Front: 58.5 in (1,490 mm) Rear: 56.5 in (1,440 mm)[1]
Wheelbase
93.5 in (2,370 mm) or 91.25 in (2,318 mm)[1]
Engine
Continental TS325-1 2,960 cc (181 cu in) two-stage gas turbine mid-mounted
Transmission
1-speed (electric motor for reverse)
Fuel
Jet A
Tyres
Goodyear
Competition history
Notable entrants
Howmet Corporation
Notable drivers
Ray Heppenstall Dick Thompson Ed Lowther Bob Tullius Hugh Dibley
Debut
1968 24 Hours of Daytona
Last season
1968
Races
Wins
Poles
F/Laps
11
21
2
N/A
Constructors' Championships
0
Drivers' Championships
0
The Howmet TX (Turbine eXperimental) is an American sports prototype racing car designed in 1968 to test the competitive use of a gas turbine engine in sports car racing. Planned by racing driver Ray Heppenstall, the TX combined a chassis built by McKee Engineering, turbine engines leased from Continental Aviation & Engineering, and financial backing and materials from the Howmet Corporation.[2]
Although not the first attempt at using a turbine powerplant in auto racing, the Howmet TX was the first and is still the only turbine to win a race,[2] earning two Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) race victories and two qualifying sprint victories during its only year of competition.[3] The TX later set six Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) land speed records for turbines after being retired from racing.[2]
^ abcdeClark, Eric (September 1968). "Howmet TX". Model Cars. Model & Allied Publications. p. 439.
^ abc"The history of the Howmet TX turbine car of 1968, still the world's only turbine powered race winner". Pete Stowe's MotorSport History. 2006. Archived from the original on March 2, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
^"US National Races 1968". World Sports Racing Prototypes. 2 October 2005. Archived from the original on 24 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
The HowmetTX (Turbine eXperimental) is an American sports prototype racing car designed in 1968 to test the competitive use of a gas turbine engine in...
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products and Howmet Aerospace on engineered products. The separation was scheduled to become effective on April 1, 2020. HowmetTX - Howmet-backed turbine...
Heppenstall joined Howmet Corporation and McKee Engineering together to develop their own gas turbine sports car in 1968, the HowmetTX, which ran several...
commitment to technological development, there were two turbine-powered Howmet TXs entered in the prototype class, following on from the Rover-BRM last...
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were ahead of the factory, behind two GT40 and even a gasturbine-powered HowmetTX which was rated at 2960 cm³ and thus allowed as a prototype. The International...
products. In 2000, Thiokol merged with two divisions of Alcoa and with Howmet Castings and Huck Fasteners to become AIC Group (Alcoa Industrial Components)...
United States Michael Rothschild DNF Accident 1968 United States Howmet Castings HowmetTX United Kingdom Hugh Dibley Disqualified 1984 United States Jaguar...
promotional work for the upcoming BOAC 500 race when he encountered the HowmetTX turbine-powered car. He was part of the crew on the flight that the car...
directors of Lakeside News, Inc. He was a counsel for the aircraft parts maker Howmet Corporation from 1970 to 1974. As of 2006, he was serving as the chairman...
Wichita Falls 1,477 6 Midwestern State University 1,284 7 James V. Allred Unit 971 8 Cryovac 732 9 Work Services Corporation 730 10 Howmet Castings 704...
Global Information
Ray Heppenstall
Hugh Dibley