Oppodentify Challenge SOLVED

"Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available" (whoistheleader2)
06/13/2020 at 12:44 • Filed to: Identify that car

I saw a 1980s Japanese commuter coupe, but not the one you might expect.

Diesel certainly narrows down the list.

Have at it.

Thank you fhrblig for getting it first and Old-Busted-Hotness for giving the year as 82-83. You win. . . errrr. . . pride of your accomplishments !

Edit: Courtesy of good ol’ Murilee, this may be more rare than I at first though. The only I Mark of this generation he’s documented in a junkyard was a gas powered sedan. Turns out this was Opel derived.

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DISCUSSION (48)

KnowsAboutCars > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 12:53

Accord?

smobgirl > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 12:56

Looks like a Datsun. They made a diesel Maxima, I think?

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > KnowsAboutCars
06/13/2020 at 13:00

Nope, that would be the one you expect. I added another picture to make it possible.

ttyymmnn > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 13:01

Nissan something.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > smobgirl
06/13/2020 at 13:01

I added another picture to help. Not a Maxima.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > ttyymmnn
06/13/2020 at 13:01

Unless it was badge engineered, no.

fintail > smobgirl
06/13/2020 at 13:04

Beat me to it, that’s my guess, something very Datsun/Nissan about it.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 13:04

Galant.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
06/13/2020 at 13:06

Oooooh, not quite. You're on the right track by focusing on the, "not what you'd expect" part.

fhrblig > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 13:07

Isuzu I-Mark diesel

Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 13:07

Diesel would make me think Isuzu, but this is too old, Stanza? Is this in the american market? stumped.

CB > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 13:08

Isuzu. Maybe.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fhrblig
06/13/2020 at 13:11

Ding ding ding! You got it! I worried I made this too hard without including the rear side window detailing but the diesel would have narrowed it down too much.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > CB
06/13/2020 at 13:11

Right brand, but someone beat you to the model.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer
06/13/2020 at 13:12

Right brand, but someone beat you to the model.

Old-Busted-Hotness > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 13:19

Isuzu I-Mark, 1982-3

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Old-Busted-Hotness
06/13/2020 at 13:20

Second place, but bonus points for the year. Thank you.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail
06/13/2020 at 13:46

That’s what everyone says but no, it’s an early Isuzu I Mark. I have to imagine all of a dozen are left anywhere in this combination: diesel 5 speed coupe. Red vinyl interior makes it even more rare.

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 14:00

Yeah, even here the coupes are rare in any form. There’s actually a 4 door running around my town, I see it now and then, but I am sure it isn’t a diesel.

smobgirl > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 14:01

I didn’t really know Isuzu existed at the time these were made, so it makes total sense I wouldn’t have thought of it!

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail
06/13/2020 at 14:21

With 52 hp I’m not surprised people didn’t feel like keeping them. I hope this never came with an automatic and a diesel at the same time because that might be iron duke Camaro levels of slow.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > smobgirl
06/13/2020 at 14:21

Don’t tell anyone, but I didn’t know either.

fhrblig > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 14:22

I’d recognize that badge combo anywhere. These things were still all over the place when I was in high school, which was depressingly long ago.

Ah, the I-Mark diesel. It generated more MPGs than MPHs.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fhrblig
06/13/2020 at 14:27

But try finding any first gen Opel derived I Mark today, much less a red interior’ d diesel model. 52 horsepower sounds depressingly terrible.

I imagine the diesel coupe was probably the rarest of the bunch when new, since even by 80s standards this had to be humiliatingly lethargic.

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 14:28

I have a suspi cion that engine was not to MB levels of durability, and some parts quickly became unobtanium - that combined with glacial acceleration and cheapskate feel probably sent them to the scrapyard quickly.

An automatic was probably a relatively expensive option, and rarely chosen. I know you could get automatics in the smallest engine MB and Volvo diesels of the era - 0-60 was often in the 25+ second range, effectively unsafe in traffic.

fhrblig > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 14:32

I want to watch a drag race between one of these I-M arks and a Chevette or T1000 diesel. Which one would get to 60 first? Would either of them get there at all ? I’m certain my 48- hp Chevy Sprints were faster than these things.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail
06/13/2020 at 14:34

As slow as a diesel MB and nowhere near half as durable or a quarter as desirable isn’t a recipe for longevity. Add that to a shrinking pool of people willing to drive a stick in their penalty boxes and it’s a wonder this survived at all, even in non running condition. The red vinyl interior did lead me to believe that this was a high trim car at one point and must have been well looked after for most of its life for it to be so comp lete. However, rust has taken its toll and the crusty rockers seem to hint at an even crustier underbelly. It’s really a matter of time for this one, and I’m not exactly cut up about it.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fhrblig
06/13/2020 at 14:37

You would die of combined boredom and old age first. I think the Chevette was based on the same Opel Kadett C as this, so it would be Japan’s mightiest slow vs GM’s mightiest slow in a battle of the engines. Actually, these were sold through GM dealers so they might have had the same engine options. I’m pretty sure a contemporary diesel MB would win a drag race, which is saying something. Oh, and let’s throw in an iron duke auto box Camaro. I think that would be first place, followed by the MB, then the I Mark.

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 14:44

I forgot about rust - I bet those things could rust fiercely in harsh climates, another nail in the coffin. I recall most of those cars were long gone by the 90s, that says something. A relic from the late 70s/early 80s when economy mattered and diesel was trendy , 55 mph was the usually illogical law of the land, and expectations weren’t high for the present or future. It might have made some sense at the time, but quickly fell out of fashion.

It probably broke at ~10 years old and was stored for a long time before finally being hauled off.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail
06/13/2020 at 14:58

This is the sort of car that would wear out before the end of 10 years. The closest thing I can think of today is the I-MiEV or maybe the Mitsubishi G4. Both of those would smoke this in a drag race though.

This has sat neglected in the corner of one of the strangest collision shops in town for years. I’ve never walked around there until today but the upcoming DOTS will reinforce this claim. I briefly talked with someone who was closing up the place and he just said, “Yeah, we’ve got some crazy stuff.”

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail
06/13/2020 at 15:10

Wait, I was just putting these photos into a DOTS post when I noticed the car was last registered in 2014. WHAT?!?!

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 15:30

Sounds right, this would be like an olden times Aveo or maybe early Rio or Accent - there wasn’t much cheaper when it was new. Meant to be disposable. As you have probably seen in junkyards, even today cars can be used up at 10 years old.

Regarding the registration, maybe someone kept renewing it even though it was broken, false hopes or something to encourage them to work on it.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail
06/13/2020 at 15:33

Maybe. Still, I was not expecting a license plate issued in the last 15 years. I can’t imagine why they would keep renewing the inspection though, since in Georgia you can basically register anything despite the inspections.

Dead_Elvis, Inc. > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 16:24

Honda would be the very last nameplate I associate with diesels.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Dead_Elvis, Inc.
06/13/2020 at 16:28

It is a name you associate with 80s commuters, but certainly not diesel coupes, so you’re right there. But Isuzu is even less expected.

Dead_Elvis, Inc. > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 16:35

Unless you’re old enough to remember when these were on the roads ;-)

fhrblig > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 16:37

Yeah, this car platform had more variants than logic or reason would normally allow for (like this GMC Chevette that was a real thing that existed ).

Kinja'd!!!

As a former sufferer owner of an iron-puke powered Pontiac Phoenix, I can attest that the word ‘faster’ is certainly relative. It couldn’t go fast, but at least it couldn’t stop reliably either.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fhrblig
06/13/2020 at 16:38

So it was consistently terrible at least. No underachieving “sort of terrible” like most cars.

fhrblig > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 16:42

Just about everything was terrible about that car. I had no say in it because my stepdad bought it, and I tried to warn him. Fortunately he didn’t dwell on replacing it when it kept breaking down. He traded it for a Chevy Celebrity with the 2.8 V6. That engine isn’t exactly very popular either, but in my Celebrity that thing was a soldier. It was one of my favorite cars.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fhrblig
06/13/2020 at 16:47

That must have been a world of difference between the two.

KnowsAboutCars > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 18:23

Isuzu was actually one of the first manufacturers I thought of but I couldn’t remember any coupes they had in US market.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > KnowsAboutCars
06/13/2020 at 18:27

It was derived from the Kadette C like the Chevette so I can see how the Japanese classification might throw some people off.

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 20:42

I think it is possible at the time it lived in an area that required a car parked on the street or in a publicly viewable area to have a current registration. I know many HOAs require this.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail
06/13/2020 at 21:04

It does have a relatively new plate and not much sun damage. I think it may have been garaged, or at least under a cover, and actually driven, probably as a fuel efficient commuter by an older person . Perhaps the smashed windshield was what finally did it in.

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 21:26

Probably some quirky old guy who was “going to restore it someday”, and that day never arrived. I imagine a windshield for one of these would be a wild goose chase.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail
06/13/2020 at 21:50

Probably, but I think it ran recently.

fintail > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
06/13/2020 at 23:16

Maybe they just gave up - realized it was kind of a lost cause. Could have been a longterm owner or inherited car with sentimental value, or an older person who is now at the car show in the sky. Great parts car for another owner, if anything. There might be a few in the country.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fintail
06/13/2020 at 23:34

Basically. At some point you have to realize pouring $15,000 into the car would make it worth $1,500, and only to the right buyer at that. Too much rust, too many dents, too many problems.