Vintage Ad: 1985 Shrunkette – The Mini Off-Road All Purpose Truck – The Chevy C1.5
– Posted on October 30, 2021
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C .25 or C 1/4 .
Downsizing really went too far in the 1980s!
Looks like the Shrunkette was made by an entrepreneur in Westchester County, New York. It was marketed essentially as an ATV with an enclosed cab, and it had available 4wd… so an winter-ready ATV. I’m guessing it’s intended customers were in rural New England. Appears as if the Shrunkette was produced for only about a year – it probably disappeared too quickly for GM to file a trademark-infringement lawsuit.
I was intrigued enough to search further, the full brochure is online as a PDF, a post on ATV forum from a former dealer said they were to expensive so sold poorly and the October 1985 issue of New York Forest Owner lists an address of 10 Pleasant Street, new Rochelle New York, just across I-95 from Cooper Drive where I lived in 1992.
The basic idea is sound but 25 years too soon and not enough economy of scale.
Interesting – I can see the cost being the decisive factor here, since from what I can tell, these Shrunkettes listed for between $2,500 and $3,800. That’s between $7,000 – $10,000 in today’s dollars; I think one could buy a couple of Polarises for that.
I have a Shrunkette Stampede..the dune buggy version . All original down to the tires . Its not running but a weekend wrenching and itll roar again . Havent been able to find another one !
I still have original brochure, price list and order form Prices $3,895 Supreme,
$2,995 Standard and $2,495 Stampede base models.
This evokes the Mahindra Roxor, 30 years ahead of its time, though the newer machine wasn’t enclosed. In both cases the idea of a blatant knock-off of another design was flawed. And in this case even the name seems intended to mimic Chevette.
You can purchase an after market hard top for the Roxor…
https://utvhq.com/roxor-4-hardcab-enclosure/?sku=8010
The Roxor is what popped into my head when I saw this too… followed by Torch’s Changli.
Too pricey and still too big for the Shriner’s market.
Like everything else these days, 36 years later it’s made in China. The Chang Li Electrek.
An, ahem, interesting vehicle. While not to my tastes, which is no big deal, my overriding thought is what about the driveshaft? It’s got to be what, 16-18″ long? Giving angles of maybe 30 degrees at full compression/extension? So you take it in for service, say every 6k for an oil change and tell them to change the oil and U joints?