GMI Concept of the Month: Chevrolet Borrego

[BigAls87Z28]

GMI Concept of the Month: Chevrolet Borrego
by BigAls87Z28
gminsidenews.com



With talk of GM using and working its world wide network bringing such vehicles to the US as the Opel Astra, Holden Monaro and now Commodore, along with using engineering departments to bring chassis and power trains over. One of the first times GM thought about using its wide reaching power was in 2001 as it took a look to its friends at Fuji Industry's Subaru Motor Corp and its wildly popular turbo boxer four cylinder engine and all wheel drive train. GM infused this set up into an aggressive crossover truck to appeal to young people looking for a fun entertaining car.



The car had a flexible interior set up with an adjustable midgate like the one found on the Avalanche SUT. The remote controlled midgate could convert it from a 2 seater truck with a 6 foot bed to a 4 seat person carrier, reducing the bed to half the size. A roof panel would come over the top to cover the 2 rear seats. Everything was sealed to prevent wind and water from entering the cabin in both configurations.



Outside, the car had a design similar to the Avalanche with its aggressive looking headlights, large body-wide chrome bar that split the grill. Large 20 inch wheels are equipped with one off tires give this car a Baja-ready look that matches the World Rally Championship based platform. The two liter turbo engine made a high revving 250hp, which would give the relatively light truck a quick and fun feel to match its design.

Other features found on the Borrego was a removable GPS navigation system aided by OnStar which gave people who would take this car off the beaten path. The truck also was equipped with an air compressor for camping, inflating, or pressurizing the internal water tank where it could be used to give the adventurous drivers a quick shower in the wilderness.

This truck crossover would have made a great idea for a mini-Avalanche, something that could have developed into the Colorado. While its power train seems light weight, it still has more horsepower then the 3.7 5 cylinder that is found in the GMT-355 trucks. The truck had a definite rugged feel and design to it, but it also had the looks to be driven on the street. Its aggressive stance and design would go great in today’s market as GM tries to retain its truck customers as the imports start to develop bigger and better trucks. Would this truck be good in today’s market? I think that its design and innovation for flexibility would be cool, but what Chevy would need for a true mid sizer. Its lack of a bed and possible restrictions on towing and hauling from the 2.0 turbo engine could really look bad to the other mid sizers. Its real importance was GM's look into flexibility and using its engineering prowess across the world to bring a unique product here to the US, using existing technology to bring a new product to the world. GM is moving on its global power currently by making world-wide chassis, power trains and aligning its engineering, design and management to make GM a faster and better car company to handle the competition.

[gotz_otto]

I was so Hoping that was going to go into production, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Now I think it is just unpractical for a daily driver, for me at least.

It still looks pretty decent though.

[GM-Joe]

I am not a fan of car based trucks, but looking at this, there could be something great.

How about an El Camino SUC (Sport Untility Car), with fold down second row seats into the bed or have them up!

[redimpss5]

Kinda cool, an off road car.

[MN12Fan]

Camaralanche Z94. (28+66)

[member12]

Weren't the Borrego and Traverse the ones that clued in on the 2003 Silverado front end and the 2004 Chevy Malibu?

[jlt0x]

This reminds me of the Dodge Rampage (?) concept from 1-2 years ago. It was a 4-door pickup with a midgate and Stow-n-Go front passenger & rear seats. It had tons of storage space and compartments. It fit the 5.7L V8, but only had FWD.

[prototype66]

A little reconfiguring and updating and it could still be a fantastic new crossover for the market. Perhaps a tracker type placement in the line up.

Hey, post 442, one of my all time favorites!

[camaro_freak]

Originally Posted by prototype66

A little reconfiguring and updating and it could still be a fantastic new crossover for the market. Perhaps a tracker type placement in the line up.

Hey, post 442, one of my all time favorites!

would go up against Jeep pretty well wouldn't it? I mean a Wrangler with a truck bed? Sounds like a winner

The concept was kinda ugly as they were still finding the new Chevy face, but I think if the front end like the Tahoe is used, it would be great (and without the shred graphics on the side please... blech)

[Timekeeper]

Do I sense a Hummer H4 in there somewhere????

[91 s-10baja]

..it also had a shovel built into the back of the driver seat. I don't know why, but it did.

[PontiacBixler]

I used to hope that this was the next style of Trackers to go against Jeep on the small 2 door ute category, but ultimately no....

I love this concept so much!

[GM lover]

Why did GM buy into Suburu any ways, if they just used their technology for concept cars.

[driver]

I like it. I wish they had something like that when I bought my Colorado.

[Dynamo]

Thank god we didn't build that. I like it at the time but I also liked the Subaru 9-2X. This would have been a terrible sell.

Other options with Subaru were explored but they just weren't worth it in the end.

I thought that Rampage concept was the Ridgeline for a second.

BTW, this has nothing to do with H4.