The $20,000 Chevy Sports Car That Under no circumstances Happened
Name: Chevrolet Tru 140S
Debut: 2012 Detroit Car Clearly show
Engine: Turbocharged 1.5-Liter Four-Cylinder
Electric power: 150 Horsepower
Generate Sort: Entrance-Wheel Travel
The Camaro is lifeless, which means so also are any desires of an inexpensive athletics car or truck within just the Chevy lineup (for now). But in the early 2010s, the Camaro approximately spawned a additional reasonably priced small brother.
The Tru 140S principle debuted at the Detroit Vehicle Demonstrate in 2012 and previewed a sporty two-door positioned beneath the Camaro. It would have cost $20,000, nicely undercutting its big brother, and at the time, joined the likes of the Mazda Miata, the Volkswagen GTI, and the then-new Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ.
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And the Tru 140S thought was a lot more than just a clay shell. It had a doing the job turbocharged 1.5-liter 4-cylinder engine that produced somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 horsepower and up to 40 miles for every gallon on the freeway. Despite the fact that, Chevy definitely would have been in a position to extract more ability the punchiest production model of that motor had 175 hp.
Granted, we are working with the time period “athletics motor vehicle” fairly loosely in this article. Much more precisely, the Tru 140S would have been nearer in definition to a “sport compact.” It experienced a front-motor layout, front-wheel generate, and a 6-pace computerized transmission—although a guide possibility most likely would have happened—sharing its bones with the Chevrolet Cruze. Not just a Miata.
Regardless, it certainly appeared pretty. The car was created by Nick David, who went on to come to be the Senior Structure Director at Karma Automotive. The front finish featured the acquainted Chevy break up grille and the identical dual-headlight remedy observed on other Chevy products. But the svelte profile was unique, and the 21-inch wheels gave it an aggressive stance.
At the time, David dubbed the Tru 140S—and its similarly magnificent Code 130R sibling—an “cost-effective exotic,” and the duo the most recent users of Chevrolet’s “passion portfolio,” full with the Corvette’s signature cross-flag emblem on the exterior human body panels. But that enthusiasm hardly ever made it to creation.
“Younger shoppers tell us they want performance with coupe-like aesthetics. Both the Code and Tru overall body designs resonated with this viewers,” Frank Saucedo, director of the GM North The usa Innovative Design and style studio in Los Angeles, told MotorTrend in an job interview.
While the 130R did inspire some of the now-defunct Camaro’s exterior aspects, the Tru 140S hardly ever influenced any output model inside of the Chevrolet portfolio—even though it did have shades of the Cruze in its DNA.
But the Tru 140S was beloved, so considerably so that it enthusiastic a fan named Matt Teske to build a bogus web site about the output-intent “Jolt EV” (the Tru 140S). Teske hoped that enough fascination would influence Chevy to put the car or truck into creation. At its peak, much more than 20,000 folks visited the web page for every working day.
“I was curious to see how people would react to a regular automobile producer releasing a sporty, very long-array EV supported by a robust charging network via dealerships in the United States,” Matt Teske claims on the spoof web page he produced, which is nonetheless lively nowadays.
But not even Teske’s elaborate hoax would convince Chevy to establish the Tru 140S. And now with the Camaro absent, fanatics who want an cost-effective GM athletics car or truck have zero selections.
Where Is It Now?
The Tru 140S notion is likely tucked away in GM’s headquarters someplace, forgotten by most. But for a short time, the concept was shown in an unlikely place: Disney’s Epcot concept park in Orlando, Florida.
Chevrolet was—and nevertheless is—the title sponsor for the ride Examination Keep track of, and for a short time immediately after it debuted, company strolling as a result of the queue could see the primary Tru 140S on show. It has due to the fact been changed by a different Chevy idea, the Mi-Ray, alongside a different Chevy notion, the EN-V 2..