The real-world chrysler turbine that I serviced as a kid (I was a passionate hot-rodder, and worked at a dealer station run by Texaco)was "on lease", like all the chrysler turbines" to the police chief of the city of Grandview, Ohio. The actual turbine was tiny, but the largest thing under the hood was a heat exchanger shaped like a beer keg that rotated through the exhaust and induction air, and preheated the combustion air as it came in to improve throttle response and fuel efficiency, as well as cooling the exhaust gasses. It got about 12- 14 miles to the gallon in actual use, put out about 140 horsepower, and was surprisingly peppy for so little listed power in so large a body-chassis (Chrysler 300-series).It had about a one or one and a half-second lag between throttle application and the onset of acceleration- disconcerting at first, but easily adjusted to.
The incredible thing about the car was it's simplicity. It was just a true gutless wonder. The total number of moving parts in the entire engine powerhead was under ten. During the two years we serviced it, we did nothing but change the synthetic oil. Once. Chrysler bragged about the near-miraculous simplicity and ease of maintenance of the car-- and then realized their mistake, and recalled every one, and destroyed them. Sad. What a sucky business model.  

Capitalism searches out the darkest corners of human potential, and mainlines them.