@Phorm I couldn't find any decent production history about the show, but I'd give something like 8:5 odds in favor of "impressionable young viewers made it into a fetish, and the creators had no idea what they were making."
This is only because one of the few forces of creation more fervid and untameable than a pubescent pervert's imagination is a committee of middle-aged entertainment executives trying to figure out What Kind Of Crazy Crap The Kids Like Nowadays.
Turbo Teen is neatly explained as a knockoff of Knight Rider (note his similarities to KITT's design) and possibly Automan. So Occam's Razor demands I accept it's likely to have this and only this as its origin. However, I am *very* open to the idea of one or more crew members discovering "oops shit this is really horny you guys" while working on it...