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Junkyard Gem: 1998 Isuzu Oasis

When I'm crawling through a big self-service wrecking yard (as I do at least once a week) in search of interesting discarded vehicles, the top of my "look for" list always includes weird and obscure examples of badge engineering, the weirder and more obscure the better. So far the Nissan-made Suzuki Equator has eluded me, but I have managed to shoot such junkyard badge-engineering oddities as the Mitsubishi Precis (Hyundai Excel), Acura SLX (Isuzu Trooper), Saab 9-2X (Subaru Impreza) and Saturn Astra (Opel Astra). Isuzu's dire need for a minivan in the late 1990s led to a deal with Honda to sell the first-generation Odyssey as the Oasis (even as the Trooper became the Honda Passport). Few bought the Oasis, but I found one in a Denver yard a few months back. Pure Honda throughout, down to the VTEC badges on the engine. This is the 2.3-liter F23 four, rated at 150 horsepower for 1998. Sold new in Denver, will be crushed in Denver. Though Americans bought many a Geo or Chevy built by Isuzu during the 1980s and 1990s (not to mention the big-selling Isuzu-made Chevy LUV truck of the 1970s), the Isuzu brand never really caught on over here. By 2009, Isuzu was gone. The first-generation Odyssey was well-made and efficient, but it was designed for the Japanese home market and thus was too small for most American van shoppers in 1998 (most of whom were moving to SUVs around that time, anyway). You could fit a lot of people and gear in this small-footprint machine, but that was more important in crowded Japanese cities than in sprawling American suburbia. Collectible? Not at all. But an interesting piece of automotive history. I can't find any Oasis ads online, so let's watch a JDM commercial for the first-gen Odyssey, featuring the Addams Family. Featured Gallery Junked 1998 Isuzu Oasis LS View 17 Photos Auto News Isuzu Automotive History

Junkyard Gem: 1980 Chevrolet LUV Mikado

During the 1970s and into the 1980s, each member of the Detroit Big Three imported Japanese small pickups and sold them with Ford (Mazda Proceed), Dodge/Plymouth (Mitsubishi Forte), or Chevrolet (Isuzu Faster) badges here. Ford developed the Ranger and killed the Courier for 1983 (though Americans could still buy the Mazda-badged version all the way through 1993), while The General axed the LUV after the S-10 debuted in the 1982 model year. Isuzu sold the same truck as the P'up through 1987, though, and we might as well follow up our recent P'up Junkyard Gem with its LUV predecessor. LUV stood for Light Utility Vehicle, and I've managed to spot a handful in the boneyards over the years. This one now resides in a yard in northeastern Colorado. The Mikado trim package included striped seat upholstery and a sporty steering wheel, plus these cool dash badges. As far as I can tell, no LUV Mikado advertising featured any Gilbert and Sullivan tunes. This one is fairly rusty for Front Range Colorado, and it has endured a bed swap from some other small truck. The engine is the 75-horse Isuzu 1.8-liter. Members of this engine family went into everything from Chevy Chevettes to Isuzu Troopers in the United States. Very unusually for a small pickup during the Malaise Era, this one has a luxurious automatic transmission. Acceleration must have been a leisurely affair in this truck. Air conditioning? Unheard of! Someone stuck every one of their lunchtime apple stickers on the driver's door. After 41 years of work, this truck is done. Come on strong in a LUV of your own!

Junkyard Gem: 1990 Isuzu Pickup, Zombie Response Edition

Isuzu-built pickups first went on sale in North America for the 1972 model year, but with Chevrolet LUV badges. Elsewhere, they were known as the Isuzu KB or Isuzu Faster, But eventually they got Isuzu badges in America, and were named the Isuzu P'up in the early 1980s. Later, they became simply known as the Isuzu Pickup (following Toyota's lead after the US-market Hilux became just the Toyota Truck) starting when the third-generation Faster debuted for 1988. Here's one of those trucks, found in a Denver self-service boneyard last Halloween. I see a lot of zombie-themed decor on junkyard vehicles, mostly just a single decal here or there (often combined with snowboarding and/or cannabis-themed stickers), but someone went above and beyond in the zombification of this Isuzu. This truck started life with a coat of dark blue paint, but that's just too cheerful when you're out hunting down the undead. Now it has a thick coat of flat black and "Toxic Waste Green" stickers everywhere. It appears that you can buy this sticker set on Amazon for under $30 right now. Remember when you'd see these Metal Mulisha stickers all over? In case you're looking for some Get Up Stand Up Light Roast coffee, Marley Coffee has you covered. Someone should write a doctoral dissertation about the stickers found on vehicles in Denver car graveyards. The engine is the 2.6-liter Isuzu straight-four that went into so many Amigos and Rodeos over the years. You should have four-wheel drive and a manual transmission when pursuing zombies across the wastelands of eastern Colorado, especially in the winter, and this truck has both. There's no telling how many miles were on it at the end, because some junkyard shopper nabbed the instrument cluster. While four-wheel-drive small pickups are useful even at age 32, the rust plus the manual transmission (plus the Zombie Appearance Package) would have made this one a tough sell for its final owner. When you have Isuzus of the late 1980s and early 1990s, you have Joe Isuzu! Did you know Joe Isuzu was a phone phreaker? The Isuzu Pickup was slightly cheaper than the Toyota Truck, if you considered only the stripped-down base versions. The only things scarier than Isuzu trucks are Isuzu trucks on sale!