1995 Isuzu Trooper Ls Sport Utility 4-door 3.2l on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 1986 Isuzu I-Mark Hatchback

Thanks to the long global reach of The General's tentacles, Americans looking for economy cars at GM dealerships during the middle 1980s could buy Suzukis (the Chevrolet Sprint), Opels (the Chevrolet Chevette), Daewoos (the Pontiac LeMans), and Isuzus (the Chevrolet Spectrum). Just as Mitsubishi sold Mirages in the United States while Chrysler continued to sell the Mirage's Colt sibling, Isuzu moved in with the new front-wheel-drive I-Mark to compete with its Spectrum twin. These cars weren't big sellers and they didn't last very long on the road, but I managed to find this '86 in a Denver, Colorado, self-service wrecking yard. The I-Mark was known as the Gemini in its Japanese homeland and in Europe; the front-wheel-drive second-generation Gemini debuted in 1985. This one didn't make it to 150,000 miles, unlike most of its Honda, Toyota, and Nissan competitors, but it was pretty cheap when new. The hatchback listed at $7,149 in 1986, dismayingly more than the stripped-down '86 Civic 1.3 hatchback ($5,479) but closer to the similarly equipped Civic DX hatchback ($6,699). If you were really brave that year, you could have purchased a new Hyundai Excel for a mere $4,995. This is the base engine, a 1.5-liter four rated at 70 horsepower. Believe it or not, an I-Mark Turbo was available a year later, and it boasted 110 horses. My favorite thing about 1980s Isuzus is the way the HVAC controls are labeled. You can choose between "wind in your long, feathered hair" and "wind on your high-heeled disco boots" settings here. This car is in very nice shape for a dated econo-commuter from a long-departed brand, considering that it survived for a good 20 years while being worth approximately scrap value. For the very strong owners of decade-old Chevy Vegas, the Isuzu I-Mark seemed like a wise choice. Some of the first appearances of the soon-to-be-legendary Joe Isuzu were in I-Mark ads. Priced at only $9!

Junkyard Gem: 1994 Isuzu Rodeo 4WD

After a decade in which Isuzu-built Chevrolet LUV pickups, Isuzu-engined Chevrolet Chevettes and Isuzu Geminis with confusing "Opel by Isuzu" or "Buick/Opel Isuzu" badges, Isuzu finally began selling Americans its vehicles with Isuzu badging in the early 1980s. There were Isuzu cars, sure, but the P'up pickup and (starting in 1984) the Trooper SUV showed that Isuzu was likely to rake in the most yen by selling trucks on this side of the Pacific. The three-door convertible Amigo appeared here in 1989, but it was a little too small and silly to sell much among the suburban-commuter set. For the 1991 model year, a five-door Amigo sibling showed up: the Rodeo. The early Rodeo is getting quite rare today, but I was able to find this fairly clean '94 in a Denver-area self-service yard a few months back. These trucks, which were based on the same chassis as the P'up (known as the Isuzu Pickup after 1987) sold well in Colorado. You could get the first-generation Rodeo with rear-wheel-drive, but the four-wheel-drive version made more sense if you wanted to slog through snow and mud in the Rockies (or just feel safe when crossing a parking lot dusted with the white stuff). This truck has true four-wheel-drive, not what eventually became known as all-wheel-drive, but at least the higher trim levels had automatic locking hubs instead of the manual sort that forced you to stop and kneel in the mud to switch. Americans loved automatic transmissions nearly as much in 1994 as we do today, but they cost a lot more relative to manuals back then. This truck has a five-speed manual. The MSRP on this truck was $19,249, or about $39,075 in 2022 dollars. If you wanted it with an automatic transmission, the price went up to $20,349 ($41,310 today). The air conditioning in this one cost an additional 850 bucks (1,725 bucks now). The engine is an Isuzu 3.2-liter V6, rated at 175 horsepower. This truck was built at Subaru-Isuzu Automotive in Indiana; Subaru eventually bought out Isuzu's share of the joint venture and now only Subaru models are built there. Just to add another manufacturer to the mix, Honda sold rebadged Rodeos with Passport badges (and rebadged Troopers as Acura SLXs). This one was well-cared-for, looking clean for a machine with close to 200,000 miles on the clock. We can assume that some costly mechanical ailment finally sent it to this, its final parking place.

Wienermobile gets burned by hotdogging catalytic converter thieves

Catalytic converter theft has been on the rise, but few could have predicted its latest victim. Turns out, not even the Wienermobile is immune to the emissions device bandits. Low-lifes purloined the exhaust cleaner off of Oscar Mayer's 27-foot-long wheeled hot dog as the vehicle made an overnight stop in Las Vegas. As Fox 5 Las Vegas reports, the thieves made off with the catalytic converter in front of the Sonesta Suites motel in Sin City. The Wienermobile, one of six such vehicles circulating across the country, had been scheduled to make an appearance at a shopping center in town on Friday, but was forced to make a pit stop at a local Penske trucks shop for repairs.  According to Road & Track the Wienermobile is built on an Isuzu NPR HD chassis, so it makes sense that a truck shop would be able to service it. Unfortunately, vehicles with a lot of ground clearance like SUVs and pickups are often the targets of catalytic converter pirates, as the parts are more easily accessed from beneath.  In 2019, reported thefts of catalytic converters nationwide totaled only 3,389, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. The number of reports climbed to 14,433 in 2020. In 2021, that swelled to 65,398, a 353% increase over the previous year. The rate continued apace in 2022, with State Farm alone reporting 44,500 thefts from their customers through June of that year. The emissions-scrubbing devices contain valuable metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium. The National Insurance Crime Bureau says those metals are valued at $1,128, $2,938 and $20,000 per ounce, respectively, as of March 2022. Last year, California passed new legislation to make it harder to sell stolen catalytic converters, while the Department of Justice busted a ring of catalytic converter thieves with assets totaling $550 million. Joseph Rodriguez, a Penske maintenance coordinator, told Fox 5 that the repair was only temporary, as they did not have the correct part to install. However, it was enough to send the Wienermobile on its merry way.  Cars such as the Toyota Prius, Honda Accord, and Ford F-150 routinely top lists of cars targeted by catalytic converter thieves. That's partially due to the fact that those are common cars sold in large number, but the lesson here is that no vehicle is safe. If scofflaws are brazen enough to steal from a bright yellow truck shaped like a frankfurter, nothing is safe. Humor Weird Car News Isuzu catalytic converter wienermobile