Renault Étoile Filante: The Jet Powered Projectile From France

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]So, they are fast cars. They are very fast cars. And then there are other machines that look at the entire concept of a piston engine, shrug in a distinctly French manner, and built in something normally reserved for aircraft. The Renault Étoile Filante is one of those. This is not a car in the conventional sense. It doesn't follow the usual rules. It doesn't care for tradition, and it certainly doesn't concern itself with practicality. What it is, however, is one of the most fascinating engineering experiments ever undertaken by Renault. A machine built with a singular purpose, to go very, very fast using a gas turbine. And in doing so, it quietly set a record that still stands. You see, the story begins in 1954, at a time when the world was utterly obsessed with jet propulsion.

[00:00:52]Aircraft had already made the leap from propellers to turbines, and suddenly everything seemed possible. Faster travel, higher altitudes, and a future dominated by whirring compressors rather than reciprocating pistons. Into this atmosphere of optimism stepped Turbomeca, a company specializing in aeronautical turbines. They approached Renault with a rather ambitious suggestion, build a gas turbine powered car and use it to break the speed record for turbine driven vehicles. Now, most car manufacturers would have politely declined, citing cost, complexity, and the minor issue of trying to make an aircraft engine behave itself on land.

[00:01:36]Renault, however, said yes. And what followed was not so much a car development program as a full-blown engineering adventure. The brief was simple in theory, create a vehicle that weighed under a ton, maximize aerodynamic efficiency, and harness the unique characteristics of a turbine engine. In practice, this meant throwing out almost everything that defined conventional automotive design. The result was something that looked less like a car and more like a cross between a missile and a hovercraft. Long, slender, and equipped with stabilizing fins, the Étoile Filante was designed to slice through the air with minimal resistance. Its body was constructed from polyester over a tubular frame, a lightweight solution that kept mass down while maintaining structural integrity.

[00:02:29]And then there was the engine. So, instead of pistons, crankshafts, and valves, the Étoile Filante used a gas turbine. This type of engine operates on an entirely different principle, compressing air, mixing it with fuel, in this case kerosene, and igniting it to produce a continuous flow of high-speed exhaust gases. These gases then spin a turbine, generating power.

[00:02:54]Now, the advantages are obvious, at least on paper. You see, gas turbines offer an exceptional power-to-weight ratio. They produce smooth, vibration-free power, and they can run on a variety of fuels, not just traditional petrol. And in an era when the future of energy was still very much up for debate, this flexibility was seen as a significant advantage. But there are drawbacks. Throttle response, for one, is not exactly instantaneous.

[00:03:24]Turbines take time to spool up, which makes precise control somewhat challenging. They're also notoriously inefficient at lower speeds and generate an extraordinary amount of heat. In other words, they're brilliant in the sky, but on the road, that's another matter entirely. Nevertheless, Renault pressed on. The Étoile Filante underwent extensive testing in wind tunnels between 1954 and 1955, refining its aerodynamic profile to ensure maximum efficiency at high speed.

[00:03:59]Every curve, every surface, every fin was carefully considered. This was not a styling exercise. It was a science experiment. And by 1956, the car was ready for its moment of truth. The team, led by engineer John Herbert, transported the Étoile Filante to the Bonneville Salt Flats, the spiritual homeland of speed records. And if you're going to attempt something like this, there's no better place. The vast, flat expanse of salt provides an ideal surface for high-speed runs, with enough room to let even the most ambitious machines stretch their legs. And stretch them it did. The Étoile Filante achieved an average speed of 191 mph, or approximately 308 km/h, setting a world record for gas turbine powered cars. It was a remarkable achievement, not just because of the speed itself, but because of what it represented. This was proof that alternative propulsion systems could compete with traditional engines in the realm of outright performance.

[00:05:07]And for Renault, it was also a rather effective marketing tool.

[00:05:11]The record helped draw attention to their production models, particularly the Renault Dauphine, as the company sought to expand its presence in the American market. But as with many ambitious engineering projects, success came at a cost. You see, shortly after setting the record, the Étoile Filante's engine suffered a burnout. Gas turbines, while powerful, are delicate machines when pushed to their limits, especially in an environment for which they were never truly designed. This highlighted one of the fundamental challenges of turbine powered cars, reliability.

[00:05:49]You see, while the concept was intriguing, the practical difficulties of adapting aviation technology to automotive use proved significant.

[00:05:57]Cooling, fuel consumption, throttle control all presented challenges that were difficult to overcome with the technology of the time. And yet, its story doesn't end there. You see, decades later, in the 1990s, Renault decided to bring the Étoile Filante back to life. The car was carefully dismantled, its turbine engines restored, and its body refinished. For the first time since 1956, the machine was fired up once again. Imagine that for a moment, a relic from an era of boundless optimism roaring back into existence with the same jet-powered fury that had once carried it across the Bonneville Salt Flats. It's the sort of thing that reminds you why the automotive world is so endlessly fascinating. Now, today, the Étoile Filante resides within Renault's historical collection, a preserved piece of engineering history that continues to captivate anyone who encounters it. And what makes it particularly significant is not just the record it set, but the mindset it represents. This was a time when car manufacturers were willing to take risks, to explore unconventional ideas, to push the boundaries of what a car could be, even if those ideas didn't lead to production models. And in many ways, the Étoile Filante is a symbol of that spirit, because sometimes the value of a project lies not in its long-term impact, but in the knowledge it generates, the lessons learned, the boundaries explored. The Renault Étoile Filante did exactly that. It took an idea that seemed slightly absurd, putting a jet engine in a car, and turned it into something tangible, something real, something capable of achieving remarkable performance. And in doing so, it earned a place as one of the most unusual and most intriguing machines ever to wear the Renault badge.

[00:07:55]A shooting star, brilliant, fleeting, and utterly unforgettable.

[00:08:01]But yeah, at the end of this video, please let me know what you guys thought of the video, what you guys thought of this car and its story. And if you guys enjoyed this video, please leave a like and subscribe to the channel. Now, if you guys did like this video, you must probably enjoy some of my other stuff.

[00:08:12]So, just go through my channel, save some of the ones you like. I'll check you guys in the next one. Cheers, guys.

[00:08:23]>> [music] >> They could hurt me, but I'm just getting started. My eyes are on the >> [music and singing] >> prize.