Turbine Trucks And More Turbine Hotness (Now With More Pics)

by Paul Niedermeyer

Published: December 12th, 2009

turbine trucks and more turbine hotness now with more pics

Chopped and Diced has a nice set of turbine pictures, including the big trucks from Ford, GMC, and Chevrolet. The trucks probably made the most sense for a practical turbine application, given their steady power output requirements and low maintenance. But diesels just haven’t been beat when it comes to high thermal efficiency, which tops 50% in the case of the giant ship engines we showed you last week. More turbine trucks and an insane looking home made turbine bike after the jump:

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Toad on Dec 13, 2009

These trucks look extremely cool, but trucks are all about making money, not looks. As the owner of 10 trucks, I can tell you that simplicity, reliability, comfort, and economy are all that really matter. For example, can you imagine the cost to replace the front windshield on the Ford turbine truck (not to mention the load on the A/C system from all of the sunlight)? Most truck windshields are only $100 -200 installed. I cannot begin to imagine the cost of turbine repairs, not to mention trying to find parts or qualified mechanics to do the work. Simple, proven trucks are popular for the same reasons Honda Accords are. I have seen trucking companies nearly bankrupted by buying trucks with "new & and improved" components that repeatedly fail, causing the trucking company to lose customers due to missed delivery times and expenses that continue while trucks stay in the repair shop not producing revenue. These kind of problems have even forced Caterpillar out of the heavy duty truck engine market. On a brighter note, for a really cool visionary vehicle from the 1930's that is not well known take a look at the GM Futureliner http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yy-0iDHAz8. Saw an unrestored one sitting in a parking lot north of Chicago 20 ago, should have bought it then!

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ZoomZoom on Dec 14, 2009

I like that Chevy too! It would be fun to pull that one into a Walmart or a 7-Eleven store!

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