A Radical Space Shuttle Design

I'm fascinated by some of the design proposals that were being made in the 1960s and 1970s for boosters and for what eventually became the Space Shuttle. I thought I'd seen most of them by now, but every once in a while something new pops up and here's one of them - a shuttle design by, of all companies, Chrysler, and it's a doozy. 

Chrysler realized that in order to stay in the game, it would have to propose a Shuttle of its own design, competing with other aerospace giants such as Boeing, Grumman, and Lockheed. The result was one of the most unusual looking spacecraft ever proposed. It was also unconventional in its operation, having a single-stage powered by unusual aerospike engines that landed itself ballistically back on earth. 

It was called the SERV, and if it was built, it would've had SpaceX beat by more than five decades.

It really was a radical design, and I highly recommend watching the short video that accompanies the article. 

I can't believe that I never heard of this, given how much I've read about the space program since I was a kid.