Old Japanese pickup trucks come to Eugene in order to find immortality. There’s folks here who will give these tough old workhorses the luv, care and feeding (biodiesel, in this case), so that they can stay productive members of society well beyond their expected lifespan. This Chevy LUV, otherwise known as an Isuzu Faster (or P’up), is perhaps the ultimate representative of the breed, as these Isuzu diesel engines seemingly won’t stop, ever.
We looked at its gen1 predecessor here recently, but that model was gas-engined only. With the arrival of the second generation for 1981, Isuzu also sent over their C223 2.2 L diesel four, which made 58 hp and 93 lb.ft. of torque, at 2,200 rpm. A veritable tractor engine, in other words.
These Isuzu diesel trucks have been sought after for a long time, and there’s not exactly many left, but when the last one stops clattering, it will be…probably some time from now. As well as the end of an era.
The gen2 LUV was only sold here for two years, as in 1983 Chevy had its new S-10 compact truck. Without getting into a dissing fit, the S-10 was not built like the Isuzu. And the early S-10s have not endeared themselves into Eugene’s old pickup society. One has to earn membership in it.
Having been spurned by Chevy, Isuzu started selling the same truck in the US, labeled P’up.
These are work trucks, pure and simple; the ideal rig for a gardener or such in a compact city like Eugene.
Yes, those are “knee pads” that have been re-purposed as head rests. I might do the same in my truck, as that rear window is inches away from the back of my head. Nobody rear-end, me please!
This truck has had some other customization, including new graphics on the hood. This was not a factory option.
One of these old long-bed Japanese trucks would be perfect for me, except that the cabs are just a bit too cozy for me. That was one of the attractions of my F100; a roomy cab. But in the race to see which truck will last longer, this one or mine, I wouldn’t want to bet against the Isuzu. Of course, mine is fifteen years older.
Ive driven a few of these slow noisy dreadful tree shift on the Holden Rodeo versions but they will run forever, Some older Opel cars listed with diesel engines came actually with two different motors one from Opel which is ok and one from Isuzu which are prized for longevity, Isuzu still build trucks real trucks not pickups and they are ok to drive I’ll be spending some days in one shortly 460hp 18 speed RR a far cry from these old pickups but they share DNA.
Every LUV/P’up ever sold in the US came with floor shift (including automatics).
I think the RT40 Corona was the last Japanese manual column shift in the US; after that they figured American buyers saw “four-on-the-floor” as a sporty, premium feature and it was simply the norm in Europe, so there was little point in porting their home-market tree shift to LHD.
This owner sure seems embarrassed to be driving a Chevy. Bowtie on grill broken off and paint buffed out of tailgate. Diesel emblems present for duty. Driving even an ersatz American car must be rough there in Eugene. I mean jeez do people like tear down flags on July 4th?
Did these even have a Bowtie on the grill? I have never seen one with one and to me the tailgate just looks like the rest of Green paint job.
I came close to buying a gen 1 diesel Isuzu….brand new. I didn’t care about the lack of acceleration as I lived in Florida, and would probably have bought the car if the dealership’s sales manager hadn’t been such a dickhead. They offered me several thousands more I thought my car was worth….to rope me in, then added the “bonus” back on paper so that I would have paid several thousands ABOVE MSRP for the truck. A really close examination of the paperwork was what tipped me off. Strangely, they had a lot full of those pickups, probably 5 or 6 were diesel, and their newspaper ad made it sound like they were selling at fire sale type prices. Needless to say, that dealership eventually went out of business BEFORE Isuzu left the small car and truck market.
Recently I found an ad for a truck similar to this one on Craigslist. The seller was several states away.
AND, I can’t remember exactly were it was, but I found an ad for TWO diesel I-Marks recently. (Actually, 2 ads by the same seller.) One was a sedan, and the other the very rare 2 door “coupe”..
There is a really clean Isuzu P’up diesel parked in my neighborhood that I’ve been keeping an eye on…. Isuzus in general are overlooked and underrated in the U.S.
My two last trucks were an 87 Hardbody and a 91 S10. Both had that cab and that is what essentially drove me to an SUV. You would have thought the king cabs, club cabs, etc were made of gold.
I almost bought a truck that looked exactly like that (minus the custom paint) but realized that I know nothing about diesels. Neither it appeared, did my mechanics. The 4runner and a gaggle of trailers are doing just fine.
Chevrolet pickups have never been officially imported, but we do have some sort of on/off relationship with Isuzu.
The National Department of Public Works uses Isuzu’s latest model D-Max pickups. These arrive in plain white and then get a wrap in the colors as pictured below. I saw one last week; nice pickup, HiLux / Amarok segment.
All D-Max models here have Isuzu’s 2.5 liter 4-cylinder turbo diesel, 163 hp. Remarkable is that the Chevrolet/Holden pickups in this segment now have a VM Motori A428 DOHC diesel, GM calls it the 2.8 Duramax. This engine is also under the hood of several Mopar products, like the Jeep Wrangler.
Holden claims to be divorced from Isuzu now days and Isuzu have set up their own dealer network here, we get the Thai built Colorado now in Holden flavour and the Dmax is the Isuzu offering, oddly though the Isuzu truck dealership here doesnt sell pickups only real trucks,
I like the (flatbed) utes you have, to me they look like a downscaled big conventional truck. Like the Holden Colorado below, with the VM Motori diesel. Excuse me, I mean the GM 2.8 Duramax…
I had an “82 KB Rodeo diesel, cab/chassis (alloy tray), it had the 2L C190 diesel engine, pretty sure all the Australian ones got that engine for some reason. It was pretty slow and basic, but unkillable as you say. Apart from the rusty cab it was a good solid, hard working machine.
My friend’s dad had an Isuzu 4×4 P’up with a diesel. We used it to tow a small ski boat. With the gas(no)…throttle(no)…accelerator(NO!)…right pedal tucked under the floor mat, it would do 55 mph on the interstate. They managed to use it up in about four years. I don’t know if the engine ever had issues, but the rest of the truck was shot.
A few of the first generation S-10’s came with an Isuzu diesel. They were a particularly long-lived beast, the body integrity of the early S-10 was better than the Isuzu, Very rare though, the diesel PU’P was far more common.
Yes, I was going to say the same thing. They never sold the S-10 diesels in Canada, but I wound-up waiting at the diesel pump behind one several years ago. Got talking to the owner, who imported it from the US. Very economical, but about as gutless as a VW Caddy with a diesel. (My first two cars were both VW Rabbit diesels, and this was my impression based on his description.)
the knee pad head rests are genius!
Not only headrests, but possibly knuckle savers too. I drove a friend’s Ranger occasionally, and every time I went to back up, my right hand smacked against the glass.
Yup – same thing happened to me in my 1979 Chevy pickup – it’s no longer an issue with my 1990 F350 crew cab!
Bought a new one in 1984. Oil filters were outrageously expensive when you could find them. Motor may have been unkillable but the body sure wasn’t.