Isuzu Piazza

The Isuzu Piazza (also known as the Isuzu Impulse in the United States and the Holden Piazza in Australia) is a small sporty 3-door liftback coupé that was manufactured by Isuzu from 1981 to 1992 in two generations. In Australia it was sold by Holden, the local division of Isuzu's parent company, General Motors (GM).

The first generation Impulse was a rear-wheel drive car, and in the United Kingdom it was the first widely available Isuzu.

The second generation was available as front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. It was the basis for the Gemini Coupe, or Geo Storm as it was known in the U.S. market.

1981–1989

In 1978, Isuzu commissioned Giorgetto Giugiaro to design a new sporty car to replace the 117 Coupe (also a Giugiaro design).[1] They delivered several T Series Geminis to the Italdesign studio in Italy and allowed Giugiaro free rein over the design. The result of this effort was the wedge-shaped three-door hatchback called the Asso di Fiori ("Ace of Clubs") prototype and show car, that was shown at the 1979 Tokyo Motor Show to rave reviews. Giugiaro referred to the design as his fifth "Copernican revolution", integrating the design innovations of many different previous designs into one, mass producible, vehicle.[2] Within 48 hours of its unveiling at the Tokyo Motor Show, Isuzu fast tracked the vehicle into production with minimal changes to the design.[3][4]

In late 1981, the first Isuzu Piazzas went on sale in Japan, available with either 120hp (89kW), 120lb·ft (163N·m) 2.0L SOHC I4 engine or a 135hp (101kW), 123lb·ft (167N·m) 2.0L DOHC I4 engine. Five-speed manual and 4-speed automatic transmissions were available, and all models were rear-wheel drive. For the 1985 model year, a 180hp (134kW), 185lb·ft (251N·m) turbocharged SOHC I4 engine was introduced, and the DOHC naturally aspirated engine was phased out in years that followed. Piazzas were available in a multitude of trim levels including Bella, XN, XJ, XE, XG, Nero, and others. There were three different suspension tuning levels, standard, Irmscher, and Lotus.[5]