2001 Isuzu Trooper, No Reserve on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 1996 Isuzu Trooper

Though Americans had been buying the Isuzu-built Chevrolet LUV pickup since the 1972 model year (plus plenty of Isuzu-derived Chevettes and Chevette components later on), the first widely available Isuzu-badged vehicle available here was the LUV-sibling P'Up. That was the 1981 model year, and the I-Mark (Gemini) and Impulse (Piazza) soon followed. Later in the 1980s, GM (which owned a hefty chunk of Isuzu by that time) began selling Isuzu-built Spectrums and Storms with Chevrolet and/or Geo badges… but Isuzu started its United States business by selling trucks, and that's the only type of Isuzu you could buy new here when the company departed our shores in 2009. The Trooper SUV first went on sale here for the 1984 model year, and eventually the Trooper became the biggest-selling Isuzu in North America. Here's an example from the sales heyday of the middle 1990s, found in a Colorado self-service yard. In its homeland, this truck was known as the Bighorn. Elsewhere around the globe, however, it went by far too many names to list here (though Trooper was the most common). Highlights include the Holden Jackaroo and Caribe 442. Honda's desperation to cash in on the 1990s North American SUV craze led to the creation of an Acura-badged Trooper, known as the SLX and sold here from the 1996 through 1999 model years. As part of this arrangement between Isuzu, GM, and Honda, the Isuzu Rodeo became the Honda Passport here (confusing every North American who had ever bought a Passport-badged Honda Super Cub, which got that name so as not to run afoul of the builders of the Piper Super Cub aircraft) and Isuzu dealers sold Honda Odysseys with Oasis badges. Once we'd gotten a few years into our current century, the only Isuzu-badged vehicles you could buy new here (not counting commercial trucks) weren't even built by Isuzu at that point. One was the Ascender (a badge-engineered Chevy Trailblazer) and the other was the i-Series pickup (a badge-engineered Chevy Colorado). Oh, sure, a handful of Axioms and Rodeos slunk out of American Isuzu showrooms in the early years of the 2000s, but the clock really started ticking for Isuzu USA when the final Troopers showed up for 2002. When this truck was built, Isuzu was engaged in an eye-gouging, kidney-spearing price- and financing-deal war with Mitsubishi Motors and its Montero.

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

GM and Isuzu to partner for medium-duty commercial truck

General Motors is returning to the medium-duty truck business in the US for the first time since 2009 thanks to a new deal with longtime-partner Isuzu. The arrangement brings the Isuzu N-series models to Chevrolet dealers with the Bowtie's branding on them in 2016. There are six medium-duty Chevy models arriving at dealers in regular cab and crew cab bodies: the 3500, 3500HD, 4500, 4500HD, 5500, and 5500HD. The trucks will be sold as a bare chassis for buyers to outfit to their needs. Depending on model, customers will have the choice of an Isuzu-sourced 3.0-liter and 5.2-liter diesel engines or a 6.0-liter V8 gasoline-fueled engine from GM and six-speed gearbox. According to company spokesperson Bob Wheeler to Autoblog, the diesel models will be built in Japan and the rest assembled from knockdown kits in Charlotte, MI. This kind of vehicle sharing isn't uncommon for GM in the commercial segment, and it already partners with Nissan to use the Japanese brand's NV200 as the City Express van. The General also once owned a significant stake in Isuzu, and the two have remained collaborators even since then. Isuzu and GM Enter Commercial Vehicle Collaboration Agreement in the U.S. 2015-06-15 DETROIT and FUJISAWA, Japan – General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) and Isuzu Motors (TSE 7202) have reached an agreement on a U.S. commercial vehicle collaboration, allowing Isuzu to strengthen its product lineup and GM to expand its commercial vehicle portfolio. Isuzu will produce low cab forward models for GM, based off of the Isuzu N-Series. The vehicles will be distributed by participating Chevrolet dealers in the U.S. market starting in 2016. To strengthen the product lineup, GM and Isuzu will explore the use of GM commercial vehicle components for Isuzu low cab forward trucks and GM will continue to produce and supply the 6.0L V-8 gas engine and six-speed transmission for Isuzu gasoline-powered low cab forward trucks. Isuzu and GM have maintained a strategic partnership for more than 40 years, producing collaborative business opportunities throughout the world. This agreement continues that tradition and reinforces a long-term relationship that helps to explore future collaborations in the U.S. commercial vehicle business. About General Motors General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM, TSX: GMM) and its partners produce vehicles in 30 countries, and the company has leadership positions in the world's largest and fastest-growing automotive markets.