A mysterious object from a past vision of the future (or maybe from space) hovered over the lawn at the June 5 Colorado Concours, its landing gear nearly hidden in the shadows. Curious bystanders stared at the open engine bay. What were they seeing?
Well, they were seeing this, an AiResearch turbine engine neatly installed around 5 decades after Ghia's Gilda Streamline X show car made its debut at the 1954 Turin show...
Giovanni Savonuzzi's design, inspired by jet aircraft and named after a character played on film by Rita Hayworth, was originally intended to be powered by a jet turbine. Ghia had already built several show cars for Chrysler, which showed its first automotive turbine in 1954, but that unit might not have fit under the hood or deck on the Gilda. Ghia repainted the car in red and silver, and switched to boomerang tail lights shown below, and in that form the car sat at the Henry Ford Museum from 1955 to '69, although it wound up influencing Exner's Forward Look, especially the Dart show car and the '57 Chrysler lineup. Meanwhile, Chrysler would build 55 identical versions of its Turbine Car for testing by consumers in 1963-64. The appeal of a car that would run on a wide variety of fuels (including peanut oil or tequila) was widespread, but fuel consumption and potential tooling costs derailed the program.
The car moved to Bill Harrah's collection after its stay at the Ford Museum, and remained there until being sold to the Blackhawk Museum in 1985. Nearly two decades later, collector and Mercedes restorer Scott Grundfor bought the car and figured out how to make a such a tidy installation of the single stage turbine engine behind the cabin that it looked like it had always been there. One thing he didn't change, however, is the simple floor mounted hand control for moving and stopping the car. What looks like a shift lever actually moves the car forward when moved that way, backwards when it passes through a reverse lockout to reverse, and stops the car when moved all the way back. This is in keeping with the aircraft theme, but might be confusing to your average driver in an emergency...
Videos of the fully operational (except for headlights: the driver's side headlight flap is actually the fuel filler) Gilda Streamline X have been posted by the Blackhawk Museum. It's a large car, at 207" long just over an inch shorter than a new Mercedes S580, and the fully skirted wheels make for a large turning circle. Still, the car is an intriguing look in the review mirror at yesterday's dreams of the future. Below, we see an attempt to bring a vision from the past into line with expectations of a future shadowed by higher fuel costs and global warming...
It's a 1966 Porsche 912, and it was converted to electric power* by an outfit called Farland Cars. The electric motor is a Hyper 9; the conversion system was suppled by ElectricGT...
The Tesla battery is good for 25 kWh. Farland didn't supply information on the weight distribution, but we'd guess that with the big battery pack up front, it's more user-friendly than the original 912. Acceleration is probably way more lively than the gasoline-fueled 1.6 liter four.
Along with the conversion to electric power, Farland restored the rest of the car, and made some interior upgrades including a smaller-diameter Momo steering wheel and those seats, which count as an upgrade if you like plaid with your comfort...
The rest of the Porsche lineup included 2 specimens of the Carrera GT in the foreground (yellow car not pictured), a mid-engined, rear-drive targa made in 1,270 examples from 2003 to mid-2006, and powered by a 5.7 liter, 603 hp V10 that was unique to this model, and developed from a shelved Le Mans prototype.
Parked adjacent to the Carrera GT was this tastefully restored and lightly modified 911T from 1970 in what looks like an original color offering, Mexico Blue.
Owner Mike Fuchs lists the condition on the sign as "durn good." The car sits a bit lower on its suspension than a showroom original example, and this, along with bumpers having the chrome trim and front overriders removed, offers a clean look, like an RS. Steve McQueen drove a similar car before the race in the film "Le Mans"*, except maybe it was an S version.
The photo below shows rear views of the 911T with non-standard vented plate panel and the Carrera GT, with non-standard (and certainly unnecessary) go-fast stripes...
The Lotus lineup was like a capsule history lesson, with the Evora produced from 2010-2021 parked next to an Elise (1996-2021) and then a barely visible Esprit (1976-2004). The Evora continued the practice of using Toyota engines which began with the Series 2 Elise in 2001. In the Elise it was a 1.6 or 1.8 liter inline four, while the Evora shown it was a 3.5 liter V6. Supercharged versions offered 416 hp.
The mystery car below probably offers less power, but plenty of fun. We think it's a careful replica of a Scaglietti (usually Ferrari) or Fantuzzi (often Maserati) body style from late Fifties Italian road racers. The egg crate grille and what appears to be a 4-cam Dino V6 in the engine bay signal we're in Ferrari territory, but the 4-cam, 65 degree Dino appeared after the mid-Sixties. Readers, please solve the mystery if you got close enough to this car.
The mystery of what appears to be a Bugatti Type 37 was easier to solve. It has all the right Bugatti clues from their heyday in the Twenties through early Thirties, when the 8 cylinder, 2.3 liter Type 35 and the 1.5 liter, 4 cylinder T37 racked up one race win after another. But this car signals that it's a replica with some odd details like brakes smaller than original diameter...
...and a wood steering wheel of small diameter mostly aimed at modern drivers.
It's under the hood, though, that we find something very 21st century. Instead of the blocky, cubist sculpture of the SOHC Bugatti four, we find...an equally blocky electric motor. Is this some kind of sacrilege?
Well, no. Actually, it may be more in keeping with Bugatti's origins than the 1,500 hp, 4 million dollar lifestyle accessory offered to 21st century zillionaires by VW as a Bugatti. While his light, spindly racers were setting records, Ettore Bugatti (in light suit below) decided to offer a half-scale Type 35 replica for kids. Made in 500 examples from 1927 to '36, it was called Type 52, it was one of the most popular Bugattis ever, and it was powered by an electric motor...
Along with the Ghia jet and the electrified surprises, there were lots of American cars on display, including the '57 Lincoln Premiere convertible below. It's pictured above a flame-red C8, the production version of the long-rumored mid-engined Corvette that finally appeared for the 2020 model year.
Like the Lincoln, the new Corvette proves that diagonal slashing lines are a recurring theme in car design. In April, GM announced that it plans to release a hybrid electric version of the C8. That means Chevy's Corvette will soon have something in common with the electrified Porsche and Bugatti at this show. It appears that styling trends like fins may come and go, but the incentives, and rewards, of electrification will continue...
We hope the Colorado Concours will continue too. It benefits Ability Connection Colorado, which offers educational, employment and related support for individuals with disabilities. This year's show was a big success, and we plan to visit next June when it returns.
*Footnote: The Jet Cars series has, like this blog, somehow gone on for years; here's the lineup:
"Jet Cars Part 1: Real & Not So Real" + "Jet Cars Part 2: Chrysler Turbine Car" (both 5-21-16).
"Jet Cars Part 3: Chrysler Turbine Epilogue" (5-25-16).
"Jet Cars Part 4" (turbines from Socema, GM, Chrysler & Rover) appeared 9-6-21.
And the trend of converting classic cars to electric power was outlined in "Classic Cars Go Electric" (7-31-21).
Steve McQueen's "Le Mans" was reviewed here on 3-5-21.
Color Photo Credits:
All color photos were generously provided by Mike Fuchs, except for the interior of the Ghia Gilda jet car, (from Barrett-Jackson Auctions) and the replica Bugatti's electric motor (from the Colorado Concours).
Monochrome Photo Credits:
Monochrome photos of the Gilda from Ghia Studios were featured in a Blackhawk Museum video on youtube.com. The Bugatti Type 52 photo is from Wikimedia.
No comments:
Post a Comment