This one checks almost every box for me, hopefully it’ll check a few for you. This is a 1986 Isuzu Trooper Diesel 4X4 Pickup and it’s on eBay. The current bid is just over $230 (?!) but of course the reserve isn’t met at that ridiculously low price. There is a $6,500 Buy It Now price and there is no “make offer” button, but you could always email them with an offer. This super cool custom pickup is in Burnet, Texas, about 60 miles northwest of the capital in Austin.
Ok, the photos are a little iffy at best, but this pickup would look good viewing it through that cardboard box that you made in 4th grade to look at the sun with. I think this is a great looking pickup. The seller says that the paint job is a “20 footer”, but it looks good enough to me, and it’s a truck. Of course, Isuzu didn’t make a Trooper pickup so this is a custom-made one and it looks like the builder did a nice job with it.
I’m hoping that the driver’s door is just slightly open and not sagging that much when it’s closed, that would be disappointing. But, the box/bed would be super handy, especially when you live in Texas. No, it would be handy everywhere. One thing, there may be some possible title issues as the seller says that “the dash was replaced and the Texas dps told me that the vin plate could not be attached to the new (replacement dash) and the vin on the door would be used to identify the vehicle.”
The interior looks great, other than the headliner which will need a deep-tissue massage to settle it back down a bit. Or, to settle it up, back to where it should be. No power windows here, real Isuzu diesel pickup drivers roll up their own windows, thank you very much. And, you can see one of the boxes checked in that floor-shifted manual transmission. Can you guess whether this truck has AC or not?
This is Isuzu’s 3.1 liter 4JG2 turbo diesel with 112 hp and 192 ft-lb of torque. This is an engine not normally found in the first-generation Trooper (they were an option in the second-generation Trooper) but it works very, very well according to the seller. He’s driven it for 3 years and it has gotten more attention than any vehicle that he’s ever owned, including some impressive classics. I would absolutely love to have this custom Trooper. It’s a diesel, it’s a pickup, it’s a 4×4, and it has a manual transmission; what’s not to like?
I thought something was odd, as I didn’t recall them making a pickup. I knew people that had Troopers, and they certainly lived up to their name, until rust took them over and doors fell off. Not such a Trooper then. Not a fan of diesels in vehicles like this. Diesels don’t care for -5 below temps. ( which hasn’t happened yet ’round here, but it will) but if it’s anything like their gas jobs, probably great motors. The Troopers were tippy. So much so, I believe you could order an “inclinometer”, telling you at what point you were screwed. Cool find.
Very cool 4×4.. and have love the diesel in my opinion if it does get cold plug it up then you will have a warm truck to get into on those cold mornings . Probably won’t see another one of these at the co-op picking up feed, fertilizer ect..
My brother actually had one of these – thing was a beast! Almost like it had some ATV DNA. Didn’t have any trouble keeping up with (stock) wranglers and with the Diesel it simply walked up hills with no trouble. Great little truck!
You had me going there until I read further and discovered it was a conversion. Looks like a nice job and yes it’s cool. I would take it but we are going to look at a first generation Bronco Saturday, keeping my fingers crossed it’s not a total rust bucket.
Isuzu made a small pick-up (similar to the Toyota’s and Datsun’s) called the p’up. Nice little trucks. This “convert” looks okay, just hoping the integrity of the body is still intact…
“It’s a diesel, it’s a pickup, it’s a 4×4, and it has a manual transmission”
And don’t forget the vent windows!!!!!!
The turbo diesel engines were well-built and quite reliable. Actually they weren’t that bad in the winter either, as long as the glow plugs and circuit was in decent shape. One thing you did NOT do was attempt to start one with ether unless you disabled the glow plug circuit, unless you wanted to break something.
I remember back in my GM days, working for a dealer, we got (5) new vehicles delivered just before quitting time on Friday. It was in February of ’79. We’d had a mild week of continuous chinook winds but things did an about-face when a Siberian Express dropped in overnight plummeting the temperature from 40 above to 25 below. They loaded the car carrier the night before when it was still chinooking but parked it over night. By the time the driver made it to our place, the brass monkey was really complaining. We had (4) new GMC pickups and (1) new Pontiac car. Two of the pickups had those Oldsmobile 350 diesels; they started right up. Only (1) gas-powered pickup started; we had to tow the car and the other pickup off the carrier and put them all in the shop. Anyways, you should never underestimate the capabilities of a diesel….
Driven a few 1 and 2 gen Troopers, and they were very capable. The diesel is good as well, I have driven a few (RHD imports). What a great little car/truck.
This is cool! We have several “Jeep” trails around here and this would be a fun drive. It would get lots of attention too! The Isuzu diesel wasn’t near as troubleprone as the early GM gas conversions, I’d take this in a heart beat if it was a little closer.