Meet the Isuzu Trooper, the SUV Rebadged 13 Times by 10 Brands

A Look Back at the Isuzu Trooper

Now, for those born within this millennium, we highly doubt that they have much recollection of the Isuzu Trooper. Sold for two generations between 1981 and 2002, it saw a fair amount of success in its heyday.

The first Trooper was, quite literally, a box on wheels and more of a utility vehicle that happened to have four-wheel drive. It was born in an age where the term SUV had yet to be coined, and it’s safe to say that it’s one of the pioneers of the genre, at least among its Japanese peers.

It’s the latter second-generation model that really defined the model, butting heads with other midsize SUVs such as the Ford Explorer, Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero (which will be revived soon), and Toyota 4Runner. Introduced in 1991 and facelifted in 1991, it’s a far more refined and premium product than the model it succeeded, and it even offered robust off-road mechanicals. Both generations lasted a decade each and have a small but faithful following. The thing is, the Trooper also has a rather odd honor of perhaps being the most rebadged car in automotive history.

Thanks, General Motors

Now, we should note that the second-generation Trooper saw a whole barrage of rebadged models over 11 years. During its production run, a good number of automakers used the Trooper as their midsize-to-large SUV offering (depending on market) in different parts of the world. That’s mainly thanks to Isuzu’s long-standing partnership with General Motors.

GM’s stake in Isuzu is much smaller now, though it’s still evident today, with Chevrolet‘s medium-duty trucks rebadged as Isuzus. Back then, though, the badge engineering was taken to the extreme. Back then, it was pretty much guaranteed that you would get at least three versions of the same car, with just a few differentiators between them. Then again, this is GM we’re talking about here.

An Odd Collab With Honda

Another reason the Trooper had so many versions is that, in part, it was thanks to Honda. Isuzu and Honda had a little exchange program that started in 1993. The deal was for Honda to provide passenger cars to Isuzu, and Isuzu would reciprocate by lending some trucks and SUVs to Honda.

That partnership gave birth to two Trooper-derived models, along with a smattering of oddballs that are largely forgotten today. Does anyone remember the Isuzu Oasis? Yep, we thought so.

Total Derivatives

Officially, the second-gen Trooper saw ten different manufacturer badges during the course of its production. Starting alphabetically, we kick things off with the Acura SLX, followed by the Chevrolet Trooper for specific Latin American countries. For Australia and New Zealand, it was called the Holden Jackaroo and Holden Monterey, the latter being the fully-loaded upmarket version. There was even a sportier-looking version dubbed the HSV Jackaroo.

Up next is the Honda Horizon, which was literally the SLX for the Japanese market, as Acuras aren’t sold there. Interestingly, Isuzu even had different names for its own product, being called the Bighorn in its home market, and the Citation in Malaysia. GM’s European division (at the time), Opel, also got the Trooper and changed its name to Monterey, and even China got in on the action with the Sanjiu 3-Nine Trooper.

But perhaps the most obscure version of the Trooper was the Subaru Bighorn, which held the odd distinction of being the brand’s first midsize SUV, long before the Tribeca and Ascent. Of course, Vauxhall being part of GM back then, it too rebadged the Trooper and dubbed it the Monterey like its Mainland European twin.

All in all, that’s 13 names across 10 brands with varying degrees of success, or rather, failure. In the end, most of the rebadged models were consolidated back to the original version and consigned to being odd footnotes in automotive history.

Mind you, the Trooper isn’t the most renamed car in history, but that’s a story for another time.