VX in April 2010 issue of Car and Driver

[dietz99vcross]

Not a very nice piece but still making the news. On page 30 they have a small article about "Concepts we wish were never built" It mentions the Pontiac Aztek and shows the Solstice Coupe and the Vehicross. About the concept vx "Upon its 1993 debut at the Tokyo auto show, we said it looked "fish-faced." That was enough for Isuzu - the Vehicross was put into production". Then about the real thing they say "Isuzu learns that no one wants a three-door suv that lloks like an escapee from the set of Battlestar Galactica. In three years fewer than 5000 are sold in the states. Bang, Bang, your'e dead."

[RabidPony]

God forbid a manufacturer not center the entire design of a vehicle around aesthetics or try to design something that doesn't look like every other car on the road.

[VX-157]

"Isuzu learns that no one wants a three-door suv that lloks like an escapee from the set of Battlestar Galactica.

As a geek i am going to take that as a compliment! on the drive home tonight instead of making vroom vroom sounds at my partner i am going to make lazer pew pew sounds

[Y33TREKker]

...Then about the real thing they say "Isuzu learns that no one wants a three-door suv that lloks like an escapee from the set of Battlestar Galactica....

Well in that case, C&D and their apparent cookie-cutter appreciation of style.

[rowhard]

I don't care, I love it, and I adore, just like my baby cakes Sandy

[WormGod]

But.... I *WANT* something that looks like it just escaped the set of Battlestar Galactica.

The writer of that article drives a '93 Cavalier, FWIW.

[Riff Raff]

What the Car & Driver folks failed to realize is that the primary reason fewer than 5000 units were built is solely because of the original "Ceramic Body Mold" for the VX production. These special Ceramic Body Molds deteriorate from usage and have a very limited production life of fewer than 5000 production units. Afterwhich; the mold is destroyed and the vehicle ceases production, just like the VX did (unless of course a new Ceramic Body Mold is made again -- unlikely).

Had the editors of Car & Driver done their homework beforehand, then they wouldn't have slanted the article that VX production ended because of poor sales-- but in fact VX production ended due to the limited life of the original Ceramic Body Mold. Sometimes, the editors of Car & Driver are Fupid Stools and get it wrong, and this time they did once again.

[Cobrajet]

... in fact VX production ended due to the limited life of the original Ceramic Body Mold.

Do you seriously think that Isuzu would have continued production of the VehiCROSS after 2001 considering it's three years sales history? How many were still sitting in the dealer showroom a year after production? They just weren't that popular, and we're the lucky ones who recognized it for what it was/is...AWESOME!!

[Kona-Vs]

One thing I've noticed in the short time I've been around these VXs is the people that say negative things about them have never actually driven one, the few of us that have knows " whats up" Let your freak flag fly

[vt_maverick]

Slap a BMW emblem on the hood and the whole staff would have bought them.

C&D is ridiculous anyway. I let my subscription lapse years ago once I came to realize that nothing will ever top a BMW 3-series in their comparisons, and that every SUV, truck, wagon, moped, or other transportation appliance they test drive is expected to look and perform like a sports car or it's judged inferior. Take a look at their "5 Best Trucks" award winner reviews over the last several years and you'll see what I mean.

IMHO, Motor Trend, Automobile, and Road & Track are much better and less slanted publications.

[vt_maverick]

But I'll at least credit C&D for trying to be a little humble in publishing this list last year:

"Dishonorable Mention"
In conjunction with the 2009 10Best Cars list, Car and Driver issued a list of what it called "The 10 Most Embarrassing Award Winners in Automotive History", spotlighting cars previously honored by a major automotive magazine (including C&D itself) that, with the passage of time, it considered to be anything but award-worthy.[2]

Year Model Award(s)
1983 Renault Alliance Car and Driver 10Best Cars and
Motor Trend Car of the Year
2002 Ford Thunderbird Motor Trend Car of the Year
1971 Chevrolet Vega Motor Trend Car of the Year
1997 Cadillac Catera Automobile All-Stars
1985 Merkur XR4Ti Car and Driver 10Best Cars
1997 Chevrolet Malibu Motor Trend Car of the Year
1990 Lincoln Town Car Motor Trend Car of the Year
1980 Chevrolet Citation Motor Trend Car of the Year
1974 Ford Mustang II Motor Trend Car of the Year
1995 Ford Contour/Mercury Mystique Car and Driver 10Best Cars

[LittleBeast]

In your April 2010 issue on page 30 you have a small article entitled "Concepts we wish were never built". I couldn't help but completely disagree with you on the Isuzu Vehicross. This Performance Utility Vehicle was one of the most unique rally inspired vehicles ever produced. It was the first production vehicle with remote reservoir shocks, there were no options it was fully loaded from the factory. It had interior pieces modeled after carbon fiber in 1997 before this was popular, it had leather Recaro racing seats straight out of a Porsche from the factory. It was largely hand built, and the positions to work on the Vehicross were highly sought after at Isuzu. Isuzu used a special casting process that limited the production of the Vehicross to around 4,000 units, it was never intended to be a large seller but an attention getter and a mobile advertising to get people to notice it and the big Isuzu across the back of it and visit a local showroom. It performs on the road like a sports car, yet can handle terrain better than most Jeeps. If you have never driven one you should, then you would appreciate how far ahead of its time it was. Still today when people see a Vehicross they ask when it is coming out as if it still could be a concept car. The designers of the Vehicross went on to design the Nissan Murano and Infiniti F35. Your short summary of the Vehicross does not give a clear picture of the impact of this short lived production model, nor does it correctly inform readers of Isuzu's intent on producing it. For a more clear picture please watch these videos (which I had nothing to do with):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScgRtGjJ8JM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiHKy...eature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt-Zv...eature=channel
Or you can view some of the photos of my own personal Vehicross for more reference.

For the best information about a Vehicross however, you would have to take one for a test drive. Go through a slalom course surprising most sports cars. Then go and run circles around all the current SUV's on the road today, next go dominate a rally event, and for good measure take it rock crawling and help tow a Jeep safely back to Barbie's garage, and when you are done testing the braking system and see that it still dominates almost all SUV/PUV's on the market today go fill it up at the gas station and notice that it gets almost as many stares as a Ferrari. Then come back and write an article on the world's first and finest Performance Utility Vehicle, that was so far ahead of its time it has still yet to get the praise it deserves. For more info on this uniquely rare and amazingly fun vehicle go to: www.vehicross.info and see how current owners are appreciating and enjoying their own pieces of automobile history. Oh and yeah I totally agree with you on the Pontiac Aztek that thing was hideous and built on a piece of junk frame, it has no where to go but the car graveyard.

[vt_maverick]

Well put Beast...

[VXR]

Well put Beast...

X2

[VX-157]

and for good measure take it rock crawling and help tow a Jeep safely back to Barbie's garage.

I could not reply to this straight away as i had to clean my coffoee of my screen...well put!