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For sure, the good two-door SUV ever needs to be the Isuzu VehiCROSS. It was successfully an identical to the 1993 VX idea automobile, proper right down to the black physique cladding that coated the complete decrease half of the SUV. Constructed to showcase Isuzu’s off-road expertise, it took the underpinnings of one other two-door SUV, the Isuzu Raider (additionally offered within the US because the Acura SLX), and gave it a bespoke physique with brief overhangs for distinctive method and departure angles. One among its strangest design quirks was the rear-mounted spare wheel, which was solely accessible from throughout the trunk.
It mixed its brief overhangs with a BorgWarner Torque-on-Demand (TOD) 4WD system with 12 sensors to detect wheel slip and apportion torque to wheels with extra grip, whereas energy got here from a 3.5-liter V6 with 215 hp and 230 lb-ft. It featured early precursors to exterior reservoir off-road shocks and proved itself within the Paris-Dakar Rally, taking a category win in 1998.
Offered within the US from 1999 to 2001 (Japanese gross sales commenced in 1997), it was thought-about a gross sales flop, however its manufacturing was, actually, restricted to only 5,958 due to its distinctive manufacturing technique, which used ceramic dyes as a substitute of metal ones to cut back tooling prices on the expense of longevity when creating its oddly-shaped panels. When the dyes wore out, manufacturing ended, with 4,153 items arriving within the US at a base worth of $28,900 (equal to almost $50,000 right this moment).
And in the event you assume the VehiCROSS is as cool as we do, there’s one on the market on CarBuzz proper now.
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