This may not seem like it’s even close to being a collector car to most people, but bear with me. It’s 27-years old, it’s a sporty-looking two-door, it’s yellow, it’s unusual, it has a manual transmission, it doesn’t appear to have any bodywork issues, and the list goes on and on. Some people will get it and some will just shake their heads and wonder what kind of society we live in when a little, yellow, foreign car shows up on Barn Finds! This is a 1990 Geo Storm and it’s on Craigslist in Wharton, New Jersey with a laughingly-low asking price of $599.
I don’t see any bodywork problems with this car, at least from these photos taken in a dirty construction site somewhere. A $200 detail job on this car would have made it look so nice, but then the $599 price wouldn’t have worked.
I really like the style of this car. Most of you know that the Geo Storm was actually a rebadged Isuzu Impulse and for all intents and purposes they were great little cars. They’re more of a high school graduation present type of car than a grand touring machine or a stoplight bandit. And, being a male, I can attest to the fact that yes, at least some men like these cars, they aren’t all for 16-year old girls. Do I love me some Hemi Cuda? Yes, but I also love these little things. Don’t automatically judge a car, or a car’s owner; life is too short for that nonsense.
It almost has a mini-Camaro or an Eagle Talon look to it to me. Or, a Saturn. And, come on, who doesn’t like yellow cars?! The seller doesn’t mention any rust, but being a New Jersey car it has to have at least some rust somewhere, unless maybe it wasn’t always from New Jersey. In 1991 and 1992, Geo offered a Geo Storm Wagonback and if you ever see one it would be a rare site, they’re as rare as world peace if not more so. I have never seen one in person but I bet it would draw a bigger crowd than almost any Mustang or Camaro at a gas station or a car show.
There are no engine photos (if I had a nickle..).. but this one has a 1.6L SOHC, inline-four, Isuzu 4XE1 engine with about 95 hp. If this were a Storm GSi it would have a DOHC engine with around 130 hp; that would be a great car to find. As this one is now, the seller says that it runs and drives well but the engine smokes. After all of those PSA commercials and this car still smokes.. mm mmm.. some cars will never learn. The interior looks good, a couple of hours of cleaning up this car would really make it shine. Whether it shines for any of you as a worthwhile car is a different story. I think this is a great buy, but I like unusual cars like this one!
Scotty:
While I think this car is cra-cra lame (2014 throw back, right) you sold me on it. It’s rare, has 3 pedals and it’s yellow. Too bad it’s about 1,000 miles from me. I’m not doing a 2,000 mile trip for it but someone local with a pole shed should buy it and stuff it away after a through detail.
FYI. The roof is kinda “JENKEY”.
That is a GSI coupe by the body. Unless someone changed the bumpers and rockers. my wife had one new. Fun little car, handled like it was on rails but was a slug. I don’t think they put out more than 110 hp in 1990.
Thanks for the clarification, Michael, my mistake for not catching that. So, it should have the DOHC engine, too.
I’d also like to make a correction, the 4XE1-W(DOHC 1.6L) came from the factory with 130 horsepower.
This is definitely that model of GSi, the seats have an actual headrest, there’s a kind of “spoiler” in the back, the rocker panels and the fact that it has fog lights. All indicators of GSi trim.
It also looks a bit like a Nissan 300ZX to me.
Nice find and seems like a bargain indeed.
For some reason I thought these had plastic or composite body panels, but I could be mistaken. I sold these new. There was even a wagon, but not in the GSi trim.
Yup! I had one! It had a lotus tuned suspect. It may take 8 minutes, but once u get it to 90 mph, handling was exceptional! I was a carpenter at the time, and was frequently laughed at, until I showed how I could fit a f150 worth of tools in this little car. It definately worked for me!
Any man willing to be seen driving one of these has been neutered. The only thing it’s missing is a “coexist” sticker on the rear bumper.
These cars and the GEO Metros were getting big bucks over ten years ago when gas was over $5 per gallon.
Depending where you lived. 30mpg would be worth me being ridiculed if it meant a working guy like me to own a second car that got 8mpg.
Any “man” who thinks manhood is measured by the car he drives is a little boy who wets himself at the thought that someone might be be bigger, stronger, or smarter than him.
So can we expect that you’ll be the next owner ? I’ll mail you a “meat is murder” sticker as a conciliatory prize. I only ask that you post a picture of it next to your Prius with the blacked out rims that makes it looks extra sinister.
By the way, I only wet myself after too much Pappy Van Winkle but I still do dream of being a little boy again.
@JC get back in your oversized pickup….
Don’t have one pal, my pickup is plain old stock.
See, that’s where you’d be wrong. I come from the Isuzu page on Facebook that linked this post(as Isuzu are the manufacturer of this vehicle).
In fact, you’re completely mistaking this car for the Suzuki built Metro. Which is nothing like this Storm. You want to talk about the progressive, tree hugging, not understanding what the word illegal means, hippie looking people — that’s the Metro. Oh, that, and the California NUMMI plant built Toyota Corolla that got badged as the Prizm.
Most of the stickers I’ve seen on the back of Storms are sports teams, or ex-military.
Guys who need the biggest truck or the fastest car are usually lacking something elsewhere… wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Just sayin’…
I would agree with the big truck thing but I have some pretty fast cars and well, I’m Italian and I’ll just leave it at that so we keep it clean.
This is the 1.8 DOHC GSI… It’s not the SOHC version. I think Ed needs to edit that SOHC line, the bodykit/wheels are indicative of this. The ’91 GSI had the same bodykit but a different spoiler, ’92 and ’93 had the fixed front lights.
Wow, I know more about the R-Body Storm than I thought lol
No, it is NOT the 1.8L. The 1.8L 4XF1 was only featured in the 1992-1993 GSi, the DOHC 1.6L 4XE1-W was featured in 1990-1991, like this one. The ’91 did not have a different spoiler, the 92-93 did. The 92-93 GSi also had rounded fog lights as well.
barn find ????
time to change the nae to ” autos and stuff”
Maybe the next owner will opt for antique plates!
Knew a girl who had one. I thought it was a nice looking car. Only draw back was that it was underpowered. And back seat was too small to fool around in.
I had one of these right after high school. Mine was a POS. Got rid of it quickly. Lol.
Had one in black when they were current. Decent car and good looking.
Mom had a Green; turquoise Storm wagon , sadly the MOST underpowered car we owned!!! Couldn’t start on cold days UNLESS you started the nite before . Trim fell off after a year , door rubber most every day …….Pass on this
Sounds like you guys gave that car some Craigslist TLC.
I put my hand on the fender…it was warm.
I still have mine. Same color. I don’t care what anyone says, it’s a great little car.
No, the Great Little Car was a Mazda.
I had one. Mine was a gsi with 145 hp. There was no lack of power at all. I could light up the tires in second no problem. It was the most fun car I ever owned. It would also redline at 6800 rpm in fifth. I never had another vehicle with that much top end. At 6800 the Speedo was was past the end of the dial but it worked out to around 135 mph. I was working a night job at the time and I would do the 70 mile trip home at 4am with the thing redlined in fifth night after night. (Deserted mountain highway).
That car was so good I bought another one years later and turned it into a racecar. It had a fully adjustable suspension with some Lotus influence and was light as a feather. But it had oiling issues under hard cornering and three difficult to find engines later I gave up and build a Nissan.
The early ones had a 1.6 with less jam and the later ones were 1.8 which really helped the torque. The ecu from the 1.6 gave the 1.8 some extra power and also would allow it to rev higher. The base model was a dog compared to the gsi. They were also known as the Asuna Sunrise and as mentioned the Isuzu Impulse. The top of the line was the Impulse rs with a turbo and awd.
Not fast but a cool looking car.
Somewhere there is a low mile motor sitting on a rack in a small salvage yard . Cheap !
I had the 1.6 Isuzu engine in a little red British convertible, the turbo made it a fun 1991 Elan, GM owned both Isuzu and Lotus so the fiberglass sportscar got the same engine. As Martin mentioned, they made a AWD Turbo Impulse, that would be a fun car. My dumb a$$ traded it for a dually tow truck, I’ll never learn.
I have to agree with JC on this one, there are some cars I just can’t picture myself driving, this would be one of them. Test drove a new GEO Storm once, what a turd,but to each his own.
These little cars suffered from guilt by association. Say “Geo” and car guys think Metro. The simple fact is that the Storm was a darn good little car. There never were many of them, but I’d wager that a good percentage are still out there on the road.
This has been for sale literally blocks from me for over a year.
Back when these were new, my mom had one, the GSi. Same color but with black graphics on the side. We called it the bumble bee. It was a cool little car. And yes the Kammback wagons or whatever they called them are super super rare I’ve see one ever (they are right up there in rarity with the Nissan Pulsar wagons)
Wagonback. Literally.
I bought a new 91 Storm GSI 5-speed… just loved it and would kill to find another in good condition. Very comfortable, fast, and great looking. Extremely reliable and amazing how much stuff you could stuff in that hatch