I realize that we’ve seen one of these Geminis with the Lotus badging before – five years ago, in fact. But that was a four-door and it had been recently restored, whereas whet we have here is an all-original in hatchback form. So I figured time had come to revisit the sportiest and most fully-optioned Isuzu Gemini of the ‘80s. After all, Geminis do come in pairs.
No matter what brand and/or nameplate GM saw fit to use to flog these cars (Holden, Chevrolet, Geo, Pontiac, etc.) around the globe, the proper name that ought to be used should be Isuzu. After all, this all-new FWD platform, which took over from the GM T-car in 1985, was developed by the Japanese carmaker. It would turn out to be Isuzu’s last clean-sheet car design, as the subsequent generation Gemini was a mere evolution of this one.
This was an important car for Isuzu, and they did their job decently well. The four-door looked a little odd with its wannabe-formal roofline, but the hatchback has a more organic (and mainstream) feel to it. Squint and you could call it a Seat Ibiza, a Mazda 323 or a VW Golf. Which is a good thing, if your aim is to create a small car that will compete on the global market.
The initial models, launched in May 1985 in Japan, were a tad on the bland side, visually-speaking. And the spicier ZZ-R variants were kept on the old T-car RWD platform for at least a year, as well. But that would eventually all change for the better.
In 1987, Isuzu gave their little Golf-beater a bit more zing with those pointy front turn signals, which did help giving them a distinguishing feature. It doesn’t take much, but without those little design elements, it can be a challenge to tell these ‘80s hatchbacks apart.
That famous “Handling by Lotus” plaque, plastered on either flank and on the rear end, is of course the ultimate distinguishing feature for the Gemini. Lotus is revered in Japan to a degree that still baffles me, but then the company’s design philosophy, use of small engines and Formula 1 aura does make for a pretty potent combination. Hence the use of the Lotus badge, which would perhaps not have been seen as a key selling point in places like continental Europe or North America, was a definite plus in Isuzu’s domestic market.
In was the mid-‘80s and Lotus were part of the greater GM family at that particular point in time, alongside Isuzu. Lotus were more involved with Toyota historically, but the corporate parentage made for novel bedfellows, so to speak.
Lotus worked their magic on the Piazza/Impulse, which sported a 150hp SOHC 2-litre but still used the RWD platform, and on the FWD Gemini (both the 4-door and the hatchback). The “Handling by Lotus” variants sat at the top of the Piazza and Gemini ranges starting in March 1988. The ZZ SE version above, launched in June 1989, was the actual top-of-the-top, with a Bose stereo, BBS wheels, power windows and Recaro seats as standard.
Our feature car is the more modest ZZ, the O.G. of the breed. The object of Lotus’ involvement was to really tighten the handling so that the 135hp DOHC 1.6 litre engine could be put to good use.
But unlike the Irmscher version, which was an out-and-out hot hatch with a very firm suspension, the ZZ Lotus was meant to provide excellent road holding without sacrificing comfort. And a fair amount of toys could be optioned to add to said comfort, of course, bringing the total price close to the ¥2m threshold – Nissan Skyline money, in those days.
So I’m guessing not too many of these were made. They certainly didn’t hang around for too long: by early 1990, the new generation Gemini had taken over. Glad to see that someone out there still loves theirs and uses it. And I was particularly happy to find this hatchback version, which is infinitely superior in my eyes to the blocky four-door. Putting the gem back into Gemini indeed!
Related posts:
CC Capsule: 1989 Isuzu Gemini (JT190) ZZ Handling By Lotus – Japan’s Cortina, Minus The Charisma, by T87
Curbside Classic: 1988 Isuzu I-Mark: Just Another Household Appliance, by JPC
Curbside Classic: 1985-87 Holden RB Gemini/1985-89 Chevrolet Spectrum/Isuzu I-Mark – The Stars Didn’t Align, by William Stopford
Curbside Capsule: 1985-87 Holden Gemini SL/E – Missing The I-Mark, by William Stopford
COAL: 1986 Isuzu I-Mark – That’s No Lie!, by Jim Klein
CC Outtake: 1989 Geo Spectrum – The Blue Band of the Spectrum, by PN
In 85/86 I was working at a Chevrolet dealership when we got a new crop of captive imports – the Suzuki Sprint, the NUMMI Nova and the Isuzu Spectrum (Gemini). I spent a LOT of seat time in all of them, and by far the Isuzu was the best of the bunch. Handling, power/weight and overall ergonomics were really pretty good. The only import cars I ever really felt were better (and the comparisons arent quite apples to apples) were the VW Scirroco, BMW 2002, Acura Integra and the Mazda 323. If I hadnt been snapping up 15 year old trade ins, the Spectrum would have been a smart buy.
I quite liked my Isuzu, but definitely lusted after one of the Lotus-fettled versions, preferably with a turbo. The Lotus name did elevate these (and the Impulse/Piazza so endowed) to a higher plane in that regard, or at least in the minds of Car & Driver reading teen and young adult enthusiasts. That badge alone does the talking, remarkably restrained and nicely styled.
The basic versions do look sort of bland, these (and my upper spec non-Lotus hatchback) benefited greatly from the modest gingerbread that was applied to them, a base Chevy Spectrum sedan version that was used to scream a rock bottom price in the Sunday newspaper adverts decidedly less so.
The car it most resembles though besides trhe Mazda 323 (and was confused with all too often) is the first generation Hyundai Excel, which was also a Giugiaro design, with one of them likely being the main rendering and the other the next tear-off on the sketch pad with a thin layer of carbon paper hastily shoved between…
Styling by Giugiaro and Irv Rybicki locked into a supply closet together. OK, maybe not quite but Isuzu did submit it to GM Design and they had notes which were put into effect. I’ve never seen pics of Giugiaro’s original proposal so I can’t say for sure but it might have looked even more like an Excel…
They were well-enough loved in Japan that Hasegawa put out a model kit of the sedan in both Irmscher and Lotus ZZ/SE versions, within the past 5 years or so.
One oddity of these was the lack of a 5-door hatchback anywhere in the world. That killed it stone dead in Australia and Europe.
Definitely a good looking car. I do remember a few “Handling by Lotus” badged cars back in the day. Isuzu was pretty intermediate in the Canadian market during the period. A little spicy hot hatch is a package that still has a lot of appeal for me.
The body looks like a cost-reduced version of Giugiaro’s pioneering shutline- hiding Piazza/Impulse. The hatch-to-rear quarter window and the hood-to-fender shutlines are no longer hidden, but the “aircraft style” doors remain.
I don’t think I was ever aware of these nifty cars .
I see they used the best by far HVAC controls I’ve ever seen, compact and easy to use without taking one’s eyes off the road .
The paint and overall condition makes me think it’d be dead easy to bring back to a nice show & shine condition .
135 HP in a small Japanese coupe sounds very good to me .
Not everything in the 1980’s was bad .
I’m not a hatchback enthusiast but the idea of a “Hot Hatch” is one I don’t think will ever loose it’s luster .
-Nate
I prefer rotaries to sliders – I was a bit jealous of the JDM EK Civics when we had a VTi.
I have absolutely no recollection of the Gemini over here, yet remember the ‘Handling by Lotus’ thing and I’m sure we had a Pizza delivery.
It’s a neat design and its powertrain was of great significance. But Ital Design were eternally damned by their own success.