Tales of Future Past v2

Firebird I

Not be outdone, Rover's American cousins made more than one run at producing their own jet turbine cars and the ones that screamed FUTURE the loudest were General Motors' Firebird experimental turbine cars.

For GM the Firebird was more than just a chance to build a car with a turbine engine. It was an excuse to build a test bed for every gonzo technology and styling idea that ever flew out of a box of breakfast cereal.

The first of these, 1953's Firebird I, looked less like a motor car than a toy one-seater fighter plane from its huge intakes to suck in air and the occasional bird, the exhaust port that looked like the tail pipe of a Sabre fighter, and the "wings" that even sported working air brakes.

Firebird II

In 1956, GM rolled out the Firebird II, which was less fighter plane and more 21st century family car for the small family with very deep pockets. This time it was a four-seater and instead of having a GRP body it was made of titanium. And those aren't booster rockets hanging off the rear, they're the fuel tanks.

Under the hood they'd made a few improvements as well, such as lowering the weight of the turbine engine and adding heat exchangers that both warmed the intake air and cooled the exhausts. In addition, they used a new steering system that used control levers instead of a steering wheel, and added air conditioning and a beverage cooler.

How many cup holders it had is still a trade secret.

Firebird III

1958 saw GM move away from the Jetsons and toward Batman with the Firebird III. This gull-wing doored two-seater had some of the most ferocious tail fins ever to come out of Detroit.

In addition to more tweaking with the turbine engine, which included cruise control and adding a ten-horsepower auxiliary motor to run the non-drive systems, the Firebird III replaced most of the controls with a joystick which operated the steering, gear shift, throttle, and brakes.

It was also designed to promote GM's idea of the Dream Highway of Tomorrow – the keystone of an automotive future, where jet-powered cars would travel along automated motorways where the car's "electronic brain" would follow metal strips buried in the tarmac, leaving the driver to enjoy the scenery or, if you're in North Dakota, nap. We're still waiting on this one, too.

It was all very exciting, but for all the work and imagination that GM put into it, the technical hurdles and the appalling gas mileage sent the Firebirds the way of all the other turbo cars; to the museum.

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