Cargolex
Quayside: 1981 Chevy LUV
Although there aren't any real compact pickups still being sold in America, they were once a huge part of the pickup market, despite the fact that most of them faced a 25% import fee better known as the "chicken tax." in the 1970s, Datsun, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Mazda, and Isuzu all competed for buyers of these small pickups, although not always under their own names.
Seeing the popularity of these vehicles fairly early on and not having anything domestically-produced to compete with them, both Ford and General Motors worked with foreign partners - Mazda and Isuzu, respectively - to source competitors that could be sold as captive imports. Mazda sold trucks under its own name, including the very interesting Rotary Pickup, while Ford sold a variant of their pickup as the Courier. Later, Chrysler would import Mitsubishi pickups as the Plymouth Arrow pickup and Dodge Ram 50.
GM used the Isuzu Faster, a car-based pickup that was essentially the front half of an Isuzu Florian with a pickup bed. This truck debuted in 1972 as the Chevrolet LUV (Light Utility Vehicle), and was quite popular. GM also found a way to price it lower by getting around the "chicken tax" - they imported the trucks with only the cab and chassis installed, and then installed the beds in the United States, resulting in only a 4% import tariff.
The original LUV wasn't a bad truck but the Florian was aging even in 1972, and by 1980 the competition had moved on. So Isuzu redesigned the Faster and it arrived at U.S. Chevrolet dealers in late 1980 in a totally new form. Bang up to date, it was a much better truck, with more flexibility and more rugged underpinnings.
But by the early eighties GM and Ford were both working on small trucks of their own that were just a little bit bigger than the Japanese trucks. These domestically-produced designs would be hugely popular and have long production runs, and the first arrived in the fall of 1981 as the Chevrolet S-10, which debuted as a 1982 model. A year later, the Ford Ranger debuted.
The presence of the S-10 meant that Chevy no longer needed the LUV, and so the model was dropped in 1982. By then, Isuzu had started selling vehicles under it's own label in the United States and the pickup became the Isuzu P'up.
This mk2 LUV is fairly rare, as these trucks were only available for about 18 months. The Isuzu-branded version continued into 1987.
Much later, in 1996, Isuzu would begin selling a variant of the Chevy S-10 (by then in it's second generation, but basically still the same 1982 design under the skin) as the Isuzu Hombre.
The "BIO" added to the diesel badge on this one hints at an obvious and popular (nowadays) conversion. Another period small pickup, a Volkswagen Caddy, can be seen in the background.
©2015 A. Kwanten
Quayside: 1981 Chevy LUV
Although there aren't any real compact pickups still being sold in America, they were once a huge part of the pickup market, despite the fact that most of them faced a 25% import fee better known as the "chicken tax." in the 1970s, Datsun, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Mazda, and Isuzu all competed for buyers of these small pickups, although not always under their own names.
Seeing the popularity of these vehicles fairly early on and not having anything domestically-produced to compete with them, both Ford and General Motors worked with foreign partners - Mazda and Isuzu, respectively - to source competitors that could be sold as captive imports. Mazda sold trucks under its own name, including the very interesting Rotary Pickup, while Ford sold a variant of their pickup as the Courier. Later, Chrysler would import Mitsubishi pickups as the Plymouth Arrow pickup and Dodge Ram 50.
GM used the Isuzu Faster, a car-based pickup that was essentially the front half of an Isuzu Florian with a pickup bed. This truck debuted in 1972 as the Chevrolet LUV (Light Utility Vehicle), and was quite popular. GM also found a way to price it lower by getting around the "chicken tax" - they imported the trucks with only the cab and chassis installed, and then installed the beds in the United States, resulting in only a 4% import tariff.
The original LUV wasn't a bad truck but the Florian was aging even in 1972, and by 1980 the competition had moved on. So Isuzu redesigned the Faster and it arrived at U.S. Chevrolet dealers in late 1980 in a totally new form. Bang up to date, it was a much better truck, with more flexibility and more rugged underpinnings.
But by the early eighties GM and Ford were both working on small trucks of their own that were just a little bit bigger than the Japanese trucks. These domestically-produced designs would be hugely popular and have long production runs, and the first arrived in the fall of 1981 as the Chevrolet S-10, which debuted as a 1982 model. A year later, the Ford Ranger debuted.
The presence of the S-10 meant that Chevy no longer needed the LUV, and so the model was dropped in 1982. By then, Isuzu had started selling vehicles under it's own label in the United States and the pickup became the Isuzu P'up.
This mk2 LUV is fairly rare, as these trucks were only available for about 18 months. The Isuzu-branded version continued into 1987.
Much later, in 1996, Isuzu would begin selling a variant of the Chevy S-10 (by then in it's second generation, but basically still the same 1982 design under the skin) as the Isuzu Hombre.
The "BIO" added to the diesel badge on this one hints at an obvious and popular (nowadays) conversion. Another period small pickup, a Volkswagen Caddy, can be seen in the background.
©2015 A. Kwanten