Rover gas turbine vehicles

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Rover JET 1 (1950)

The Rover gas turbine vehicles were never built in series, but only served as test vehicles and racing vehicles.

prehistory

Shortly after the start of the Second World War in 1939, the British government approached Rover and asked for support in the manufacture of secret, novel propulsion systems that Frank Whittle had developed but could not manufacture for propulsion of airplanes. Various gas turbines were built by 1942, some based on Whittle designs, some based on Rover's own.

After it was not clear at Rover whether the company should look for its future in aircraft engine construction, they finally handed over all design documents for the gas turbines to Rolls-Royce and received all documents for the V12 Merlin reciprocating engines manufactured by Rolls-Royce the Spitfire fighter aircraft. Rover then used these engines in its Centurion and Conqueror tanks .

The JET 1

From 1945 Rover thought of gas turbines for cars. Under difficult circumstances, the former Rolls-Royce engineers Frank Bell and Spencer King developed a prototype in Solihull that worked for the first time in February 1947. By May 1948, the "Model T5" had matured to such an extent that it could be built into a car.

The chassis of a Rover P4 was given a roadster body, the front of which was also reminiscent of the P4 model. The new gas turbine was installed in the stern, the compressor stage of which rotated at 40,000 rpm. The turbine stage reached 26,000 rpm and gave an output of max. 100 bhp (74 kW). The car was called the Rover JET 1 and reached up to 136 km / h in 1950. The racing car completed its first laps on March 14, 1950.

A further development of this vehicle with a modified front was given the more powerful T8 turbine with 230 bhp (169 kW) in 1952. With a top speed of 243.5 km / h, the prototype equipped with Girling disc brakes set the world record for turbine-powered vehicles.

T2, T3 and T4

Little is known about the Rover T2A . It had a gas turbine attached to the stern outboard and was also introduced in 1952.

In 1956 the Rover T3 appeared . Its chassis was still that of the Rover P4 . The body of the two-door coupé was made of GRP . This was the first car that was designed around a gas turbine, so to speak. Its compressor stage turned at 52,000 / min, the output of 110 bhp (81 kW) was passed on to a four-wheel drive. Of course, this vehicle also had four disc brakes - this time from Dunlop - and a DeDion rear axle.

Two years before the Rover P6 came out , in 1961, the Rover T4 was released. The four-door sedan already had the body and floor pan of the P6 model, but with a slightly flatter front section, which was not unlike the Citroën DS . A gas turbine with a heat exchanger was installed in the front, the 140 bhp (103 kW) of which was passed on to the front-wheel drive.

Rover BRM

Together with BRM , Rover developed the Rover BRM Type 00 with a gas turbine in the rear, which took part in the 1963 Le Mans 24 Hours out of competition . Drivers included Graham Hill and Richie Ginther ; the average speed was 173 km / h. A year later, the car drove with a new body - again outside the classification - in Le Mans.

In 1965, the revised car was rated for the first time: It achieved tenth place in the overall classification with an average speed of 159 km / h, and that with a defective engine. One of the drivers this time was young Jackie Stewart .

Received vehicles

The Rover JET 1 can be seen in the “Kensington Science Museum” (see photo). The models T3 and T4 are in the “British Leyland Collection”.

literature

  • Gas turbines in motor vehicles . In: Motor Vehicle Technology 3/1956, pp. 88–93.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Klaus L. Schulte: Small Gas Turbines and Their Applications , brochure, page 160. KLS Publishing, 2006 , requested on April 13, 2010
  2. ↑ Rover.org: The Rover Turbine Cars (English), accessed on April 13, 2010

Web links