Articles - AMC Issue 12

AMC recently stumbled across this interesting exhibit at the National Motor Museum at Birdwood, South Australia. It serves as a timely reminder of how big turbocharging was in the late '70s and early '80s and how Chrysler Australia looked at it as a potential saviour, before the company surrendered to a takeover by Mitsubishi in 1980.

According to documentation supplied by the museum, the "Sigma Turbo" show car pictured here was a highlight of the 1980 Melbourne Motor Show. Apparently this one-off wild-bodied Sigma sedan was the brainchild of Chrysler National Sales Promotion Manager, Malcolm Miller, to try and re-stimulate interest in the 2.0 litre Sigma range following the introduction of the larger 2.6 litre Astron engine.

To do that, the Chrysler factory had been experimenting with various turbocharged versions of its locally-made Astron 2.0 litre four cylinder engine and needed a show car that could get the public all excited about the program's potential. The wild body treatment was farmed out to Alan Pervis, who was building the VW-based Pervis Eureka sports car at the time and had the necessary expertise in fibreglass construction techniques.

Pervis based his Sigma design on the wild-looking European Group 4 racing sedans of the era, like works Porsches and BMWs. His fully enveloping aero bodywork included a huge front spoiler, boxed wheel arch flares, side skirts, large integrated rear wing and various scoops and vents. Fat wheels, big rubber and Recaro seats filled in the gaps.

Looks pretty wild,huh?. There's no way Chrysler would have built such an extreme version for showroom sale and the museum show car does not have one of the factory turbo engines fitted.

Even so, it certainly shows how the company was planning a return to a more muscular image when its corporate head was on the chopping block. If only they hadn't killed off the R/T Charger program...