I don’t often find interesting SUVs. Nor do I usually find SUVs interesting, so there might be a correlation there. But slap a little bling on an older orphan brand model that has no earthly business being here, and something may well get piqued.
This Isuzu, as I wrote above, should not be here. Not because it’s an SUV – those were becoming rather successful in Japan, by the early ‘90s. It should not be here because it’s the US-assembled, V6-powered, LHD, North American market version of a vehicle that Isuzu were also making and marketing in Japan. It was most likely imported here when it was new too, as demonstrated by the pre-2000 license plate.
When the Rodeo was launched in 1990, from the get-go, it was going to be one of those global platforms that was going to be sold under a bunch of marques and nameplates. And so it became the Isuzu Cameo/Vega in Thailand (locally assembled), the Vauxhall Frontera in the UK (known as the Opel Frontera in Continental Europe, but assembled in Luton all the same), it wore a Holden badge in Australia and so on.
Isuzu even inked a deal with Honda in 1993 so that the Rodeo was rebadged as a Honda Passport for US consumption. In exchange, Geminis ended up being rebadged Civics for a while. But what of Isuzu’s home market? Well, things were less than straightforward on that score, which may or may not explain the presence of this Rodeo in Tokyo.
Isuzu had signed the aforementioned deal with Honda precisely because they decided, in 1992, to basically abandon their in-house family car lines and focus on their strengths, i.e. SUVs and pickup trucks. For the JDM, Isuzu had two SUVs in the early ‘90s: the large 4-door Bighorn (a.k.a. Trooper, in many markets) and the 2-door MU (Amigo in the US). What Japan needed was a 4-door MU, which is what the Rodeo essentially was.
So why not simply import the Rodeo, as produced by Isuzu in their Indiana plant (co-owned with Subaru) and use all the spare tonnage on those ships crossing the Pacific filled with cars for North America’s insatiable markets and returning barely half-full? Honda certainly got brownie points all around for doing just that with their Accord wagon, made in Ohio and exported back to Japan (and Europe) with little “Honda of America” eagle badges on their C-pillars.
Isuzu almost did that with the Rodeo, but in the end decided against it. One reason was engine availability: Isuzu figured the lion’s share of JDM clients would prefer a Diesel, whereas the US-made Rodeos had a 2.6 litre 4-cyl. or a 3.2 litre V6 – both petrol. The other issue was the Rodeo’s leaf springs, which Isuzu’s Japanese product planners reckoned would be too crude for domestic consumption.
But they needed to field a mid-sized 4-door SUV, so they went ahead and engineered a multilink coil suspension for the Rodeo, chucked a 120hp 3.1 litre Diesel 4-cyl. under the hood and launched the result as the Isuzu Wizard in December 1995 — five years after the Rodeo came to be.
The Wizard was a RHD, Diesel-only, JDM exclusive vehicle that was built in Japan. It apparently had a fair amount of success until the second gen model arrived in 1998. So why would an American-made, LHD, petrol V6-powered Rodeo end up here? Therein lies the mystery.
Perhaps some well-heeled Isuzu enthusiast just couldn’t fathom passing up the smooth 190hp OHC 6-cyl. engine (also used in the Bighorn/Trooper)? Maybe the originality of driving an Isuzu with a steering wheel on the wrong side proved irresistible? Or was it the famed American fit and finish?
Another question to ponder is whether one could just request the local Isuzu dealer to special-order one. As far as I know, these were not imported regularly, but it’s a tricky one to research, as there was another vehicle called Isuzu Rodeo sold in Japan in the ‘90s. But it was not the same as the US-made Rodeo, as JDM Rodeos were strictly pickups and/or RVs, known around the world variously as the Isuzu TF, Isuzu Fuego, Bedford / Vauxhall Brava, Chevrolet LUV, GMC Dragon, Opel Campo, Foton SUP… Wikipedia lists over 25 names for it, which might be some kind of record. So when searching for “Isuzu Rodeo” on Japanese web sources, the pickup always crops up, not the US-made SUV.
Perhaps someone simply bought this Isuzu while living in the US and shipped it over soon after, which is another possibility. The funniest part of the whole deal is that although the Rodeo/Wizard was born in the US and was viewed as sort of American when built and sold over here, it never qualified as a US-made vehicle in North America because about 75% of its components were imported from Japan. So this SUV crossed the Pacific at least twice – first as a bunch of parts, and back as a fully-assembled vehicle. At least it picked up a cool pair of Cibiés along the way.
Related post:
Curbside Classic: 1991 Isuzu Rodeo – Passport To Success, by David Skinner
CC effect or Google algorithm at work? I saw the article with this photo just after reading about the mystery Rodeo. The photo accompanied the story of a Washington trooper pulling over this U-Haul yesterday.
At first glance I thought it looked like a crash. Then I realized that it was worse, it was intentional.
I like to imagine that the U-Haul driver’s response to being pulled over was to tell the trooper “Relax, this isn’t my first Rodeo”.
Hehe!
And as an Isuzu fan, he might have felt some metallic restrictions on his wrists if he’d then said to the officer: “I’ve even tied a big Trooper to back of a U-Haul before, and driven hundreds of miles”
So, the Rodeo was an SUV without a country, it would appear.
These were very common in central Indiana (although much less common in Honda Passport trim). I recall that they developed a reputation as decent but not great vehicles, and I think they disappointed more than one Honda buyer when they were not as trouble-free as Hondas that were really Hondas.
There must have been vital organs for these things practically bumping into each other on the high seas across this period, what with bits going to America disunited and returning as one. I mean, we originally got the 3-door jobbie from sunny England, though its engine had already travelled the other from here to be fitted there. It wasn’t up to much, btw, having more car than the four-banger could really move about.
We got this later one from (I think) Japan, but it is possible it floated over from the Isuzu plant in Thailand, (which is also a RHD country). As the Holden Frontera, they sold alright enough, despite the daft name: the face is not too bad, so why front-terror’s the choice is beyond me. (BM could’ve called the E65 7-series the Backterror by this logic, or lack thereof, but I digress).
I’ll never quite know why car people – our man in Tokyo may be one – so often have an aversion to SUVs. I don’t reckon the last many years have produced enough interesting sedans to make much of an argument. And some are really decent, including, to my crossed eyes, these old Suzys. They must have sold on looks, too, as they aren’t great cars. Being ute-based, one sits with knees arisen, and that V6, though tough, was a very enthusiastic campaigner for fossil fuel consumption.
Weirdness on top of weirdness: it still has US headlamps for the wrong (i.e., right) side of the road, and it lacks side turn signal repeaters—though that’s an easier skate-by to understand; some inspector somewhere was persuaded to regard the side marker lights as close enough, perhaps with a quickie rewire so they blink with the signals.
As part of that Isuzu-Honda agreement, not only did Honda get the Passport and the Trooper rebadged as the Acura SLX in the US, but in Japan, the Trooper was rebadged as Horizon, and the 2-door MU/Amigo as Jazz. Not the first vehicle to be called Honda Jazz, nor the last.
On Isuzu’s end, they got the Odyssey minivan rebadged as the Oasis in the US, and in Japan, the Domani (not quite a Civic, but close enough) as the Gemini and the Accord as the Aska.
That third profile shot really shows how much of a resemblance there is between the Rodeo and the ’95 S-10 Blazer. One could be forgiven for thinking that GM and Isuzu were still sharing truck lines at the time.
It’s a bit curious that these are considered “mid-sized” as compared to the “big” Trooper. They both sit on the same 108’7″ wb frame, and the Rodeo is actually a hair longer overall. They’re all the same basic chassis except for the coil sprng rear suspension on the Trooper.
The sole reason for the Rodeo’s existence was simply to offer a cheaper SUV than the Trooper, and to do so by sharing the cab and leaf spring rear suspension from the Isuzu pickup. This is why it was so easy for Isuzu to swap in the Trooper’s coil spring rear suspension on the JDM version.
Meanwhile, the Trooper was pushed upmarket.
Quite right about length, but Tatra’s Rodeo here is six inches lower than a Trooper, and it feels very much like that when you sit in one and the other. It’s also 750lbs lighter. Presumably, the Trooper had a much beefier frame.
In other markets like here, the Trooper competed (a bit weakly) in the Landcruiser/Pajero/Patrol class. Below that, Toyota had the Landcruiser Prado, Mitsubishi the Challenger and Nissan the Pathfinder, the latter two ute-based, and all three substantially cheaper. So I imagine it was a cobble to try and compete in that class.
750 lbs! That doesn’t jive with the available sources nor is it logical.
The variation (based on trim) for US market Rodeos and Troopers is 375-470 lbs, which sounds just about right.
And I quite doubt it had a “much beefier frame”. The extra weight was in the taller body, more sound insulation and other content.
Yes, the Trooper had much more headroom, which is why I strongly prefer it.
As I said before, yes, the Rodeo’s purpose was to compete at a lower price point. Wherever costs could be cut, they were. But it was still a quite stout and tough truck.
I’ve gone off various local weights ascribed to the Holden-named variants (Frontera and Jackaroo) from 2000, and for whatever reason of standard options here, the figure is consistently about 550lbs, though I must say I’ve always found weights from carmakers and statistic sites vary variable. It’s only when they chuck a test car on a weighbridge and print what it was as tested that I fully trust these figures, and most don’t do it.
As for 750lbs, that was my grade-school low-pass-level maths yet again stuffing-up, this time on kgs to lbs. And yes, even at 550lbs, it would be the huge one-piece back door, the longer, ribbed roof pressing, roughly 3 inch higher glass all round, much more solid D-pillars and the standard third row, rather than any chassis bits (other than possibly heavier springs/shocks).
Although not as well traveled as the subject Rodeo, my wife and I had a ’97 rodeo for about 7 years. She had purchased it as an off lease vehicle in 2001. It seemed that Isuzu US was swimming in them at the time. The ’97 was the last year for the longer wheelbase model and the SOHC 3.2.
For all it’s peculiarities, the ’97 was mostly a good vehicle until it wasn’t. The local Isuzu dealer was a place that was best completely avoided. After a couple of pricey fixes, I converted the front axles to old school lockout hubs for 4WD. At about 140k mi. the odd external engine coolant passage lines buried under the intake were starting to weep. What put it down for good was the frame rot. The next generation was even more known for frame rot and the less reliable 3.5 DOHC.
It drove like the real SUV it was and I got fairly attached to it. The smaller displacement, higher rpm engine made it a very different animal from all it’s pushrod brethren.
Just hit 101K miles on the wife’s ’02 Rodeo LS, would like to drive it forever but key parts are disappearing. Shame.