Hmmm... Tires are cool, seats interesting, but an S-10 on bad steroids I'll pass. The H2 Hummified Sierra was bad enough, every freakin' parking lot around my neck of the woods has as least ten. Haven't seen a one off road yet! Now, there are some good ole boys locally that have H1s that get off-roaded regulary and have been through about 3 engines and 2 drivetraines each. Yeah, they run 'em hard apparently.

I just wish Isuzu could cut the strings to GM and return to the US market with some concentrated focus. When I first started my relationship with Isuzu they had one vehicle for each market: 1 sports coupe (Impulse), 1 sedan (I-Mark), 1 truck (P'up) and 1 utility (Trooper). After getting beat up in the Geo deal with GM they stuck with what they knew and produced best: Trucks. As a former Impulse owner I thought they did a great job with the cars and appreciated the fact they were open to outside help such as Italian design (Italdesign) and European suspension (Lotus). Seeing pictures of the MultiCROSS while at the dealer back in the 80's got me interested in the Trooper and the introduction of the Trooper RS in '89 sealed the deal.

But, as we all know, Isuzu's barometer of American market trends has been sketchy at best. And their marketing only had brief shining moments behind the dark clouds of uncertainty. Now the Trooper is gone from our shores and the unholy alliance with GM continues. Isuzu should return to building their own vehicles using the international flavor that garnered them fame for breaking the mold initially. Could you imagine an Isuzu SUV with the design of the VX, the size of the Axiom, the utility of the Trooper and powered by one of their larger intercooled turbo diesels?

Now that, my friends, would rock!