Much LUV

Chevy’s first (and smallest) compact pickup was a Japanese-built captive import

BY JEFF KOCH

Well before the first fuel crisis was a thing, the idea of compact pickups was gaining traction in the U.S. Perfect for light deliveries in cities where a full-size truck was just too much, little pickups would go on to become a full-blown fad, parallel in both time and taste with the custom van movement. Nissan started it in the first half of the ’60s; Toyota would join in later with its Stout, and later still its more-compact Hilux pickup. More importantly, Chevy’s crosstown rivals at Ford were bringing a badge-engineered Mazda pickup to the States for 1972. But the Bowtie brand would not be caught out: GM was so serious about bringing in the compact Isuzu Faster pickup to American shores that it bought 34 percent of the Japanese…

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Hemmings Motor News (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2022

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