(note: I’ve amended the text to reflect that Isuzu also sold a version of this in the US, as the gen2 Impulse) It’s getting harder and harder to find a car that’s never had a proper CC. But a CC virgin has been found, in the form of the Geo Storm. And a GSi, no less. This was a hot little number in 1992, with a 140 hp 16V 1.8 L four to propel its slick little 2,280 lb body. It’s a bit hard to remember Isuzu building passenger cars, never mind anything other than genuine trucks. But during GM’s embrace of all things Japanese under its GEO brand, this was a kick-ass sporty coupe.
The Storm was the US version of the replacement of the Piazza/Impulse, which was one of those rare cars that hardly changed an iota from concept to production. Unfortunately its chassis and drive train were not up to its looks.
The Isuzu version of the Storm, the gen2 Impulse, had a quite different front end, designed to evoke the original. And it was available with a 160hp intercooled/turbo engine and AWD.
Dave Skinner found one at a car show and wrote it up here.
The US-bound 1990 Storm’s front end was quite different, with an aerodynamic “shovel-nose”, although still with semi-concealed headlights, albeit rather different than the Piazza’s. The base engine was a 95hp 1.6L SOHC four, with the GSi sporting a stouter DOHC version making 130 hp.
Of course what I’d really liked to have found was the quite rare wagonback, a genuine shooting brake. This was something of a hot idea for a couple of years.
Rather than tool up for two different bodies, Nissan just offered the optional Sportbak to convert the Pulsar coupe into a wagon. Let’s see, was there anyone else in this club?
The wagonback was only available in 1991 and 1992. Sales were obviously very modest.
Things get complicated outside of the US, especially in Japan. Here’s the breakdown from a comment left by cjiguy:
Pa Nero coupe and hatch: Essentialy the Storm clone, 1.6 DOHC spec. Includes the semi-hideaway lamps. Also available with the turbo and AWD. Never received the refreshed Geo front end.
Gemini OZ coupe and hatch: 1.6 DOHC spec, Including AWD Irmscher R Turbo models, different front end that was never available in the US.
Piazza Nero coupe: The 1.8 DOHC 4WS model with Lotus tuning, same front as the North Anerican Impusle. No other powertrain option, only model with Lotus suspension tune.
Got it? There will be a test.
In 1992, the Storm got a new front end, with squinty little headlights instead of the partially-hidden ones. I’m not at all a fan. It rather ruins the front end for me, but undoubtedly it was cheaper. It makes it look even more like a Saturn SC2 coupe. The 1992 GSi got the larger 1.8L version of the four.
If you’re seeing some other GM design language in the Storm, you might also look to the 1989 Lotus Elan M100, which was of course conceived and created during GM’s tenure as Lotus’ owner, and used the Isuzu Gemini/Storm’s drivetrain.
Lotus, Isuzu, Saturn, Cavalier, Fiero; lots of GM design and technical DNA being scattered around the globe.
Since the Storm’s owner was sitting in her car, I didn’t get an interior shot, but you’ll be pleased to know she gave me permission to shoot the exterior. So here’s a couple from the web.
This shot shows the distinctive control pods that were quite prominent and somewhat unique in the gen1 Impulse are still here, although drastically toned down. Frankly, the whole interior is quite GM-generic for the period.
I don’t have a vintage review handy, but the impression I have is that the Storm, especially in GSi form, was a brisk and fun coupe, rather tossable, but that its engine was a bit unrefined. Maybe you all have some more impressions to add.
Now if I could just find a wagonback version of the Storm…
Related reading:
1991 Isuzu Impulse Turbo (JDM) Dave Skinner
1984 Isuzu Piazza (JDM) Tatra87
1988 Isuzu Impulse Eric703
I don’t think that blue Impulse wagonback is JDM – if it was, why would it be LHD? Also, license plate frame indicates it’s from a Pontiac dealer.
I never found the 2nd-gen Piazza/Impulse/Storm anywhere near as stylish as the original, inside or out. Curiously, the Chevrolet/Geo Spectrum hatchback (and its Isuzu-badged relatives) looked way more like a first-gen Impulse than the actual 2nd-gen Impulse did.
I came here to say the same thing about the first-vs.-second Impulse. I remember feeling so let down by the looks of the second one which managed to look not even as cool as the Storm. From styling duties being moved from Giugiaro to Playskool.
The second Impulse looks a lot more interesting and attractive to me now in 2020.
“to playskool”
That is specifically because the second generation Gemini (Chevrolet Spectrum/Isuzu I-Mark) was his design, initially. GM then altered his work, moving the cut line on the side of the car, without his approval. He was furious and vowed to never be associated with GM again. He didn’t even admit to being involved with that car for years because he was so angry. It’s why this car looks like a baby Camaro.
Neither the blue hatchback nor the turbo-AWD version are JDM models. Both the hatch and the RS Turbo were sold from ’91-’92 in the United States (the hatch introduced as a very late ’91 model), and both are as rare as you would expect.
As the article indicates, one version was sold as the Piazza Nero in Japan, as this (very low resolution) ad shows. Although the car in the ad is clearly the Impulse variant and not the Storm. Here’s another example of a Piazza-branded JDM Isuzu:
https://www.lot99llc.com/vehicle-details/1991-isuzu-piazza—-right-hand-drive—82k-miles-coupe-4e0dc46bd896894f845d2faf6e6b2bba
For how little information I could find about the Piazza in a brief search (even taking into account the language barrier), it’s likely even more rare in Japan than in the US.
Upon further review, the Storm variant was definitely sold in Japan as the PA Nero, as you can see in these pictures. So there was both a PA Nero and a Piazza Nero, apparently, as well as a regular Piazza (the front badging on the black car in the advertisement is clearly different than the normal Isuzu badging in the red Piazza for sale in the link, and another website I consulted seems to corroborate separate Piazza and Piazza Nero models). This is very confusing.
I’ll try and break down the JDM models for you as best I can. Three variations existed, none were called Impulse.
Pa Nero coupe and hatch: Essentialy the Storm clone, 1.6 DOHC spec. Includes the semi-hideaway lamps. Also available with the turbo and AWD. Never received the refreshed Geo front end.
Gemini OZ coupe and hatch: 1.6 DOHC spec, Including AWD Irmscher R Turbo models, different front end that was never available in the US.
Piazza Nero coupe: The 1.8 DOHC 4WS model with Lotus tuning, same front as the North Anerican Impusle. No other powertrain option, only model with Lotus suspension tune.
I’ll try and break down the JDM models for you as best I can.
You’ve just confused me further, as the ad for the Piazza Nero in The Professor’s comment is clearly Japanese and has the non-US market front end.
@Paul:
The Piazza Nero was the clone of the Impusle we were sold here, not the Geo. We got an AWD turbo version japan did not. They only got that combo in the Pa Nero (Our Storm) and the Gemini OZ (we never got).
Yeah it’s weird…
Got it, mostly. 🙂
I should stick to my areas of competence.
Here’s a better look at the different badging for Piazza (left) and Piazza Nero (right) models. The Piazza Nero badging appears to be the same as the PA Nero, while the Piazza is badged as regular Isuzu.
Aha! I totally forgot that Isuzu sold a gen2 version of the Impulse here in the US too! I don’t ever remember seeing one.
I will amend the text. Thanks for pointing that out.
Yes, that photo is painfully obviously not taken in Japan either. The white one in the next image is not JDM either, nor was it taken in Japan. It can’t be JDM, nothing badged Impulse was ever offered there.
This model could be had in Japan, with different noses and such shared from all the other markets across Isuzu and Yanase dealers too, as Isuzu Gemini Coupe, Isuzu Gemini Hatchback, Isuzu PA Nero (Yanase), Isuzu PA Nero Hatchback (Yanase), Isuzu Piazza and Isuzu Piazza Nero (Yanase), all simultaneously, and they all sold poorly. There was nothing badged as Impulse in Japan, ever.
*Edit… apparently this took about 12-13hrs to finally post, odd.
Back when these were new my office had a client who bought one that was represented as a “demonstrator”. “Demonstrator”, in that case, meant a car that had been wrecked on the lot, sold to a dealership bodyman, fixed in his home shop, then sold by him via the dealer salesman. She discovered the repair work during a service at a different GEO dealer. I found the bodyman who actually did a nice job on the car. The pictures he gave me led to the dealership paying off her car note and some more besides based on the fraud they committed.
I liked these a lot at the time – they were attractive and had all of the attributes of a good “second-tier” Japanese car of the day. And the Japanese second-tier was still quite good. It has been a long time since I have seen one, and I had just about forgotten them.
Awesome little runabouts, and back then 130hp made it somewhat hot stuff in that lower tier of the nascent import hot-rodding street racing circles, at least in small town USA where most of the “competition” was non-VTEC Civic DXs with 106hp and fart can exhaust. I remember seeing a number of these Storms decked out in full kit: wild vinyls, aftermarket wheels, etc.
A former friend and his now ex-wife had one of these. It was a base model in eye-popping yellow. I believe it was a ’91.
Something tells me it may have been a demonstrator in the same mode as what JPC’s client had. But it was at least advertised as such, so there’s that.
While the car seemed okay, I had the misfortune of riding in the backseat. Memorable, but not for the right reasons. My then-friend had an ’89 Z-28 at the time and could not stand the Storm due to its relative lack of power.
One day he hit black ice and rolled her Storm onto its roof. Then he bought her a new Olds Cutlass Supreme (this was about 1995). Then she started boinking some other guy and they got a divorce – but she got to keep the Olds his parents had likely paid for. Then he made an unsubtle play on my now wife (she didn’t want anything to do with him). He later went to work for GM, then went to Ford after GM laid him off, and he married another gal with the same first name as Wife #1.
So this comment really has nothing to do with a Storm other than it’s amazing what can trigger a person’s memory.
Sounds like the perfect Storm to roll ashore on the banks of your memory.
Jim, you win the internet for the day for that comment. Sheer literature in one sentence!
I owned a ’91 2+2, the low-buck 1.5 version. Pretty damn good car for 5 years, 85,000 miles. Engine, combined with structural integrity, made it a little buzzy, and no power at all until 3,000 rpm, when it got loud. Quick steering, seems like 2.7 turns lock-to-lock. No drama during ownership. Considering the perfectly awful S-10 it replaced, one of my favorite cars. Agree that it was better with the flip-up headlights. I’ve only seen one in several years, which had the later front-end.
My first-grade teacher had one of these in turquoise. Not sure if it was the cool guy GSi trim or not but she spoke highly of it, I remember that for some odd reason. Likely because my parents were shopping for a new car for my mom at the time and solicited her feedback.
I had the wagon back version for a few months in 2005. It was the first car of a friend, he decided it was time for something new, and I was persuaded by the low asking price and working a/c. I wasn’t a fan of the appearance and another friend had just lost his BMW 325e in an unfortunate trailering accident, so I bought the wheels and badges from him, had some custom decals made, and turned it into a “316ti”. Since the Storms weren’t that common, I think I even fooled a few people, lol. The a/c didn’t hold out very long, and then the timing belt snapped on the way back from a cousin’s wedding. I considered abandoning it on the highway, but didn’t want to get hit for the fines. So we got it back and sold it for what I paid for it.
Only in America do timing belts snap…the rest of the world actually maintains their cars…
I don’t recall the details of whether my friend had neglected the maintenance on it or not. Suffice it to say that for the price I paid and my level of interest, I would not have replaced it even if I knew it needed it. They are non interference engines and I found out that the next owner replaced it with no issues.
For what it’s worth, a year later we proactively had the timing belt replaced on my now wife’s Prizm, as we intended to keep it for a while. As fate would have it, we found a much better equipped one to replace it with a few months later, so we put less than 1000 miles on the new belt before we sold the car.
Australia can snap belts too. I had one let go once, and I did maintain my car!
Looks-wise to me these came in third place of the Impulse/ImpulseII/Storm trifecta and yes the improved nose didn’t improve anything.
Having had an Isuzu I-mark of a few years older vintage than this the mechanicals were stout and the car was decent to drive, I’d imagine the Storm to be similar and with the 130hp mill, likely some fun too. I see them every now and again in a junkyard but usually in very faded teal with that aspect of it usually being the best quality of the thing there, this particular survivor seems to even be a thriver instead of just a survivor, the nicest I’ve looked at in quite some time.
I went to Wikipedia to refresh my memory of GEO/Chevrolet not selling these when I was car shopping in 1998 (they weren’t, otherwise I would have bought one instead of my Chevy Tracker) and I happened upon this little gem
“Geo offered no sport coupe replacement for the Storm before the brand was folded into Chevrolet after 1997. As of 2010, there were only 40,300 Storms registered for road use.”
I guess that answers why I didn’t see one, but…were they that rare, or that fragile? These things were everywhere in the 90s and early 00s. They had decent performance for the time as seen here.
Model 0-60 mph Top speed
1990 “hatchback” wagon 10.0 seconds 108 mph (174 km/h)
1990 GSi 8.0 seconds 130 mph (210 km/h)
1992 GSi 7.1 seconds 125 mph (201 km/h)
When I was in high school in early-mid ’90s, these were the ubiquitous “cute girl cars”, driven by seemingly every teenage girl whose parents had the means to purchase them something other than a beater as their first car. Often seen with oh-so-90s decal graphics applied as well. Truthfully even then I thought they weren’t bad looking vehicles…but that association will forever live in my head on the rare occasions I see one nowadays! It’s been years since I’ve seen one in the wild…
Lotus Elan M100 was front engine, front drive. I remember the first time I saw it on MotorWeek, I was rather stunned. A FWD Lotus?
When I was shilling Toyotas, we had our annual new car preview to see how the competitive models stacked up to one another. The Paseo was the direct competitor to the Storm, but only in their imaginations. For every Paseo we shifted off the lot; the Chevy-Plymouth store across the freeway from us sending out 2-3 Storms and about as many Diamond-Stars.
The Storm was a neat little entry level car, certainly there were more refined ones, or cheaper ones, but they were everywhere.
Quite right. text amended.
The Storm was supposed to be the “sporty” one of the Geo lineup. You sat low in it.
I looked at a wagon-back version a year ago, but turned it down. This, because, the rear, instead of making attractive and useful use of the additional space, did exactly the opposite.
Back in 1990 I was looking for a brand new Japanese coupe to replace my old Civic. I read all the articles comparing the Storm, Dodge Colt, and Honda Civic. I seriously considered them all but went with a Honda SI. Such a well equipped little car, 5 speed, sunroof, Recaro type seats, no a/c. 105 hp. engine I think. the most powerful Civic engine. Honda built good cars back then. Probably my favorite car ever.
Storm was garbage according to one of my customers. The ECU would fail internally due to CBE (Cheap Bastid Engineering). Affecting many cars it would die whenever it wanted and not start again for some time. The inside of this component looked like they threw a bunch of capacitors and resistors into a room full of monkeys. He showed me details about a class action lawsuit but I never heard how that panned out.
In the 90s, my two young sons would nearly lose their mud when they’d spot one of these. Their excited cries of “Geo Storm GSI !!!” became a running gag with me and my carpool colleague, as we’d say the same thing whenever we saw one in our travels to/from our office.
I recall wanting one of these back around 2002, but after seeing like 3 of them broke down on the side of a highway within a week, I decided that wasn’t a good idea.
There was a Canada only badge engineered version of this car for a limited run – Asuna Sunfire.