We often think that a vintage four-wheel drive pickup can only take one form: a Toyota Hilux. Truth be told, this small pickup market was dominated by Toyota’s rugged lineup of pickups, but it wasn’t the only game in town for a compact 4×4 with a bed. The Chevrolet LUV was mostly known for its 2WD variant, which offered pickup utility with a fuel-sipping engine, but it did provide customers with the option to step up to a proper off-road rig. This 1980 LUV listed here on eBay is equipped with 4WD and great colors for $17,950 or best offer.
For some reason, the 4×4 version of the LUV didn’t find many takers, or perhaps it’s more a case of heavy attrition due to weak sheet metal (translation: a lot of them rusted out). The LUV has great proportions, good looks, and a durable Isuzu-derived engine under the hood. When it went head-to-head with the Toyota, it was generally seen as a formidable competitor, even though you see LUVs show up for sale far less frequently than the Hilux. The Toyota has even reached the point of some owners actually lavishing them with a proper restoration because values are so strong.
This LUV has seen some love with a nicely updated interior featuring yellow and black tartan cloth on the seats and door panels. The seller also notes that the dashboard has a custom-fit dash cap; otherwise, it remains in stock condition and incredibly well preserved. In fact, that’s the real beauty of this truck: its high state of preservation, which you simply don’t see in a workhorse rig like this. The stance is spot-on with some classic Outlaw-style wheels with a lower offset to help them poke out of the wheel wells just a bit.
The engine is an Isuzu-sourced 4-cylinder engine that was anemic at best when new (even if it was quite reliable.) It makes around 80 b.h.p. and 90 lb.-ft. of torque paired to a 4-speed manual transmission, and the seller notes that the transfer case works as it should. While $18K is a lot of money for a LUV, it’s still far cheaper than buying a survivor-grade 4WD Hilux, and I suspect the seller knows the final sale price will be a bit lower than the ask here. The question is, which truck is the better choice? The Toyota makes sense for future ROI, but if you can actually use the LUV as intended, doesn’t it make more sense?
I thought we had seen this not too long ago, and some commenters suggested that the black paint (not original to these trucks) could be an attempt to make body work less obvious. I had one of these way back when and rust put an end to it. I think a survivor-grade Hilux would be a better value.
We bought a brand new factory black with orange & yellow stripes from the dealership..it came from Chevrolet dealership in Chattanooga TN
You don’t see but scant few of these any more. In some years the 4WD was called “Mikado”, in other years “Mighty Mike” as I recall. This truck seems nice enough but I wouldn’t shell out that asking price for it. At least Isuzu didn’t have to source the hardware for these trucks. They used their own. They were the main hardware supplier for all the other car companies in Japan.
“Mikado” was an upgraded trim level.
…available on 2WD or 4WD versions.
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Mitsubishi made a “Mighty Max” mini-pickup.
As someone had mentioned previously I also remembered seeing either this truck or a similar version of it posted here not too long ago. Nice find if it is in fact a different vehicle as they are harder to find but again the asking price is…hefty…even for nostalgic collector!
I used to own/drive a yellow Chevy LUV pickup back in the late 80s & early 90s.
Mine was just a 2WD truck.
It was VERY RELIABLE!
I could leave it parked unused for multiple weeks at a time, & yet it would always fire right up with just a turn of the key whenever I needed it.
(…it was a 2nd vehicle for me, primarily used for weekend runs to Home Depot, or to haul junk to the dumps, or to help someone move a mattress or piece of furniture. Occasionally I drove it to work.)
I remember that the paint was very oxidized (…you could wipe “yellow dust” off with your bare hand) & there was a little area of rust behind both front wheels on the lower front fenders. Otherwise she was a solid truck.
(I lived in the SanDiegoCA area at that point in my life. & the dry climate was kind to these inexpensive import mini-trucks. My understanding is that they were VERY PRONE to rust in the states that have harsh/cold winters & the use of road salt.)
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FYI: These “Chevy” mini-trucks were made by Isuzu & were just rebadged as Chevrolets.
& LUV was an acronym for “Light Utility Vehicle”.
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I ❤️d that little truck.
I wish they still made simple, basic, bare-bones, AFFORDABLE mini-trucks like this today.
I would buy one in a heartbeat!! 😎‼️
To be fair, the Toyota truck offerings at this point in time were a (slightly?) better truck with a reputation for having very reliable drivetrains.
& the aftermarket parts availability for the Toyota 4x4s was HUGE & allowed owners to easily lift & customize their trucks.
In comparison, aftermarket parts for the Isuzu/ChevyLUV were few & difficult to source.
Additionally, the Toyota service dept network at dealerships was well established & knew exactly how to keep these little trucks running forever.
Whereas the Chevy service departments weren’t used to the needs of these Japanese LUV imports & often just tried to apply US-made full-sized truck knowledge to them, with less than optimal results.
& Isuzu dealerships were scarce in many regions of the US.
..,
That said, these LUVs were great little trucks at the time. & they were very affordable to buy (…especially as a used vehicle) & also cheap to operate & maintain.
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I wish I still had my Chevy LUV Mikado (2WD). Very reliable & fun little truck.
I’d buy one TODAY if they still made them new (…& IF they were still as affordable as they used to be!).
(Nowadays solid running/driving examples tend to command more $$$ than I’m willing to spend. …especially when I can easily buy a very nice used full-sized Ford of Chevy truck for similar (or less) money.)
🤔‼️👍👍💰🧰🛠️
she’s clean and neat but that’s a lot IMO.
Lovely looking truck. My late uncle had a LUV 2wd back in the 80s, when I was way too young at the time to drive a car.
A super clean one in red recently sold on C&B site for $6400 plus dollars. Isuzu engine swap also!!
This one for 17 plus……HAHAHA With questionable body panels
These trucks are the best looking of all Japanese trucks of the era, but the are cheap made. I still like them, but after about 50,000 miles, they really showed their age.
This is an Isuzu truck and it may be the toughest pickup ever made. That motor is about unbreakable. I worked at an Isuzu dealership back in the early 80S and we had absolutely no problems with any factory item on the pickups. Just about every delivery company around town used Isuzu or Chev Luvs which were really the same.
Way to dear for a truck nobody really wants. I’d maybe be interested for about 6K, but no more.
Yep, listed here by the same overpriced dealership, same price, on April 8..
This one also ended without a buyer, and will continue to until this dealer decides to come back to earth. And the same could be said for every vehicle in their inventory.
Not sure what the business model is for these overpriced EBay dealerships.
1980, I worked at a Chevy dealer and had a new Monte Carlo as my demo. We had a bad winter so I asked to trade the MC for a LUV 4×4. But I made it to work everyday and sold a couple of those LUV’s.