Chevrolet made quite the splash at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas this year, arriving with a variety of interesting concepts and products to wow the crowds. Among these was the Chevy Beast, an off-roader monster with a supercharged heartbeat and rough-stuff equipment from tip to tail. Now, however, GM is no longer calling this concept the Chevy Beast.
Over at General Motors’ media website, the Chevy Beast has been renamed as the “Chevy Off-Road Concept.” Of course, the Chevy Beast name is much, much cooler, so why the change? To find out, we reached out to Chevrolet Communications Director Shad Balch, who shed some light on the issue:
“We were recently approached by an entity objecting to our use of the Beast name,” Balch told GM Authority. “The team is evaluating alternatives for the Chevy LT4 crate engine off-road concept vehicle shown at SEMA 2021.”
As a reminder, the Chevy Beast (now known as the Chevy Off-Road Concept) was built to showcase the capabilities of the Chevrolet Performance off-road team and is intended as providing a “vision for a new dimension” of off-road capability.
The heart of the Chevy Off-Road Concept is the supercharged 6.2L V8 LT4 gasoline engine, the same engine found in the third-generation Cadillac CTS, C7-generation Corvette Z06, sixth-gen Chevy Camaro ZL1, and Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing. Output is rated at 650 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque, all of which is sent through a 10-speed automatic transmission and two-speed transfer case.
As for the suspension spec, this rough-and-ready off-roader boasts long-travel shocks and a newly developed five-link rear end, as well as a wide 91-inch track and 37-inch off-roading tires mounted on 20-inch beadlock wheels.
In related news, General Motors recently changed the name of the GMC Canyon AT4 OVRLANDX Concept as well, switching it to simply “Canyon AT4 Concept.” According to General Motors, the Canyon name change was made to put a greater focus on the pickup’s nameplate.
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Comments
clear… beastiq…
ah… for Mad Max film… ok, Rambo or another close
Maybe they wanted to leave the name “Beast” for the Presidential limousine?
“Beast” hurt someone’s non-binary feelings.. or what would be feelings if they so chose to label the response’s free will after hearing the use of the word ‘beast’
The body profile reminds be of the 60 corvette with the high belt line crease.
Its a sharp looking off-roader , how does Chevy shrink this a bit and make a Bronco/ Wrangler rival??
The church lady was offended. This may spell the end of the 6.66 liter engine too.
Maybe Marvel was upset it was not blue.
Sooo, now its named the “corc”…cool
I’d be curious to know who it was that objected to the name, and who, in gm’s upper management, caved to them.
So GM change the name because someone’s whittle feelings were hurt. Unbelievable.
Now there’s a real practical bread and butter Chevrolet for you. More noteworthy progress on the all important reduced carbon footprint and equity fronts. Impressive.
The only entity that comes to mind is KTM as the beast is the nickname of their 1290r motorcycle.
Honestly this thing gives me Halo CE warthog vibes. They should pursue a partnership with Microsoft and release it as the Halo Warthog by Chevy
The Beast name was probably too manly for the naming staff.
Almost certainly somebody rich who has a saying of going beast mode.
Cupcake generation got offended w aggressive name! (Competition will use the name…lol)
Almost certainly someone rich with a saying of going beast mode.
The name “Beast” probably offended someone from the snowflake ❄️, cupcake 🧁 generation. Too masculine! The competition will use the name.
My main concern is that they actually build it. Since this isn’t street legal as is I would like to see them equip it with an aggressive Silverado body and call it the (very long awaited) ZRX.
They should be designing new, uncompromising, segment-leading Cruzes, Impalas and Malibus, but instead they’re jerking around with Beasts. It’s so G0ddamned ludicrous.
Chevy, make this thing and I will buy it.
The word Beast has been around longer than any human who is alive today . And it wasn’t just used to describe the things in the Bible or anything like that . People need to quit being so damn sensitive and just let things go . No one owns that word , and if anyone does I’d like to see proof of purchase .