CC reader Franco P. sent me some shots of a car that he had not seen in the wild in a long time. Well, I’ve never seen an Izuzu Axion ever! Very rare indeed.
Looks like the owner’s sense of humor was only applied to the back end, as here it’s still an Axiom.
And it’s still an Isuzu in front.
Admittedly, the Isuzu Axiom has also become pretty rare in the wild too. It was one of Isuzu’s numerous desperate measure to try to stay relevant in the market, which was quickly shifting away from BOF SUVs to unibody CUVs. So they made this one look as much as possible like a tame and civilized CUV instead of a genuine 4×4. But it didn’t work, obviously. Isuzu is down to just making genuine trucks. Is Mitsubishi the next to go?
This one is in a strange place – so rare I never see them, but if I did (and I think I have), it would never occur to me to photograph it. So props to Franco P for making the effort.
Used to be several running around the north side of Indy. I suspect these mostly driven by factory execs from SIA in Lafayette, back in the days Isuzus were still built there. Now the plant’s Suburu production is supplemented by Camrys…
The place isn’t strange to me at all. It is around the corner from my office in the Greenway Plaza area of Houston (Texas plates were the second thing I noticed after the “name change” on the vehicle). I’ll keep an eye out for this Isuzu. It may belong to someone who works nearby or, perhaps just a visitor.
Yes, +1 to Franco for catching an image of this rare bird.
I thought it was in H-town. just has that look about it.
I’m down Richmond from you at Chimney Rock. Got my eye out for it….
These came out when I was Isuzu shopping in 2001. Really didn’t do much for me style-wise – it was just a tarted-up Rodeo with the Trooper engine.
We used to own one. Bought as a year old leftover, with a really good deal. Had it for about 5 years, put about 120k miles on it. Was honestly one of the most dependable vehicles we’ve had.
I’ve only seen one in person.
I remember seeing lots of these. They were all lined up in a row at the local Buick-Isuzu dealership, gathering dust. Not sure I ever saw one on the road, though.
I always liked the looks of these. They were ahead of their time styling-wise, looking for car-like. At the time, other SUVs were very trucky in appearance. Afterwards, the Saturn Vue, Honda CRV, Olds Bravada, among others changed to look more like the Axiom.
Family member owned one a few years ago. Total money pit, many unique and expensive mechanical parts. She’s on her second Kia Sorento now and loves them.
These are surprisingly common in the Charlotte, NC area…one of the bigger dealership groups in this city sold Isuzu products. These are my favorites, I LOVE the design and aim to own one someday. To drive or just look at
The Isuzu Axiom does have a familial resemblance to its former GM Affiliate Saturn Vue. The Isuzu Axiom however had a truck based BOF Construction which were probably identical to the 1G & 2G Isuzu Rodeo and Amigo or the VehiCROSS. While the Saturn Vue was based from a passenger car chassis 1G GM Theta platform.
So, Izuzu Axion, eh?
Wonder if it has petals… and whether Joe owns it. 😉
Paul makes a very good point about Mitsubishi. I think they are done at least in the US.
I respectfully disagree. Mitsu has been posting sales gains every year since 2009. They sold about 100,000 vehicles in 2015. They are closing their plant in the USA and importing cars, but that should lower Mitsu’s operating costs(especially if they make them in mexico due to the NAFTA program) and allow them a better shot at more growth.
Leon,
I hope you are right. I’m a fan of Mitsubishis from about 1983-1995:
Galant (Sigma)
Cordia/Tredia
Starion
Eclipse
Galant VR4
3000 GT
Unfortunately, I have not seen very many new Mitsubishis being driven in these parts anymore. Just a few old beater Eclipses, Galants, and Mirages. Seems like I have to go to the website to check out their new models. Of the 200 or so employees where I work, there is not a single Mitsubishi in our parking lot. The last one (Galant) was totaled about five years ago. Kinda sad. So I hope you are right.
I will randomly see an Axiom here in San Diego about once every few months. Each time I see one, I’m reminded of one of the funniest commercials.
Joe Isuzu was back, and he was driving an Axiom downtown next to a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The CG had a huge boulder tied onto a stick, strapped from the roof, hanging in front of the grille of the Cherokee. As if to say that was the only way you could get a GC to drive on a paved road. Joe’s going on and on about how better the Axiom is, and the CG driver is watching Joe and not the road. Joe says “Red Light” and the guy shrugs. Joe points forward, and the GC driver slams on his brakes. The big boulder swings forward, and them comes smashing back into the grille. Joe drives off laughing.
I have yet to find that on Youtube yet.. but it is very funny.
http://adland.tv/commercials/isuzu-axiom-joe-isuzu-boulder-2001-030-usa
It’s your lucky day today.
This is a car I did not even knew existed – I don’t think we ever got them in either Israel or Europe.
The Trooper is the only Isuzu SUV I can remember. There’s a Claas Axion though. A farm tractor.
Do what? That is quite the odd rebadge.
In kind of a preliminary CC effect, I saw one of these just this morning. It was being carried on a rollback, so I’m not sure if it had suffered some sort of mechanical failure or was just being transported. It looked well kept enough.
I always liked the styling of these; I remember when they came out Isuzu was trying to give them an upscale image. Perhaps a hard sell for products of that company at that time, though the Trooper also seemed to have higher aspirations for a while, and the Vehicross was never cheap. In any case, a spiffy new suit on a Rodeo chassis wasn’t enough to get them out the door in high numbers.
I myself have had the (mis) pleasure of seeing exactly one of these in the wild. I am still an Isuzu fan, and if I could go back in time, and buy a brand new 1975 LUV pickup, I would be all over it. It would look great parked next to my ’83 Ford Ranger 4×4… I miss the Isuzu NRR box trucks I drove at work.
Ive had some Isuzu experience lately in a 530hp eight wheeler 16 speed auto shift a worse transmission is hard to imagine its only driveable if you turn the software off and manual shift it left to its own devices it get lost and you roll to a stop waiting for it to find a gear, grossed out at 44 tonnes this is not convenient in traffic, Isuzu do build some good trucks but only the ones with a RR18 speed are worth driving.
After crashing my Focus wagon in late 2010, I started looking for new wheels. A dealer ad for a used Axiom caught my eye, and since we had previously owned a ’93 Rodeo (and loved it), I drove 100 miles up to Beaverton, OR. to check it out. I loved the outside look of it, but the interior was a huge let-down, as was the test-drive on this not-so-clean example. I REALLY wanted to like it.
Ah the Axiom.I have always liked the looks of them. I am surprised you have never seen one on the metal Paul. They are still a common enough sight in the Baltimore- Washington area. In fact I saw two of them just yesterday.
When I was working at Win Kelly Chevrolet/GMC/Buick/Pontiac of clarksville MD in 2001-2003, Win Kelly had a Isuzu/Kia dealership. It was in a little building off to the side of the main dealership. I had to PDI all the Kia and Isuzu vehicles. I got to drive a lot of Axioms over that time period. It was an attractive truck and I loved the way it drove. Win Kelly killed off their Kia and Isuzu dealership soon after and went back to just selling GM products and the bulding that housed Kia and Isuzu vehicles was sold to Antwerpen and made into a Hyundai dealer.
That was not me, but the person who who shot it: CC reader Franco P. sent me some shots of a car that he had not seen in the wild in a long time.
I’ve seen a number of them; there’s one that parks at the Y sometimes. I probably shot it, but just never got around to it. but then it wasn’t an Axion. 🙂
I actually like the clean styling. It has aged well, still looks modern.
I think these are very handsome trucks. The Great Wall X240/X200 SUV is heavily, heavily derivative of these in design albeit with different front and rear end treatments (not sure if there is any mechanical relation). And I think part of the reason those initially did so well in Australia, besides their very low prices, was their handsome good looks. Of course, then their reputation for poor reliability became well-known and people may also have tired of how gutless the petrol ones were.
You beat me to it William. I don’t think they have Isuzu-based mechanicals.
I just saw one of these today, but no photos were taken.