Power play: GM’s experiments with turbine engines

July 11, 2025Newsletter Archives

For more than 30 years, General Motors experimented with vehicles powered by turbine engines, not unlike those used to power jet aircraft. The goal was to offer a viable alternative to internal combustion engines, one which could use a range of fuels at a time when the world feared running out of crude oil.

In the latest edition of our Retro Rides series, we take a close look at GM’s work on turbines, which included a wide range of concept vehicles – cars, trucks and even buses.

Turbines are alluring for several reasons: They have far fewer moving parts than conventional engines – there are no pistons - which makes them at least in theory more reliable. They are compact in size, and smooth and stable, with minimal vibration. Not least, turbine engines can be powered by propane, kerosene, aviation fuel, landfill gas, ammonia, basically anything combustible. Chrysler once demonstrated one that ran on tequila.

GM began investigating turbine engines as early as the 1940s. Over the next few decades, we made multiple attempts to use them. But there were problems: Turbine engines run superhot, with exhaust temperatures that can exceed 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. They are inefficient at slow speeds. They are highly polluting. And they are expensive to produce. Alas, the issues were too great, and we never sold turbine-powered vehicles. But the experiment was fascinating.

In a demonstration of GM’s willingness to engage in truly out-of-the-box thinking, in 1981 we demonstrated a Cadillac Eldorado and an Oldsmobile Delta 88 fitted with a turbine engine powered by – get this - superfine powdered coal dust. 

“Since coal represents a particularly attractive fuel because of its great abundance in the United States, it could significantly decrease our dependance on imported oil if it can be further developer for automotive use,” the company said in a press announcement of the coal-powered car experiment. Keep in mind that this was just a few years after the 1970s energy crisis, when the world feared a crude oil shortage. 

“We’re just trying to show that we are not about to run out of energy,” GM Vice Chairman Howard Kehrl said at the time of the coal experiment, according to the New York Times. “We can continue to have cars essentially as we know them today for hundreds of years.”

-- Eric Savitz, editor-in-chief, GM News