Between 1997 and 2001, Isuzu built one extremely funky SUV called the VehiCROSS. It shared a lot of parts with the Isuzu Trooper and looked just about exactly like the 1993 concept vehicle of the same name. Just like a lot of other concept-to-production vehicles from the 1990s, like the Plymouth Prowler and the Audi TT, not much changed between the first viewing and the available-to-purchase model. Unlike those two concepts, however, the VehiCROSS was one strange-looking beast. In person, you wondered if it was meant to be a moon lander or a kit vehicle. It was funky, for sure, but it was also ribbed and sported some of the largest amounts of black plastic body cladding seen on a production vehicle ever. They actually had off-road chops, placing in the 1998 Paris-Dakar rally and winning the 1999 Australia Safari Rally and did well for off-road magazine tests, but still…you’d have to look at it at the end of the day.
From the factory they came with one of two V6 engines, either a 3.2L or 3.5L. This one is packing 5.9 liters of displacement, courtesy of Ma Mopar. You are looking at a Chrysler 360-swapped Isuzu, and judging from what we can tell in the photos, we suspect that there’s a lot more Dodge stuff than just the engine under this little rig. The parts seem to have been pulled from a 1994-2001 Ram, if the wheels were any indication, so we’d expect to see a Dana 44 front axle and a Chrysler 9.25 rear unit supporting the silver bullet. It’s certainly interesting that someone put this much time and effort into this build…but could it be worth it? You tell us!
Facebook Marketplace link: 1999 Isuzu VehiCROSS
On this episode of Dirt Every Day…
Lose the stupid lifted suspension and put it back to stock ride height.
What can I say? He’s right!