George: This is truly one of history's most incredible streetcars.
It's scary fast.
The sheer rawness of it the excitement and the acceleration,
when you do hit the accelerator pedal you better
be holding on because this thing is going to take off.
The Rock and Roll car Museum in Austin, Texas
is home to a Chevy like no other.
Modified by legendary Indy mechanic Andy Granatelli.
This 1978 Corvette is powered by a Pratt and Whitney,
ST6B turbine engine,
parks 880 horsepower.
Pushes naught to 60 in less than three seconds,
and is capable of speed over 180 miles per hour.
George: It's a marvel. It really is. It's an amazing piece.
What we like to call the wolf in sheep's clothing.
It uses a compressed gas to turn turbine blades.
This one instead of using thrust actually uses a shaft
that turns the drive shaft through the transmission,
just like a normal car would.
But it is still a true jet engine.
It's absolutely stunning.
And being in a class of its own, it's no surprise
that this is the pride of the museum's collection.
Colt: When you have something that's so unique like this,
it really stands out.
You can have a lot of Porsches or a lot of Ferraris,
but there's only one Jet Vette.
This car approximately costs $550,000
and it was purchased in 2005.
If I was to guess its value today
and what it would cost to build this,
I mean, you could spend $600,000, $700,000, $800,000.
George: Because it differs so much from a normal V8 Engine,
the engine extends all the way from the very front of the car
where the radiator normally would be,
all the way into the firewall.
Under these covers, would be
the exhaust side of the turbine engine,
in the center is the compressor side.
This series of fins that looks like a radiator
is actually the condenser for the air conditioning;
this car actually has functioning air conditioning.
And because this engine acts like a giant fan,
it sucks in the air at such a high rate
even with a high ambient temperature the AC in this car works flawlessly.
And the turbine engine presents unique issues
met with unique solutions.
George: Biggest problem with this car is
trying to vent the hot exhaust gases.
A turbine engine will produce enormous temperatures,
we're talking over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit.
It has a very remarkable exhaust system
that was very well engineered and built.
The turbine engine because they burn so much fuel,
at such high temperature,
it has to have so much surface area in order to
get this exhaust out of the car.
So they built this massive flat exhaust system.
It's all made out of the material called inconel,
which is similar to stainless steel in many ways,
but it has a much higher operating temperature,
and it dissipates heat a lot better.
So it enters right here, it comes around
and then bridges back together,
and it fans out and then out of the diffuser.
And there is nothing else that's ever been built this way.
Up front here we have a series of switches and gauges,
which are completely different from the road going car.
To drive this car, it's not easy,
you have to put a little work in.
There's actually a fifth break that is installed,
in order to help slow this car down.
You have to start out by holding the brake very firmly.
Some people maybe would have to use actually two feet.
The car will idle between 70 and 90 miles an hour,
depending on conditions and the road you're on.
It can be a handful, but when you get on the throttle,
it makes it all worthwhile.
Once you drop the car into gear,
you would slowly let up on the brake pedal and just like any other car.
It'll actually start going without touching the accelerator pedal.
When you do hit the accelerator pedal you better be holding on,
because this thing is going to take off,
it's going to snap your neck.
This is truly one of history's most incredible streetcars.
This car accelerates so smoothly and so quickly
that before you know it,
you're surpassing 130 miles an hour.
You have to be very careful when you're driving it
because it just really wants to stretch its legs and run.
Awe inspiring, just a marvel of engineering.
It’s scary fast, the sheer rawness of it,
the excitement and the acceleration
will put smile on your face every time.
It’s a lot of fun to drive.
Truly an amazing vehicle.