Where Are They Now?: Isuzu Axiom

Yesterday I had the honor of being stuck behind one of the rarest cars in the United States. No it wasn’t some exotic Ferrari or Lamborghini, instead it was something even more interesting. It was an Isuzu Axiom. This glorious SUV is one of the rarest cars on the road today. Isuzu only managed to sell 25,000 of these in the three model years that it was on sale, between 2002 and 2004. For reference, Nissan sells 25,000 Rogues in a month. Hell, the Pontiac Aztek sold three times as many models, and that thing is down right fugly.

Allow me to take you back to the year 2001, a much simpler time for the auto industry, back then you could buy a small car for as little $12,000 and it would come with a motor and everything. Companies like Oldsmobile and Saturn and yes, Isuzu were still alive, and breathing.

You and your family probably piled into a Dodge Caravan and went to your local theater that hasn’t been bought out by AMC yet, and saw “Spy Kids” one of the greatest box office hits of the early 2000s. If you haven’t seen Spy Kids, shame on you, good film, but in the movie, Gregorio Cortez’s super cool spy car, was none other than the concept car that would later become the Isuzu Axiom.
I digress.

Powering the Axiom was a 3.5-liter V6 producing 230 horsepower. This engine featured direct injection, which most modern cars don’t have. It also featured a twin-cam layout, which was also uncommon in the early 2000s. This engine was ahead of its time, and it’s fuel economy was competitive if not better than other V6’s of the time period.

So what happened to the Axiom? Well, a lot of big business happened. See, the plant that was making the Axiom was owned by Subaru, and Subaru decided that they wanted to make a three-row SUV called the Tribeca, and since they owned the plant, they ended production of the Axiom. Without a flagship vehicle in their lineup, Isuzu turned to General Motors, and made the Ascender, which sold right up until 2008, when sales were so poor that Isuzu left the North American market entirely.

Was it missed? No. The best version for sale right now at cars.com is going for $6,000 and it’s done 90,000 miles. While not bad, parts for this thing are probably impossible to come by, and that means that history will eventually forget the Axiom. It’ll fall right in line with the Acura SLX, Mazda Navajo, and the rest of the forgotten SUV’s of the late 90s and early 2000s. So if you ever do manage to see one of these soaking up miles on the highway, or idling outside of a gas station, give it a second look, a respectful nod, and keep moving.