Welcome back! We’re working our way through the world of used cars alphabetically, and today, the I’s have it, as we look at a pair of unique off-road toys. They may not fly, but where these two can go, you definitely don’t need roads.
Yesterday, I showed you a nasty old piece of junk – and a Hillman Minx. Honestly, the only reason I chose that Hyundai is that it’s the first intact and running first-generation Excel that I’ve seen in ages. But you all hated it, which means you have some familiarity with it. The only people who want a Hyundai Excel, then as now, are the people who’ve never driven one.
I’m not sure I would want to own the Minx, either, but I sure would like to drive it, or something like it. I’ve never driven a pre-war car; the oldest car I’ve ever driven was a ’56 Buick. There are a few driving experiences still on my bucket list, actually: something pre-war, a Ferrari with a gated manual, and a Citroën 2CV or variant thereof. (Maybe when SWG gets his 2CV running he’ll let me have a go.)
Today, however, we’re taking a look at two 4x4s. One is a former military vehicle, and the other is a heavily-modified show truck, but they could both take you to places far off the beaten path. Let’s see which one you prefer.
1994 Isuzu Amigo – $14,900
Engine/drivetrain: 3.8-liter overhead valve V6, four-speed automatic, 4WD
Location: Houston, TX
Odometer reading: unknown
Operational status: Runs and drives great
Who doesn’t love a monster truck? Big tires, shiny paint, loud exhaust – they’re just plain fun. You can give just about any 4×4 the monster treatment, but when you take an already-adorable compact 4×4 and jack it up in the air, it somehow gets even more adorable. This Isuzu Amigo is nowhere near stock anymore, but honestly, I like it better this way.
To turn those big tires, you need big power. In place of the stock 2.6 liter four-cylinder, this one has a 3800 Series II V6 out of a Chevy Camaro, along with a GM TH700-R4 transmission. The transfer case and axles are Toyota units, and the axles are hung on a custom four-link suspension setup. It all looks pretty well done, certainly better than your average six-pack-fueled backyard hack job, and the seller says it runs and drives well. I can’t imagine handling is its strong suit, though.
It’s in good condition inside, but you can’t call it classy. The Grant steering wheel and ratchet-style shifter are almost requirements in a custom ride like this, but I don’t know what motivated the Krylon job on the window cranks and door handles. It looks like it has an aftermarket stereo system too – you pretty much have to blast hair metal or Southern rock out of something like this, especially in Texas. I think it’s a law.
The body is in good condition, and the custom tube bumpers and side steps look well-made. And the Tonka logos are a nice touch. One thing that does make my eye twitch, though, is that two of the tire treads are facing backwards. Swap the right rear and the left front, and they’ll all be pointing the right way.
1994 Iveco VM90 (M40.10 LSWV) – $13,500
Engine/drivetrain: 2.5-liter turbodiesel inline 4, four-speed automatic, 4WD
Location: Boring, OR
Odometer reading: 78,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great
If monster trucks aren’t your thing for some reason, how about an ex-military truck? This is a former Canadian Army LSWV truck, also known as an Iveco VM90, designed in Italy and built under license by Western Star in Oregon. It’s powered by a 2.5-liter turbodiesel four-cylinder engine and a four-speed automatic transmission. If a Hummvee is just too big, a Land Rover too unreliable, and a Unimog too trendy, this might be just the thing.
Nobody joins the Army, even in Canada, to drive luxury vehicles, so don’t expect much in the way of creature comforts. You’ll sit on a vinyl bench seat, rest your boots on a steel floor, and you’ll like it. It does look like it’s in good condition inside, at least, though I do wonder why it’s all wet inside. Do the windows not seal? Or did they take advantage of the fact that it’s probably all waterproof in there and hose it out?
Under the canvas cover in the back are a couple of jump seats that look even more uncomfortable than the cab, and plenty of open space for whatever you want to haul. It also has a space between the cab and the bed for a couple of spare fuel cans and the spare tire on one side, and two big storage lockers on the other side. I would say this would make a good overlanding rig, but only if you like sleeping in what’s basically a tent over a pickup truck bed.
The outside finish presents a dilemma for me – I kinda want to paint it, but I also kinda don’t. I’ve never liked olive drab, but it suits this truck well, and it would be a shame to cover up those cool little Canadian flag stencils. Plus, it’s in nice shape, so there’s no real reason to paint over it.
You wouldn’t want to try to commute in either one of these, but take either one to a forest road, or a big muddy field, and you’ll be in for a good time. So do you want to play with the overgrown Tonka truck, or the retired Army truck?
One screams Yee Haw!! The other screams pass the poutine eh?!
Pass the poutine or the stick comes off the ice.
MMMMMM, Poutine!!!!
um mash the “neither” option….
checks for neither button…
chooses the Canadian 4×4 in protest.
That Amigo is all kinds of 80s over-lifted, flopping over, mud boggin NOPE.
The Canadian Italian war rig on the other hand, oh yeah!!! Even if its home town is Boring. Rides in this rig will never be!
My vote goes to the Iveco. It’s cheaper and hasn’t been modified in ways I wouldn’t want. And that Amigo is WAAAAAY overpriced. The seller is one of those idiots who believes the money he put into it actually increases its value.
Who doesn’t love monster trucks? Me. They’re fine in an arena, crushing more prosaic vehicles, but they’re just too cartoonish for the road. I don’t have any use or business owning either of these, but at least I’d feel ok about driving the Iveco. I’ll certainly keep the Canadian flag decals and maybe add a “Made in Canada, Bitches!” license plate holder.
Congratulations on finding what is probably the most expensive Isuzu Amigo on the entire planet. Having said that, I’d rather drive just about anything besides that rolling redneck festival.
The Iveco is almost certainly painfully slow, has the handling of a shopping cart with a bent wheel, noisy as a rock concert while at highway speed (assuming it can even go that fast) and unreliable as a 1937 Hillman Minx, and gets atrocious mileage but at least it’s interesting.
Houston represent! It’s a shame that the Houston Rodeo ended last Sunday – that Amigo would be easy to find among the bigger brodozers in the vast parking lots. And as MaxMeen pointed out, it would also be handy in our weather events.
I’m not sure that is true. An Amigo in stock form is 67 inches tall. This Amigo looks like it has 37 inch tires and a 10-12 inch lift, so it probably a little more than a foot taller than stock. A stock F250 4×4 is around 79 inches tall, so it should be similar to this Amigo. With a lift kit and bigger tires, a 3/4 ton brodozer is going to be quite a bit taller than this, in addition to be being wider and several feet longer. The Amigo will still get lost in the average Texas parking lot.
I disagree with all the objectively incorrect comments that the Amigo would be better with no lift and smaller tires. If anything, this thing needs a bigger lift and larger tires. I’m thinking an additional 12 inch lift and 42″ tires. Then it would be easy to locate among the common brodozers.
Every time my wife and I see a lifted truck our first comment is that they’re ready for the next flood. Well, sorta ready, I’ve got plenty of pics of air boats and bass boats going past my old house when it would flood, even this Amigo would have had to turn around on those days.
I’ll take the Iveco, as I’d get more use out of it. Plus, I can drag it back up to Canada and prep it for the seemingly inevitable invasion of our sovereign nation.
From what I know about the Iveco (out of curiosity when they were cheap on GC Surplus), they barely do 90km/h, and make Land Rovers look reliable. The best thing I can say about it is that it’s loosely related to the LaForza.
I can’t justify that much for that Amigo, but at least it might get you where you’re going.
Oh I could imagine having all sorts of fun in the Iveco. And it’s practical, too. Though I’d imagine plenty of friends and relatives coming out of the woodwork looking for me to move their crap.
Can’t speak to Iveco’s reliability, though. A family friend had one of their engines (albeit, marinized) that was so inclined to break down, they ended up taking the engine manufacturer to court and got a Volvo Penta instead.
Definitely a “both” day for me.
For voting purposes, I went with the Amigo. I love ridiculous lifted trucks/SUVs. They are juvenile, moderately hazardous, and not all that useful. But that misses the point. Vehicles like this are built to be fun. Practicality is overrated. The price seems high, but maybe seller is open to negotiation.
I really like the Iveco as well. Military trucks are cool, and I would love to daily drive something like this. My concern is that I am only minimally aware a company called Iveco exists (existed? are they still a thing in 2025?). I am nervous about rare vehicles. Parts might be easily obtainable for this beast, but I doubt it. If I knew parts were readily available, the Iveco might have earned my vote.
I kinda want both? Which must mean I’ve been an Autopian member for too long…
Nope. You’re finally getting broken in!
That Iveco truck is a little edgy for a vehicle registered in Boring, Oregon.
I guess this guy had to put on his khaki shorts and plain white polo shirt, head up the 4-lane, median divided highway to the DMV in the perfectly rectangular building, and register his required replacement silver Nissan Versa that he can drive home to his two-bedroom townhouse after a long day of accounts receivable work, sit on his sectional sofa and tell his wife of ten years and his 1.5 kids how deeply in like he is with them.
I have absolutely no use case for the monster trucklet, but I guess I could pack my stuff in the Iveco in case the flood maps are too optimistic for the next hurricane, or maybe donate it to Ukraine or some other country threatened by a batshit crazy neighbour to go back into defence work. The Italo-Oregonian wins.
Hmmm, the Canadian Army may be looking to buy it back…
Oh man, I want an amigo so bad, but I have zero desire for THAT amigo. That friend is not friend shaped anymore. Love the engine swap, but I would want it at factory height thanks. Went Iveco even though I don’t really want it either, but it checks the box for weird, so I’ll take it.
That lift may have saved it more than once from flood damage in Houston.
Maybe, still not interested.
Oh I voted Iveco, too. Merely pointing out that this is one case in which a over-the-top lift may have served an actual purpose.
Give me the IVECO and I’ll turn it into an Oltre with minor upgrades :
the Oltre is primarily a rebodied Iveco LMV (Light Multirole Vehicle), which is a legitimate military vehicle that Fiat tried marketing in a blatantly obvious attempt to get their hands on those sweet Hummer dollars of the mid-2000s. This variant is just tweaked for the sort of miscreant fucklebiscuit who fancies a walrus tusk shifter and a manatee-skin dashboard for hoovering some flake upon. Probably requested the skin be sourced from the rectum, too, that sick son of a bitch.
Gimme the Iveco. The Isuzu looks fun, but show cars generally are only fun showing, not driving. Something that lifted but on such a short wheelbase is gonna be a nightmare to drive.
All that work on the Isuzu and it doesn’t even get a tree-fiddy? C’mon.
Iveco for the win, we had an old 70s Iveco box truck growing up. It was a glorious pile of rust with an air-cooled 5 cylinder diesel that was indestructible. Coolest feature, a little vile of ether on the dash connected to the intake. You would press a button to give it a squirt to help start on a cold day.
I think both are over priced. I don’t want either of them today.
3800? Oh hell yeah, that wins just based on foreverness.
I’d have to tone down the paint and install smaller tires, however.
The paint is fine imho, but the tires are definitely way too big.
I love the engine, but that’s it. I hate the interior, the lift, I don’t mind the paint actually but yeah it’s gotta be lowered by like a foot.
Finally an easy one. The Iveco just need some weatherproofing and some comfy seats with headrests. I have seen too many SFA swaps and who wants a motor swap that is not at least a 4.3L
3800 > 4.3. It’s a more developed 90-degree V6.
I would much rather have the 3800 than the 4.3, but that’s just me. If you’re going 4.3 you have to go all the way and just drop in a 5.7.
I loved Amigos, but this one just makes me sad.
I’ll take the random military truck and use it is as a rough camper.
So 2 offroaders for about the same price… I’ll take the usefull and durable military transport truck, over the mini monster truck that would get you laughed out of places.
I don’t know whats going on with the Isuzu but it looks like a perfect opportunity to always be the joke at your local WalMart. The other one looks like something you could actually use and would be something others would think was pretty cool.