The program helped the company determine problems with the cars, notably with their complicated starting procedure, relatively unimpressive acceleration, and sub-par fuel economy and noise.

The experience also revealed the advantages of the turbine engines, including their remarkable durability, smooth operation, and relatively modest maintenance requirements.

After World War II, Huebner was part of a group of engineers who began exploring the idea of powering a car with a turbine.

[6] Other members of the secretive Chrysler research team that worked on automotive turbines included fellow engineers Bud Mann and Sam B.

[7] The concept intrigued them, mainly because turbine engines have fewer moving parts than their piston-powered counterparts and can run on a variety of fuels.

[9][13][14] Chrysler unveiled its next turbine car, a 1956 Plymouth, on March 23, 1956; Huebner drove it 3,020 miles (4,860 km) on a four-day trip from New York City to Los Angeles.

[17][18] The program began generating several patent applications in 1957, due mainly to the contributions of metallurgist Amedee Roy and engineer Giovanni Savonuzzi.

[27] Chrysler had barnstormed its fleet of turbine cars to dealers across North America, Europe, and Mexico by February 1962, visiting 90 cities, giving rides to almost 14,000 people, and being seen by millions more.

[45] Due to the exotic materials and strict tolerances needed to build the engines and the investment casting method with which they were made, the A-831s were very expensive to produce;[46] Chrysler never disclosed their actual cost.

[54][55] The first five cars were completed in early 1962 as prototypes used for troubleshooting; each was slightly different from the others, varying in exterior color, interior upholstery, and roof material.

[56] Early problems discovered from the prototypes included sluggish acceleration (attributed in part to the relatively heavy hand-built bodies) and vibration, ultimately determined to be caused by the tire treads and noticeable due to the unusual smoothness of the turbine engine.

The turbine-inspired style carries through to the center console design of the interior,[51] which has bronze-colored leather upholstery, deep-pile bronze carpet, and brushed aluminum accents.

[38] The cars have black vinyl covered hardtop roofs, leather-upholstered bucket seats for front and rear passengers, and whitewall tires.

[62] Two of the cars gave rides to visitors at the 1964 New York World's Fair, and another went on a worldwide tour; 50 were lent to the general public as part of a user program.

[70] The most-cited advantages of the turbine engine, according to the participants' interviews, were its smooth and vibration-free operation, reduced maintenance requirements, and ease of starting in different conditions; the most-common complaints concerned its slow acceleration, sub-par fuel economy, and relatively high noise level.

[78][79] A widely circulated explanation was that the cars were destroyed to avoid a substantial tariff on the imported Ghia bodies, although author Steve Lehto claims that this idea has been "largely discredited".

According to Lehto, the decision was influenced by Chrysler's public relations concerns: the potential difficulty of keeping the cars running and fears that owners would replace the turbine powerplants with piston engines.

The turbines ultimately failed to meet government emissions regulations and had relatively poor fuel economy, despite promising early results and a $6.4 million contract from the Environmental Protection Agency.

[35][82][83] According to Charles K. Hyde, the company's effort to enlarge and diversify its turbine program was unsuccessful and spread its "already-thin executive talent pool even thinner".

In March 1971, the Williams Research Corporation continued developing a turbine engine with funding from the National Air Pollution Control Administration.

[86] However, the program and the seventh-generation engine were discontinued in 1979 as a requirement of the Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979,[87] as well as due to its inability to attain fuel economy goals.

[91] The sixth Chrysler Turbine Car on museum display has been owned by Stahls Automotive Collection in Chesterfield, Michigan, since being acquired at auction in March 2021.

[92][93] This car was originally donated to the former Harrah Collection in Reno, Nevada, later purchased by Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan, and then sold to Frank Kleptz of Fort Wayne, Indiana.