As I've been pondering a lot of crazy all-junkyard turbocharging project ideas lately (mostly centered around big Detroit six-bangers blowing through a Rube Goldberg nightmare of hoseclamps and leaky welds), it's natural that I might explore the Squires Turbo Systems concept of remote-mounted turbochargers. Interesting, yes, but seemingly more novelty than practical engineering. Then I remembered a remote-mount turbo vehicle that worked really well, perhaps the most maniacal turbocharged vehicle ever built. I speak of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter plane of World War II, an aircraft designed entirely around a monster 2000-horse turbo'd 18-cylinder radial engine and its associated pipes and ductwork. Hmmm... Pontiac Executive wagon with an octo-turbo Cadillac 500 and the entire rear half of the car devoted to very hot plumbing?
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt [Aviation-History.com]
Related:
Confound Turbocharging [internal]