally got his Chrysler turbine car. I got a chance to drive his turbine and give a ride to my wife who never had that chance in 1965.
That’s so cool that Leno let you take his Turbine Car out for a spin.
Say what you will about the man (I was never a fan of his Tonight Show gig) but there’s no question about his devotion to the history of the automobile. From what I understand, there have been more than a few people who have just given their pristine classics to him, simply because they know he has the means and dedication to maintain them.
Jay is a great guy! He had followed my website for many years and when a chance to get one of Chrysler’s three in their archives he took it. My wife and I also got a ride in his 1907 White steam car. We wandered around his collection for over an hour while waiting for him to show up.
I really liked the poem your mom wrote about the car, that was probably one of my favorite things about the story, the fact that your parents had a 1958 Desoto was awesome too.
Steve Lehto’s book on the Turbine Car is really fun (I’ve included a link to it below). I love the Turbine Cars, and I’m lucky there are so many in Michigan. I’ve visited at least 4 of them, the most recent being at the Stahl Collection, which is the only one aside from Jay Leno’s that is in private ownership.
https://www.amazon.com/Chryslers-Turbine-Car-Detroits-Creation/dp/1613743459/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1BUEN376014IE&keywords=turbine+car&qid=1643132540&sprefix=turbine+car%2Caps%2C272&sr=8-2
I helped Steve with that book.
In the summer of 1965 my family stopped to spend a couple of days with my Aunt and Uncle in Detroit on our way to a vacation in eastern Canada. I was a senior in high school and my brother was a junior. We talked our Uncle into loaning us his work commuter car 1954 to do some sightseeing. We were on an expressway somewhere when a Chrysler Turban car passed us on the other side. We both knew what it was from car magazines but never thought we would see one. I will never forget the exhaust noise.
For a couple of country boys we did a good job of staying out of trouble and didn’t get lost that day. We returned the car without an incident. However, we did manage to loose the muffler on the expressway. our Uncle was not surprised it fell off.
During my teenage years in Rockford, IL a neighborhood family had a Turbine Car under the Chrysler program.
I remember the family name was Sundstedt. The father was James and he was an engineer at Woodward Governor. There were some sons around my age but I did not know them. I remember seeing the car in the driveway of their home on Whitehall Road at the intersection of Highcrest Road. This must have been around 1964. I would guess that the father being an engineer at an aerospace company may have had something to do with Chrysler’s selection of this family.
Great article! I’ll have to come back a few times to digest it all.
Be sure to read about Mark’s visit with Jay Leno. If there was every any question about whether or not Jay is a genuine, decent guy – Mark’s experience helps to prove that Jay is the real deal!
There’s a detailed and well-produced 2023 documentary on the Chrysler Turbine available on YouTube, in which Mark also features prominently. 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOIrB1fwVPc
Fascinating stuff – well worth an hour of your time.