The Jet engines on the MR2 look like they are converted Turbochargers. They are relatively easy to build and I've been tempted to make one for a while now (just to anoy the neighbours
).
I remember reading about a funny car that was powered by a Turbonique chemical turbine that directly drove the rear axle. It used the expanding gasses from a chemical rocket to drive the turbine. The thing produced huge ammounts of torque and HP but the problem was the huge flame it produced melted the road under the car.
Cheers