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Isuzu truck concepts include honeycombed ‘toaster on wheels’

Isuzu took to its hometown auto show to highlight its work in developing next-generation transport trucks, showing eight vehicles and four powertrain systems at the 45th Tokyo Motor Show. The most notable of the bunch are a pair of concepts: the FD-SI, a light-duty delivery truck designed around principles found in the insect kingdom, and the Elf EV, an all-electric version of its light-duty workhorse featuring a large-capacity battery with rapid-charging capability. From a design perspective, the FD-SI will get all the attention — much of it probably of the bemused sort. In truth, it looks like a futuristic toaster on wheels, a rolling box structure fitted with honeycomb patterns on the side panels and a glass cab windshield that seems borrowed from a heavy-duty construction crane. It turns out the honeycomb motif is no mere design whim; Isuzu says its designers focused on the "group intelligence" of insects and tried to apply that principle to the delivery vehicle. So the honeycomb exterior is replicated in the cargo space as hexagonal tube-shaped boxes, which the automaker says is a good compromise between strength and storage space. Inside the cab, the driver controls and seat have all been centralized, with the steering wheel retractable, to encourage smoother operability and more comfortable living space for the driver. "We want to support the drivers, the front-line people of "Transport," with unconventional ideas," Isuzu says. The Elf EV, on the other hand, is a zero-emissions, low-vibration delivery truck powered by a lithium-ion battery that'll take the vehicle at least 100 km, or 62 miles, on a single normal or fast-charge. It sports a 4x2, rear-wheel drive transmission with independent suspension in the front and leaf suspension in the rear. Here's a quick list of Isuzu's other Tokyo offerings: A 6x6 all-wheel-drive truck, featuring single wheels on all axles, built for rough terrain such as areas hit by major natural disasters. 80th anniversary editions of the Giga heavy-duty truck, geared with a remote monitoring system to transmit vehicle data for remote analysis to ensure safe driving; the Forward medium-duty truck, which boasts 10 percent higher fuel economy than its 2015 version; and the internal-combustion version of the Elf light-duty truck, which is sold in the U.S. as the N-Series.

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!

Junkyard Gem: 1997 Acura SLX

When I'm prowling wrecking yards, I'm always on the lookout for obscure examples of badge engineering, and the weirder they are, the better I like them. While I haven't managed to spot a junked Suzuki Equator yet, I have photographed such rarities as the Saab 9-2x and Isuzu Ascender. A few weeks ago, I encountered one of the real oddities of the Honda-Isuzu dealmaking of the 1990s: a 1997 Acura SLX, a luxed-up Isuzu Trooper that sold very poorly and is now mostly forgotten today. Plenty of Acura SUVs designed and built entirely by Honda roll out of American showrooms today, but the 1990s SUV boom caught Honda by surprise. The first MDX wasn't ready until the 2001 model year, so Honda made a deal to take Isuzu Troopers, apply wood and leather inside and Acura badges outside, and cash in on North Americans' increasing disdain for minivans, sedans, and station wagons. Americans were very familiar with the Trooper, which was sold here from the middle 1980s until the 2002 model year, when the Chevrolet Trailblazer-based Ascender went on sale. The Isuzu name stuck around on these shores until 2008. The SLX was a decent enough truck, but there was no disguising its proletariat Trooper roots from status-conscious SUV shoppers who wanted to look more oligarchic while conquering a half-inch of snow in the mall parking lot. It didn't help that the 1997 Trooper L listed at $27,800 and the SLX Premium cost $38,300 (that's about $44,200 and $60,900 in inflation-adjusted 2018 bucks). SLX sales started off weak and plummeted after that. After 1999, the SLX was done. I spent years trying to find one in California and Colorado wrecking yards, but the few that were sold seemed to be sturdy enough to stay alive for a couple of decades. Finally, this high-mile '97 appeared in a Denver yard. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.