Cars and aviation have followed parallel lines of development, and at time crossed into one another’s turf. Some car manufacturers claim their cars are “born from jets,” and several modern ones are adapting the Heads Up Display system used by fighter pilots in their vehicles. Few, however went as far as the Rover, a British manufacturer, which attached a genuine turbine engine, the kind used on airplanes, to power their roadster.

On this day, March 8, in 1950, the England-based Rover car company presented to the public their JET1, a two-seater powered by a gas turbine where the backseat would be. It was thought to be able to reach speed of near 90 miles per hour.

General Motors was closely behind in launching America’s own car with a gas-powered-turbine, but in reality both designs turned out impractical. Turbines could not be adapted well to the scale of cars, and when they were they suffered from extensive heat stress on the blades. Not to mention the jet turbines made for some awful gas mileage.