QOTD: What Brand/Model Existed Before Its Time?

Mark Stevenson
by Mark Stevenson

Way at the bottom of the comments on yesterday’s Hyundai Santa Cruz article was a reference to a vehicle that I think, if it was built today, would probably sell better today than it ever did when it was new.

The Isuzu VehiCROSS, for all its faults, is (almost) exactly what people are craving today in a crossover-fueled market: go-anywhere utility, a tall sitting position, and full wrap-around plastic body cladding. Oh, and you either love it or hate it, just like every other new, successful crossover hitting the market in America at the rate of 2.5 new models per second.

Think about it. The sales of non-crossover, non-SUV and non-truck models in America is rather stagnant at the moment. This is pretty evident at Hyundai. The South Korean automaker’s car-heavy lineup is experiencing growth, but it’s a far cry from the industry average mostly due to a lack of crossovers and utilities in its lineup (the other big part being the Tucson getting pretty long in the tooth and uncompetitive against more established rivals).

Now, what if you could build a brand that was the complete inverse of Hyundai? Lots of SUVs. Little to no cars. Unlike Jeep, this brand could tout “Japanese build quality” and not be saddled with traditionalist design cues. That sounds a lot like Isuzu.

The VehiCROSS is just what America is craving, too. No, I don’t mean a two-door, body-on-frame SUV powered by a pair of V-6 engines. The most successful new entrants in the crossover and SUV space in the last few years have been styled in a way that leaves nobody wondering whether they love it or hate it — Nissan Juke, Buick Encore, Ford Edge, etc. The VehiCROSS certainly fits that bill.

What do you think, Best & Brightest? What brand or model from yesteryear was sold and killed off before its time?

Mark Stevenson
Mark Stevenson

More by Mark Stevenson

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 128 comments
  • RideHeight RideHeight on Jul 30, 2015

    Vehicross looks so pokemon there! That couldn't have been mere coincidence back then.

  • Pch101 Pch101 on Jul 30, 2015

    The Chrysler Airflow was obviously way ahead of its time. The Nash Metropolitan was, too.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
Next