Car personality and literary pervert Murilee Martin recently reignited his small-truck “luv” in a junkyard when he stumbled upon a 1979 Chevrolet LUV (Light Utility Vehicle) in Mikado trim.
Yes, “his”; despite rumors to the contrary regarding his arguably womanish pseudonym, Murilee Martin is a dude.
As Murilee explains at The Truth About Cars, this and other American light pickups of the time were essentially badge engineered Japanese trucks. The General had this Chevrolet light truck offering, which was based on the Isuzu Faster.
It boasts (or perhaps, laments) a G18 engine, making about 75 to 80 horsepower from four cylinders and a 1.8 liter displacement; this motor also powered the Buick Opel. The Mikado package reportedly added eponymous badges on the fenders, pin-striped seats and a three-spoke steering wheel, though the pin-stripes are decidedly absent from this example.
Mr. Martin explains the relevance of the find thusly: “Each [of the big three’s light pickups] rusted with great eagerness and were near-disposable cheap, so they’re all very rare today. I see maybe one LUV per three years of junkyard visits, so this ’79 LUV Mikado grabbed my attention right away.”
He’ll probably never see another Mikado again.
Comments
I hate to be negative, because this is my favorite GM site, but these things were complete garbage. Most people didn’t give them the time of day because, they were imported, foreign, throwaway, ugly, and slow. And this Isuzu wasn’t the only truck that was junky, you can throw in the Mitsu, Nissan, Toyoda, and Suburu in there too. But the LUV was an important vehicle in that it showed GM, as well as Ford, that there was a market for a small pickup and small SUV and they could be profitable. We used to have an ’89 GMC S-15 with the short bed, standard cabin, 4WD, and the Vortec V6 and that thing was not only reliable and long lasting, but it was a blast too drive. Then their is the S-10 Blazer and Jimmy which were some of the best trucks GM ever made.
I don’t know if you owned one or not, but I did when I was a teenager and into my early twenties. A 76 that I threw everything a teenage driver could throw at a vehicle and then some and my little L.U.V kept coming back for more. Yes it was slow, but that was perfect for a kid and after around 60,000 of the 180,000 miles on the 1.8l and having a teenage driver behind the wheel it started burning oil and knocking. However, the truck never broke down or left me stranded and easily got 30 mpg on the highway. Maybe I was lucky because I lived in southern California, but I had no rust issues and because they were so rare, I received plenty of comments on how nice a little truck it was and plenty of people wanting to buy it for the possibility of turning it into a hot rod. Which is ultimately what happened to it. I guess it is all a matter of opinion and who likes or doesn’t like them, but just like your experience with the S-line of GM small trucks, my experience with the L.U.V was a positive one. To this day it is one of the many vehicles I’ve owned that I miss and wish I could have another. Only this time with a V8 and 6M swap.
I grew up with one of these. I did not own it but I was around and in it often.
It was a right size truck but it still was a cheap Isuzu build quality. Back in this era these were seen as cheap tin boxes vs. a full size truck and were not as durable.
These did well in areas where imports were welcomed but in areas like the mid west they rotted out and just never were accepted much as a Chevy.
I loved the one we had but it just was not what it needed to be in places outside California.
I would like to see Chevy do one of these again to slot under the Colorado with the Turbo 4 in it. Make it rugged but light and durable. Also make it a real Chevy built here.
Where can i find a diff for such a bakkie