Recalcitrant Rarities: 1985 Isuzu Impulse Turbo vs 1987 Toyota Van 4WD

Good morning! We’re kicking off Thanksgiving week with a couple of almost-never-seen-anymore imports that are both stubbornly refusing to do the one thing we ask most of cars: run and drive. But they’re both cool enough to warrant saving, in my opinion.

On Friday we wrapped up our week-long salute to project cars, and it’s clear to me from the results that for the majority of you, “project” means a wash and a wax, and maybe fixing some minor things here and there. The clean Mercedes 300E won by a country mile. I think you’d be in for a surprise, however, a year or so into ownership, when the first repair bill came in.

For me, it’s the Ranchero, and I’ll tell you why. The Lincoln is way cool, but beyond my abilities to do it justice, I fear. And I think I’d want to modernize it, at least to the point of having decent suspension and brakes, and that would cost even more. The Corona looks like a great project, but it doesn’t really get my blood flowing. The Ranchero is my kind of project: it runs and drives, but needs an endless amount of farting around on weekends.

You don’t really realize how homogenized and limited the new car market has become until you look at what used to be available. Thirty or forty years ago, most automakers made three or four different sizes of car, in all sorts of body styles, and with powertrain options to suit almost anyone – unless four hundred horsepower is your minimum requirement, in which case you’re probably happier with the choices now. But you won’t find any two-door fastback hatchback coupes with turbo engines and some of the coolest factory wheels of all time, or any cab-over 4WD vans with five-speed sticks. For those, you have to turn to the used market, and in the case of these two, you’ll have to do a little troubleshooting. Let’s check them out.

1985 Isuzu Impulse Turbo – $3,500

Engine/drivetrain: Turbocharged 2.0-liter overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, RWD

Location: Santa Ana, CA

Odometer reading: 175,000 miles

Operational status: Doesn’t run, not getting fuel

Younger readers may not remember, but back in the ’80s, the Isuzu Impulse was the absolute fastest car on the entire planet. Faster, even, than a speeding bullet. Such incredible velocities take their toll on cars, and sometimes, after a whole bunch of miles, they needed to just lie down and rest for a while. And that is where we find this sleek silver missile: Six years into a nap in a driveway in southern California.

The Giugiaro-designed Impulse was available in the US in only one flavor: Everything. You could choose between a naturally aspirated or turbocharged engine, and either a manual or automatic transmission, and that’s it; everything else was standard equipment. This Impulse has the most desirable combination: a turbo and a stickshift. It’s a two-liter four, putting out 140 horsepower to the rear wheels. Not as fast as Joe Isuzu may have claimed, but no slouch in the ’80s. Sadly, this one only goes as fast as you can push it. The fuel pump is shot, and it has been sitting that way for six years. It’ll take some work to get it going again.

Six years of sitting takes its toll on more than just the mechanical bits. Stationary cars become catch-alls for all kinds of crap – witness the moldy cardboard box in the passenger’s seat. I assume it contains some parts bought years ago. Hey, maybe it’s a new fuel pump! Otherwise, it’s faded and dusty, but intact, though I’d like to see the seat under that cover.

Outside, it’s dull and faded, but straight, and all the little details that make this car so cool are intact: the badges, the pop-out vent windows, the half-lidded pop-up headlights, and of course those amazing waffle-iron wheels. The 1980s were a high point for factory alloy wheels, and these are some of the best that ever graced any car.

1987 Toyota Van 4WD – $2,000

Engine/drivetrain: 2.2-liter overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, part-time 4WD

Location: Seattle, WA

Odometer reading: 280,000 miles

Operational status: Starts and runs, but dies after a few minutes and won’t restart

Just so you all know: This van sold sometime in the hour between finding the ad and sitting down to write this, so you won’t find anything at the link above. But it’s an interesting van, and I just don’t have the strength to go find something else, so I’m going to write about it anyway. What we have here is the US market version of the Toyota Town Ace, rather unimaginatively called the Toyota Van here, and nicknamed the “Toaster” by the guys I worked with at the service station.

The Toyota Van is powered by a 2.2 liter four-cylinder engine, located in a hump between the front seats. Most of them had an automatic transmission and were only rear-wheel-drive, but a few of them made it across the Pacific equipped with not only 4WD, but also a five-speed stick.  This one starts and runs, but stalls after a few miles, and won’t restart until it cools down. If it were an older carbureted engine, I’d suspect vapor lock, but with electronic fuel injection it must be something else getting hot and failing. Crankshaft position sensor, maybe? I’ve heard of that happening.

It has nearly 300,000 miles on it, and it shows: The seats are duct-taped, the carpet is trashed, and I shudder to think what that red button on the steering wheel is for. (I like to think that if you press it, a light comes on that says “Please do not press this button again.“) But it is still a big box on wheels, meaning it’s still suited for all the things a van is useful for.

Outside, it’s maroon, faded, and has crumbling tape stripes, just like a Toyota Pickup I used to own. Just like a whole lot of ’80s Toyotas, actually. I do see a little bit of rust around the corners as well. It’s nowhere near as bad as it would be if this van were in Detroit instead of Seattle, but it’s there.

For the sake of argument, assume the van is still available when you’re making your decision. We’ve got two cool imports with manual transmissions and bad attitudes. Which one are you going to straighten up and make fly right?

(Image credits: sellers)