Fifteen many years ago, I wrote my initially-at any time automotive report beneath the title Murilee Martin, and it did not take me extended to get started producing about one of my most loved automotive topics: the junkyard. Ahead of I might refined my procedure for documenting discarded autos, however, I shot a good deal of boneyard images that by no means acquired utilised. For present day Junkyard Gem, I have four shots from early 2007 of one particular of the rarest turbocharged devices of the 1980s: the Chevrolet Turbo Sprint.
The Chevrolet Sprint was definitely a rebadged Suzuki Cultus, from the pre-Geo period when Common Motors marketed the Isuzu Gemini as the Chevrolet Spectrum, the Daewoo LeMans as the Pontiac LeMans and the Toyota Corolla as the Chevrolet Nova (before long ample, the Spectrum grew to become a Geo, and the Nova turned the Prizm). The next-generation Cultus appeared in 1988, getting the Geo Metro on our shores the pursuing year.
The Turbo Sprint was available for just the last two several years of the Sprint’s 1985-1988 American product sales run, and it seems that just a pair of thousand ended up marketed if I would recognized at the time just how unusual they had been, I might have shot much more photographs of this 1 at the now-defunct Hayward Decide on Your Element. The turbocharged 993cc a few-cylinder created 70 horsepower, 22 better than the naturally-aspirated variation. Because the Turbo Dash weighed just 1,620 lbs . (which is about 500 lbs . lighter than a hardly a lot more strong ’22 Mitsusbishi Mirage), it was loads of enjoyment to generate. For 1988, the normal Dash hatchback charge $6,380 though the Turbo Dash stated at $8,240 (that’s about $15,375 and $19,855 today, respectively).
Believe that it or not, a Turbo Sprint in fact raced in the 24 Hours of Lemons 10 several years in the past, while it didn’t stop well.
This advert is for the normal Cultus, not the Cultus Turbo, but the screaming guitars seem reasonably turbocharged.
For the most element, Chevy Dash advertising and marketing was all about low-priced invest in price tag and stingy gas economy… at a time when gasoline prices were cratering.
Relevant Movie:
