Bargain Overlander: 1988 Isuzu Trooper II
The Isuzu Trooper has long been a favorite truck of mine, to the point that I’ve acquired two out of salvage yards in the past few years and brought them back to life. The Trooper is known for being a fairly durable machine, and it is chronically undervalued in today’s market, which is fairly hot for iconic 80s 4x4s. The Trooper shown here is a somewhat rare one-year model that combined the updated looks of the Trooper made from 1988 through 1991 with a long wheelbase, and two-door body style. Find it here on eBay with an asking price of $13,999 or best offer.
Now, this truck sports what Trooper enthusiasts know as the “round headlight” look, which is how the trucks came from the factory in the first era of the model, roughly from 1984 to 1986 here in the U.S. It’s a popular upgrade to swap out the later square headlights for the round lights, as it all bolts right up and there’s no cutting of sheet metal involved. I had a truck near identical to this one for a while but it was a genuine older model with those round lights in the two-door bodystyle. The truck shown here looks to be quite solid body-wise and the seller notes it has never been taken off-road or otherwise abused. The list of recent mechanical improvements is quite long, and the Trooper rides on factory steel wheels with new tires.
One of the best parts about driving a Trooper, in my opinion, is the driving position. Your left hand basically falls perfectly into the vent window frame with your elbow on top of the door. It’s completely natural, as if it was meant to be there. The rest of the cockpit is blissfully simple with a helpful set of additional gauges tracking oil pressure, fuel, and temperature. The seller notes the the truck’s generally reliable 2.6 engine has had its one major failing point addressed, which is that of the head that has a tendency to develop issues. His truck benefits from a new cylinder head, water pump, and thermostat, among other improvements.
I’m now onto my second Trooper with the ’86 having gone onto a new home in the last few years. This one is a keeper, as it is a 1989 model and is one of only 800 sold in the U.S. as an “RS” model, which was a special, short wheelbase example offered for one year only. I adore this truck, and it has just 55K original miles on the clock after being pulled out of a junkyard in western Massachusetts. The Trooper is one of the few vintage 4x4s left that doesn’t require a $20,000 price of entry like an FJ40 or a Land Rover, so get one now while they’re affordable – and use the money you save to buy some sweet off-road accessories.
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Comments
We had two of these back in the 90’s, first an ’87 two door 4-cyl like the featured rig, then later a four door with the GM 2.8 six. They were our everyday runabout to go along with various other sporty jobs for weekends. I still feel enormous affection especially for the two door, though the four door was far smoother, more usable and comfortable.
Fun to thrash about town, the 4-cyl isn’t an interstate creature. Tall and narrow it has great outward visibility, but feels just a bit tippy and it’s brick-like aerodynamics help you feel the gusts.
Just as Jeff mentions, the ergonomics are great because everything, including your shotgun passenger is so close in the narrow intimate cabin. Though 30-yrs ago (wow…already?) I still vividly remember how my hand fell so easily to rest on top of the long gear shift. Analog gauges, simple switchgear, a puny but willing power curve, and I was off to the grocery cart races. Large tall cargo area also terrific for trips to hardware heaven.
The four door came later. Longer wheelbase and the smoother V6 made it a better highway beast, but not great. Most folks with a few miles on their clock might remember the GM 2.8 that Isuzu dropped in these. Just like the S10 Blazer they inhabited (before the 4.3 came) along, the Trooper Dos was too much weight to push around.
Can’t believe they’re going for this kind of coin though. I guess kids get a hankerin’ for something and…boom.
My ‘82 S10 pickup (not a Blazer) did just fine with the 2.8.
Hey, what a “Trooper”, meaning, what a go-getter. Probably one of the most unappreciated Asian 4x4s, except to the people that bought them. Must be tough following in Toyotas shadow, but I knew several folks, including my ex-BIL that had these, and not one compliant, except the rapid deterioration, common with all these 4×4 offerings. It’s the environment they were created for. The obvious elephant in the room, is their high profile and possibility of rollover. Toyota offered a “angle tipping gauge”, but I don’t think the Trooper had that, and for good reason. I read, like the Jeep, rollover tests were inherently flawed, and was determined, testers used 3 times the force on the steering wheel, that anyone would ever encounter. I can’t find the location, but as with all these, it had to be in warm climate, and why a 4×4 was needed is still a mystery. Plenty of people “watching”, so the interest is certainly there a bit optimistic, but you simply won’t find too many. They are great trucks.
It says it was found in a junkyard in western MA. Pretty incredible that it isn’t rusted out. I don’t ever see anything that good in the junkyards I’ve been employed at, although I have rescued a beat up Tacoma and a thrashed 94 Silverado 1500 in years past. They had a lot more miles and a lot more blemishes, though! I remember these Troopers and I always liked the styling. Just a good ole box on wheels with 4wd.
This truck wasn’t found in a Junkyard
scrapyard John – the last picture is of my personal Trooper, which was found in a junkyard and needed the floors, rockers, and numerous other areas replaced. The vehicle on eBay is a much smarter one to buy, considering how rust-free it is. Sorry for the confusion!
Sorry. I see that now.
I had a 4 door 4 cylinder trooper it was reliable and a good vehicle can’t ever remember any problems. After a few years rust was a yearly issue to deal with and after 3 years of this I sold it.
They junked something that looked like this? There’s that east coast economy for ya! Probably told the pool boy to get rid of it, and even he didn’t want it.
Big C – the last picture is of my personal Trooper, which was found in a junkyard and needed the floors, rockers, and numerous other areas replaced. The vehicle on eBay is a much smarter one to buy, considering how rust-free it is. Sorry for the confusion!
Hard to believe this was a junkyard rescue. Too bad no pics from under the hood. Wonder if it’s air conditioned. Have owned 2 troopers, one old school like this, one a newer fancier model. Loved them both.
Mark – the last picture is of my personal Trooper, which was found in a junkyard and needed the floors, rockers, and numerous other areas replaced. The vehicle on eBay is a much smarter one to buy, considering how rust-free it is. Sorry for the confusion!
Could you repeat that,just one more time?
Ha! Proof positive people have lost that ability to understand text, I get that all the time with my old sayings that no longer apply, or don’t read previous posts, on the plus side, I think this is the 1st time we’ve heard from the author, and finally a face on the name, it’s nice to meet you, Jeff.
I remember a review on the early ones, it pointed out those back doors needed each other to latch.
So if you had long boards or something to transport hanging out the skinny door, you had to bungee cord the big door from the inside.
They put in floor latches after that.
Salvage title?
We had a 1990 4 door door. 2.6 5 speed. We hhad almost 200K before rust was just too much of an issue. The only problem was the head cracked which these were known for. What really impressed me was how even with well over 100K miles, you could still see the cross hatch patern in the cylinders, the bottom end was like new. I would most likely still be running it ( been gone since 2003) but the frame rotted in several spots. The floors annd rockers were gone etc. That was one of the best little trucks we ever owned. Everything just fell perfectly in your hands, even the long shifter. I sure miss it. I nicknamed it ” The Force of Habit” because thats basically how it just kept running and running and runninng, it was litterally out of Force of habit. Never left us stranded, and also was the most sure footed 4×4 I ever drove in the snow. This looks like a gem and someonne is getting a great 4×4 here.
Thank you for the great write up Jeff and all the great memories you brought back to me.
I had a 1991 Trooper in Wales, UK, “company ride”. It was a four door, slightly extended with the rear half of the roof raised, a la Vista Cruiser Olds. It also had a wonderful (if not slow) turbo diesel. Having a Japanese vehicle in rural Wales was a bit frowned upon. But on the construction site I always left their Range Rover Defenders in the mud, or the bottom of the hill. Darn thing even had a hand throttle so I could drop it in low range and climb. And darned efficient. I put it through some miserable conditions for 15 months and it never had any issues. One of our subs bought three two door pickup versions. Treasonous for a Welshman in those days.
my first 4×4 was an 86 trooper, opened up a whole lotta driving that a rear wheel drive car wouldn’t allow. moved up to a 93 later and then bought a 96 landcruiser. MY brother got the 93, while my toyota is an ultimate for me, I miss the 5speed that the 93 trooper had