While I (and I expect you as well) rarely see first generation Isuzu Troopers around much, here’s one that was never very thick on the ground to begin with, being only available for one year in the United States. When I saw it, it literally stopped me in my tracks.
While the original Troopers were all 2-doors, this one is from 1989, well after the 4-door became the standard bearer over here but what makes it different is that it rides on a 90″ wheelbase, shorter than any Trooper before it. Why Isuzu decided to go the route that pretty much everyone else in the segment had completely abandoned by that time is beyond me (and they probably wondered so as well since they didn’t offer it here after this year either). The Trooper was sold all over the world and while it clearly appears to be influenced by the Range Rover, it was always quite affordable and considered fairly rugged.
That being said, this is one of the cleaner Troopers by far that I’ve seen in years (decades?) and one I would be excited to drive. Having driven (and more often ridden in) a complete stripper 4-door of this vintage in the early 90’s bought at a massive discount on the last day of the year 1990 by a previous boss of mine and marveling at the relative lack of rapid progress I’m sure the sole powerplant offered here in this SWB 2-door wouldn’t leave me overwhelmed either, being the 2559cc “4ZE1” inline-4; even more (or less?) so if it had the optional automatic transmission. Those aren’t the wheels it was sold with either but it looks rather good on the slightly larger ones it seems to have now.
This one was parked while hauling a scrap refrigerator, and yes, that trailer is a fair bit longer than the Trooper. At least this load is light and the little trucklet is unlikely to be able to build up a huge amount of speed (for everyone’s safety I suppose). I decided in this case not to attempt to take interior pictures as this isn’t really an area where I felt getting so close to someone else’s ride would be a wise decision.
Still, I find this one in particular to be a sharp little rig and something I’d very much like to drive around town now that my daughter has my Wrangler. Isuzu also made a SWB Trooper of the newer generation but that was never sold over here; in Europe and I’d imagine Down Under though they are not at all uncommon, for good reasons. While I couldn’t locate an ad for the 1989 2-door, I did find the one below for the 4-door. At that price (adjusted to $27k today) I’m not surprised they sold as well as they did. I think Isuzu peaked a little too early in the U.S., if they had held on they might well be quite popular today with updated versions of their various 4WD’s.
I had no idea these even existed. If they had still been around for model year 1994, I might have ended up with one. I shopped the Wrangler and the Amigo, and bought a Sidekick soft top. All the other two-doors I’d have wanted were gone by then.
In the 90s when I was working at the phone refurbishment company I would occasionally get stuck behind a 4 door Trooper of about this vintage at the last major intersection before arriving at work. That thing moved so slowly I was sure that it must have had a body made from lead. There were so many times that I was sure that I could have walked across that intersection faster than that Trooper accelerated across it.
I would like to own one of these, but only after a SBC transplant.
Wow; I’ve been keeping an eye out for one of these since I started curbsiding ten years ago. Great catch.
Could not figure out their thinking either, but maybe they thought there was a bit of market since Ford and Chevy were still selling quite a few two door versions of the Explorer and Blazer, the Explorer also having a swb. Well, actually Ford didn’t sell all that many of those…
And as short and stubby as the Explorer Sport and 2-door Blazer/Jimmy were, this Isuzu makes them look long in comparison.
The Chevy LUV was a truck I was familiar with, so I wasn’t an Isuzu fan. While these designs were superb, I could never shake the lack of quality the brand represented to me at that time. Within a few years I saw rusty Troopers, questionable Chevy Spectrums and an attractive Impulse. Then things go very blurry and I couldn’t figure out if Isuzu was selling cars in the States under Isuzu, Chevy or Geo names.
Isuzu got pretty messed up.
OH – and then there was this Isuzu Joe guy, who might have been funny but did nothing to want me to consider buying an Isuzu.
That was really weird.
Looks similar to the dodge raider or two door Montero. We did actually get the second gen here for a few years, but not many were sold. I recall seeing a couple over the years.
To modern eyes, the pictures of this Trooper look like they were squished into the wrong aspect ratio. But then again, these even seemed odd at the time… a small footnote in the book of SUV history.
Landrovers began on a 80 inch wheelbase and grew eventually to 90 inch so its not really so small in the 4×4 SWB world.
Excellent find and pics. I generally like meatier tires/wheels on most vehicles. But those tires look almost too beefy for this Trooper. Not nearly flotation tire thick, but heading there. 🙂
Rather than the Trooper (which I will admit IS a catch!), my eyes were taken by that odd trailer behind it. Vertical-planked wooden sides, which look to be set into the external framing. And such small wheels. There must be a story behind why someone would build such a thing.
It’s not vertical planks; it’s plywood with fake plank grooves cut into it on one side (T-111), a very common cheap siding product in the US. Did you look inside the trailer? The smooth side of the plywood are quite evident.
This trailer is representative of so many home built utility trailers in the US, built either on a cheap frame or a welded up frame. It’s not something that my eyes were taken by. 🙂
I hadn’t noticed the inside. You wouldn’t find one like that around here. 🙂
That ad is golden… I’m literally laughing out loud 🙂
I was thinking of you when I chose it. You should frame a copy behind your desk for those buyers “on the fence”. Just take it off the wall and slide it over and suggest that you could perhaps see what you have for the Sir and Lady in the pre-owned lot. 🙂
Ah yes, the well sought-after RS. These are very rare today and a fan favorite. What makes them a favorible to the Isuzu community is not just the short body, but the 4.77 gearing that came standard with the RS. And you’re right about those wheels, they are not standard. The RS came with wheels known to Isuzu community as “snowflakes”, which are also sought-after. Check out planetisuzu to learn more about these beauties.
I noticed that the Isuzu badge is missing from the grill. I don’t know how the badges were attached to the grills on this generation Trooper but I remember when I was kid someone in my neighborhood had a Trooper like this, but a 4 door, and the grill badge would be mounted in different parts of grill from one month to the next. Sometimes it would be in the upper corners, sometimes the lower corners, sometimes in the center or center left/right. And then it disappeared all together and never showed up on the truck again. Maybe all the moving around loosened up however it was mounted and it fell off.
The badges seemed to always be missing on these, guess they weren’t put on too tight.
I drive a 1997 Isuzu Trooper every day. It is a 4 door. Still a great vehicle.
I gave a 99 trooper with 3.5, with a manual 5spd. I’ve had it for 14 years and Iove it. 225 horsepower and loads of torque. Great visabilty and the roof rack is great for hauling wood. The 5spd is hard to find, but it’s worth it. It also has larger than stock 265s. Better gas mileage
Trailers with a gross weight of 1,800 LBS or less do not need a license plate in Oregon so seeing a plate on a trailer like this is odd, but Colorado does things differently.
I had no idea these Two Door Troopers were so rare, I should photograph one next time I see one.
There were lots of two-door Troopers, but the overwhelming majority had the same longer wheelbase as the four doors. There’s still some of those lwb two doors around, but if you see a swb version, it is a rarity.
These are the two lwb versions.
Thank you for the info Paul and I learned something new.