Turbo Teen
Turbo Teen was an Animated Series created by Ruby-Spears that aired Saturday mornings on the ABC Network for twelve episodes between 1984 and 1985. The series was once rerun on the USA Network's now-defunct USA Cartoon Express block.
The series is about a teenager named Brett Matthews, who swerves off a road during a thunderstorm and crashes into a secret government laboratory. There, he and his red sports car are accidentally exposed to a molecular beam invented by Dr. Chase and the two become fused together. As a result, Brett has the ability to morph into the car when exposed to extreme heat, and reverts back into his human form when exposed to extreme cold. With this amazing new super hero power, Brett and his friends (who call him "TT") go on crime fighting adventures and thwart evildoers. As a subplot, Brett constantly searches for a way to return back to normal with the help of the scientists responsible for this.
A reoccurring villain is the mysterious, unseen "Dark Rider", who drives a monster truck and seeks to capture TT to find the secret behind his abilities.
The concept of a person changing forms when the temperature changes isn't unheard of but this show predates Ranma ½ by several years. It was very likely influenced by Knight Rider, as the car looks a lot like the Pontiac Trans-Am used for KITT.
- Black Best Friend: Alex. He's both Brett's best friend and a mechanic who keeps his carm form, Turbo Teen, in working condition.
- Blessed with Suck: While Turbo Teen is quite the formidable crime-fighter, the fact that his transformations are influenced by the temperature means that he's prone to transforming (or worse, getting stuck mid-form) at the worst possible times.
- Body Horror: Sweet Jesus. This show is infamous for its long, painful-looking transformation scenes which have Brett's body stretch, morph, and contort in all sorts of freakish ways.
- Car Fu: Naturally, this is how Turbo Teen fights.
- Cool Car: Turbo Teen himself. Not only is a crime-fighting car, but he's a slick-looking crime-fighting car outfitted that can pull off ridiculous flying leaps, and act with surprising dexterity (likely thanks to actually being human, after all).
- Expository Theme Tune: The show's opening has Brett explain the events leading to him gaining the ability to transform into a living car.
- Freak Lab Accident: The thing that gave Brett his powers to begin with. Who would have guessed that the very night he'd accidentally swerve directly into a government facility, they'd just so happen to be experimenting with molecular rays?
- I Just Want to Be Normal: As cool as turning into a car can be, Brett understandably wants to turn back into a proper human and has been working with the scientists responsible for giving him his powers in hopes of reversing it.
- New Super Power: Many episodes deal with Brett trying to learn the ins and outs of what his car form is capable of.
- Shapeshifting: Unfortunately for Brett, his transformations are mostly involuntary since they're dictated by the temperature. However, he can intentionally trigger them by exposing himself to heat and the cold.
- Superhero: Turbo Teen, a crime-fighting car (who is actually a teen)!
- Super-Hero Origin: Brett's already (mostly) gotten used to his Turbo Teen form by the time the first episode takes place, but being kidnapped by a pair of thugs interested in his ability is what convinces him to use it to fight crime.