The pride of Joe Isuzu, still runnin’ strong . . .

The company may have departed our shores, but the love affair continues unabated. And we’ll admit, we loved these little critters back in the day. Based off the Isuzu P’up chassis, the Amigo’s 2.6L four-banger only cranked out 120 hp at the flywheel, but with a Jeep-like 92-inch wheelbase, 4.55:1 axle cogs, and a rear limited-slip and 31x10.50 Goodyear Wrangler radials available options, the 1989-94 Amigo was a most wheelable out-of-the-box ride. Heck, we even piloted one over the Rubicon one year, just because we could, and the little beast graduated with flying colors (and a few scratches to its bumper and undercarriage, of course).

This well-preserved specimen, spotted on the mean streets of the Miracle Mile, came with the soft top and sun roof, which were two of the very few options you could get for it back then, as well as the “Sport” package---which, as far as we can remember, gave you a really, reeeally dopey-looking “Sport” logo and equally-lame stripe graphics. It also still had the original warranty sticker on the side window, which helped us identify it (more or less) as a first-gen (pre-‘98 revival) model. Say it ain’t so, Joe---please bring back the Amigo (or better yet, the VehiCross!).