So you think turbocharged engines are synonymous with imports? Think again. Here are a dozen American-made forced-air specials that waved the stars and stripes with pride.
1.Ford Mustang SVO
Any time someone mentions the 2015 Mustang EcoBoost, gearhead pundits wax poetic about this car, the Mustang SVO.
The first turbo Mustang showed up in 1979 with a 135-horse 2.3-liter I4 as an alternative to a downsized 4.2-liter V8. But it wasn't until Special Vehicle Operations got its hands on the turbo Mustang that it became something special.
The first turbo Mustang showed up in 1979 with a 135-horse 2.3-liter I4 as an alternative to a downsized 4.2-liter V8. But it wasn't until Special Vehicle Operations got its hands on the turbo Mustang that it became something special.
2.The Turbocharged Corvair
The Corvair's air-cooled, rear-mounted turbocharged flat-six engine added a little extra zip with around 150 hp when it was added as an optional powerplant. Later hard-top models had up to 180 horses.
Unlike other setups, the Corvair had no wastegate, the internal exhaust flap that opens at higher engine speed to prevent over-spinning the turbine. Instead, engineers simply built enough backpressure into the system to prevent overboost.
Unlike other setups, the Corvair had no wastegate, the internal exhaust flap that opens at higher engine speed to prevent over-spinning the turbine. Instead, engineers simply built enough backpressure into the system to prevent overboost.
3.Oldsmobile F85 Jetfire
Released in April of 1962, the Olds Jetfire took the fabled high compression 3.5-liter "Rocket" V8 and cranked up the boost. It made 215 hp and was easily quicker than any of its normally aspirated cousins. Plus, you got an ashtray-sized turbo-gauge mounted in front of the shifter. To combat problems with detonation, the process whereby hot fuel-air mixture under pressure spontaneously ignites before the spark plug has a chance to ignite it, the Turbo-Rocket engine was fed a mixture of alcohol and water.
Water injection is commonplace these days in high-performance tuner applications, but how cool is it that Jetfire owners periodically had to top off their "Turbo Rocket Fluid" reservoir?
Water injection is commonplace these days in high-performance tuner applications, but how cool is it that Jetfire owners periodically had to top off their "Turbo Rocket Fluid" reservoir?
4.Buick GNX
If there's a poster-child for turbine-fed American cars, this is it: the all-black, tire-smokin', Testarossa-beating, quarter-mile-blitzing Buick GNX. Buick first started turbocharging its 3.8-liter V6 in 1978 for the Regal and LeSabre, introducing the Grand National line in 1982, and culminating with the no-holds-barred GNX in 1987.
Underrated at 276 hp, actual testing of the GNX revealed blistering performance. It even put the boots to the tuner twin-turbo Callaway Corvette, clipping through the quarter-mile in the low 13-second range.
Underrated at 276 hp, actual testing of the GNX revealed blistering performance. It even put the boots to the tuner twin-turbo Callaway Corvette, clipping through the quarter-mile in the low 13-second range.
5.1989 Pontiac 20th Anniversary Turbo Trans Am
The all-white machine picked as the pace car for the 73rd Indy 500 wasn't the first turbocharged Trans-Am, but its predecessor, the awful 1980s turbo, was all mustache and no Burt. This 1989 powerhouse was something different—a Stormtrooper to the GNX's Darth Vader. Pontiac subcontracted an engineering firm to swap Buick Grand National engines into its KITT-style Firebird, but the story doesn't stop there.
Anniversary-edition Turbo Trans Ams got better-flowing heads than the GNs, stainless-steel headers, GNX-sized intercoolers, a cross-drilled crankshaft, and their own engine tuning.
Anniversary-edition Turbo Trans Ams got better-flowing heads than the GNs, stainless-steel headers, GNX-sized intercoolers, a cross-drilled crankshaft, and their own engine tuning.
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