In the long and storied history of GM performance cars, perhaps one of the most forgettable is the Chevy Sprint Turbo. It was a captive import that was essentially a rebadged Suzuki Cultus and a precursor to the Geo Metro before the Geo brand existed. One of the few Chevy Sprint Turbo survivors just sold in a Bring a Trailer auction at an impressive sale price of $6,600.
This is only the second Chevy Sprint Turbo sold on Bring a Trailer. The first was sold for $3,000 in 2017.
This relatively clean example is finished in white paint with red stripes and “Turbo Sprint” graphics. Inside, it has a gray interior with red and orange seat inserts. Power comes from a turbocharged 1.0L I3 Suzuki G10T engine mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. This powertrain is rated at 70 horsepower and 79 pound-feet of torque, a considerable improvement over the naturally aspirated Suzuki G10 engine.
The only modifications to this Chevy Sprint Turbo are a Kenwood head unit and an aftermarket horn. There don’t appear to be any significant mechanical modifications, for better or worse. The Carfax vehicle history report shows an accident in 2020 that caused “minor damage” to the rear passenger side of the car, but the Carfax is impressively clean otherwise.
The Chevy Sprint was sold in North America from 1985-1988. It effectively became the Geo Metro in 1989 when the succeeding generation of the Suzuki Cultus came out. Sadly, the Geo Metro was never offered with a turbo engine in the States. However, a turbocharged version of the Pontiac Firefly remained available in Canada until 1991.
In addition to the turbocharged engine, the Chevy Sprint Turbo stood out from the regular Sprint by having white aero wheel covers, a sportier body kit, an off-center hood scoop, and bolstered front seats.
Say what you will about the Chevy Sprint Turbo, but there’s nothing quite like it available from GM in the U.S. today, which is probably why this one sold for the surprising amount that it did. Even if it were a captive import that’s not that fast, we’d love to see a modern version of a small, affordable, 3-door hot hatch with a turbo and a stick from GM.
Comments
Everything about this car looks wrong or mismatched. Like the designers just pieced it together from other cars or something.
So does what’s under the hood…
In 1988, I was the automotive editor for the Boulder Daily Camera newspaper, and I test drove one of these for an article in the paper. It was fun to play with, but I wouldn’t have wanted to own one. It was obviously built low-budget and felt cheap in every aspect.
Never liked these or the Metro that replaced them. I wish GM had went with more Isuzu small cars for Geo. The Isuzu Imark and the later Stylus were great little cars, the latter was supposed to be sold as a Geo but GM changed its mind.