Dream Truck

04 June 2023

My first car was a 1998 Isuzu Amigo. I loved the original Amigo (1989-1994) which appeared to me as the cool alternative to the Wranglers and Cherokees that dominated my subscription to Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off-Road. When I was 15 we went to the Baltimore Auto Show and I was dumbfounded to see the new Isuzu Amigo – it was love at first sight. I was extremely fortunate that between my parents’ extreme generosity and literally all of my summer job savings I was able to afford a brand-new base model Amigo, Forest Mica Green, power nothing, 5spd 2wd, and the ridiculously underpowered 2.2L I4 (I did manage to swing for the 16in alloy wheels, rear light guards, and the nerf bars).

I traded my Amigo in 2010 for a 2007 Suzuki Sx4. I’m not ashamed to admit that I shed a tear. On the upside the Suzuki was NICE compared to the Amigo. Where the Isuzu interior was extremely utilitarian and 90s grey plastics the Suzuki had a somewhat more upscale feel to it. The Suzuki also had selectable 2wd, AWD, 4wd (sort of) which was the big selling point for me. It wasn’t a truck, but I was over the truck thing. It had 4 doors and a hatchback which made it really practical. It got reasonable gas mileage – absolutely destroying my Amigo’s 18mpg. And it allowed me to play in SCCA Rallycross which was super fun.

Suzuki Equator
What is the point of this story time? Well, only to say that I really like Isuzu and Suzuki; so, when I started thinking about getting a pickup truck there were only two things that sprang to mind. First, I considered a Suzuki Equator which is a rebadged Nissan Frontier. I think it looks better than the Frontier and since I most recently had a Suzuki I felt the pull of loyalty. The thing is, I’m not a fan of Nissan – I don’t have any specific reason so don’t tell me I’m wrong, I know I’m wrong. The Equator can be had with the Nissan VQ40 which is a powerful engine that doesn’t excite me. Because I’m a foolish loyalist I started to think about Suzuki engine options, the thing is Suzuki isn’t really into big torquey engines. The biggest Suzuki engine is the H27A which is in every sense a downgrade from the Nissan VQ40.

Then I started thinking about my first love, Isuzu. Isuzu is known for trucks, Isuzu is known for torquey engines. The last Isuzu sold in the USA was the i-Series pickup which, like the Equator, is a badge engineered vehicle. Unlike the Equator and the Frontier, the i-Series is objectively much less attractive than it’s parents – the Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon. Isuzu barely tried to disguise the Colorado, the only visual difference is a more-chromed out Chevy-style grille that says “ISUZU” on it. I think it is ugly, and not in a good way.

I have an idea though; one thing Isuzu did was kept the vaguely Isuzu grille shape – but for whatever reason added vertical chrome bars to it. If you squint hard enough you can see 90s Isuzu SUV trying to peek out from behind that Chevy façade.

Dream Truck Mockup
Ah, this is much better. Yeah, I know it looks like a late 90s or early 2000s truck – that’s what I like! I know it’s still just badge engineering, but badge engineering is part of Isuzu history, and this is the kind of badge engineering I wish they had done when they made the i-Series. It’s a scaled-up Isuzu P’up, perfection. Obviously, the tailgate needs the ISUZU from the P’up grafted in.

Isuzu 4JJ3-TCX EnginePut an Isuzu power-plant under the hood to make it legit. Either the 3.5L 6VE1-DI V6 (250hp @ 5600rpm, 246 ft-lb @ 3000rpm) which really is just a sideways swap with no benefit over the Atlas 3.7L I5 already installed in the i-370. Or even better, drop in one of the myriad Isuzu diesel engines. I’d pick either the DMAX 6DE1 3.0L V6 (168hp @ 4000rpm, 258 ft-lb @ 1800rpm), or objectively better – the 4JJ3-TCX 3.0L I4 (188hp @ 3600rpm, 330 ft-lb between 1600-2600rpm) – it is what the rest of the world currently gets in the Isuzu D-max.

Is it worth it? Of course not. It never is. Do I want it? Of course I do!