The Howmet project was conceived early in 1967 by Ray Heppenstall, a sports car racer from Philadelphia. Heppenstall reasoned that a suitable lightweight turbine mounted in the back of a conventional sports-racing chassis would be a competitive proposition. He also convinced Howmet, one of the leading US metallurgical companies, and a major supplier of precision castings to the gas-turbine industry, that running a race car program would be an ideal promotion tool. This car raced in major events such as the 1968 Daytona and LeMans 24 Hours, plus other FIA and SCCA races. This car was purchased by its current owner in May of 2006 with a dummy engine. Since then, original engine parts have been located and assembled to bring the car back to running condition with the original Continental gas turbine engine, which weighs 170 pounds and produces 330 horsepower. | |
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