Turbo-Whizzard

If British hopes pan out, the low-pitched roar of auto traffic may turn to a thin, high whine. Last week at Silverstone race track, Warwickshire, the Rover Co. of Birmingham showed off a gas-turbine sport coupe. Its unofficial name: the Whizzard.

Made out of a stock-model Rover, the Whizzard has three chrome-decorated air intakes in its sides just ahead of the rear fenders. The engine, placed behind the driver's seat, has two exhaust vents. The car, which looks much like an ordinary car on the outside, is not jet-propelled. Its fuel burns in two combustion chambers, producing a gas stream that spins a high-speed turbine. The gas escapes upward at rather low speed while the turbine turns the car's rear wheels through reduction gears and a conventional rear end.

New Zealand-born Engineer Frank Bell, who has worked four years on the Whizzard, pressed the starter button. The turbine gave a puff of kerosene-scented smoke and whined like a vacuum cleaner. As the whine increased, the car picked up speed. In 14 seconds it reached 60 miles an hour --more than twice as lively as low-priced U.S. cars. The Whizzard has almost no vibration, and it needs no gear shift. The only control pedals are the brake and the foot throttle.

Disadvantages are just as obvious. Admitted Designer Bell: "As you can hear, it's still too noisy. We've still a long way to go in cutting fuel consumption."

The public was not allowed to see the engine. Outside experts guessed that the experimental Whizzard gets from five to seven miles on a gallon of kerosene. Rover Co. engineers hope that the mileage can be doubled by a "heat-exchanger" now under development. They think that the new engine will be used first on trucks and long-distance buses. Its chief advantages are simplicity, cheap fuel and low weight per h.p. Its high idling speed will be a serious disadvantage in stop-and-start traffic.

The demonstration of the Whizzard caused much excitement in gas-turbine-minded Britain. Other British motor manufacturers are hard at work on turbines. The Rover engineers, first to get the turbo-car completed, believe they are at least a year ahead of U.S. rivals.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.