Produced for about 20 years from 1981-2002, the Isuzu Trooper (also known as the Bighorn in some markets and models) is the cool, retro 4x4 from Japan that is actually affordable for mere mortals.

With prices on the more desirable Japanese 4x4s like the Toyota Landcruiser and the Nissan Safari now at the point where only hedge fund managers, belt-holding boxers, and lottery winners can afford a decent example, you might be on the market for a piece of retro, off-road cool that is actually within reach.

Enter the Isuzu Trooper/Bighorn. On this site I aim to work away at sharing information and answering questions about the Isuzu Trooper.

I learned to drive in a first-generation Isuzu Trooper (a 2.8 V6 petrol, 5 speed manual model) and then spent much of my high school years ferrying friends around in a second generation Bighorn, which travelled almost 250,000kms in my family's ownership before being onsold at the best part of 400,000km.

Like a faithful dog, the Bighorn is a loyal beast, and has been part of many happy memories for me and my family, doing all sorts of activities from ski trips, to hauling band equipment, to road trips all across the country, to assisting in a heat pump cleaning business venture.

With Troopers becoming an increasingly rare sight on the road, I decided to spin off a little side project from my main car website (garagedreams.net) to put some focus on preserving the history of this slice of Japanese off-road cool.

I hope you enjoy the site. You are welcome to submit your own Bighorn/Trooper pictures or videos at any time, as I hope to set up a gallery with user-submitted content.