Curiosity: Custom Widebody 1986 Porsche 928

I found this unusual modified 928 outside of a local d'elegance car show in Danville, CA in 2007. Any readers have information about it?

Sleeping Beauty: Abandoned Jaguar XK120

Lost down some lonesome byway in Oregon, is this classic 1950s Jaguar.

Beautiful Goodbye: 1989 Isuzu 4200R Concept

(c) sportscarsofthe1980s.wordpress.com

In the late 1980s, Isuzu Motors was selling cars in decent numbers worldwide, but had mainly front-wheel-drive sedans and hatchbacks along with perhaps its best-known product, the Giugiaro-designed Piazza (badged as Impulse in North America), and worked closely with British sports car maker/engineering firm Lotus. It was also making some very nice concept cars in the COA series (to be written up another time), but in 1989, Isuzu broke the mold with the 4200R.

The Isuzu 4200R was styled by Lotus employees working with Isuzu Europe Chief Designer Shiro Nakamura, was a sleekly styled 4-passenger grand tourer with discreet rear doors and a Lotus-engineered 4.2-liter 32-valve DOHC V8 mounted midship, Lotus-engineered active suspension, an LCD screen in the dashboard, extensive use of plastics and aluminum in its construction, and appeared to be a production-ready design.

However, Isuzu's parent company, General Motors, disapproved of the 4200R's technology and its very real threats to Corvette sales and Cadillac engineering, and just a few years after the all-new third-generation Gemini, second-generation Piazza and Yanase Ltd. exclusive PA Nero luxury coupe/wagon duo debuted with styling clearly derived from the 4200R, Isuzu car production was stopped (citing "aging designs and decreasing sales"), and Isuzu made do with badge-engineered Hondas for the Japanese domestic market and several other Asian markets until 2002. 

The 4200R was broken up and destroyed shortly after Isuzu car production ended, but in 2010, Shiro Nakamura worked with game designer Kazunori Yamaguchi of Polyphony Digital to recreate the 4200R for the video game Gran Turismo 5. 

Isuzu 4200R as seen in Gran Turismo 5. Picture (c) gran-turismo.com

This pic and all following pics (c) Isuzu and carstyling.ru

Oddball On The Cheap: 1990 Isuzu Impulse RS Project

The second-generation Isuzu Impulse is an underrated sporty car and is a great driver's car for a front-wheel-drive design. Considering that many of its components were used in the M100 Lotus Elan and that the second-generation Impulse's suspension was engineered by Lotus, that is even more remarkable.

While its styling is polarizing and many people will confuse it for the much more common and related Geo Storm, these cars are still very much worthy of saving, and this is a very worthy project. The car needs a clutch and valve work, some very minor bodywork, removal of bumper stickers and a detail job, possibly backdating the stereo to a Geo Storm or Impulse stock head unit if you're a purist, but at $900 for a rare 5-speed Japanese sporty car that's an excellent alternative to a 240SX, MX-6, Prelude or Celica, plus a little bit of work done, you can't go wrong.

Find it here on Whidbey Island in Washington State for $900, or go here if ad disappears.