Taken from page 216 of Giugiaro Italdesign Catalog Raisonne 1959-1987 Volume Two

Isuzu Piazza (Impulse)

1981

Geneva

Mass Production 101,879 units

5/1981 through 9-1987

During the 1979 Geneva Motor Show, Italdesign had been entrusted by Isuzu to develop all the engineering studies for the production start-up of the Asso di Fiori prototype, to construct a new prototype faithful to the new designs and build the master for the preparation of the molds.

At the 1981 Geneva Motor Show, Italdesign exhibited the first pre-production model of the car that had been dubbed the Piazza and was to be sold in Japan from the following May onwards.

The characteristics of the mass production article were almost identical to those of the first prototype: Isuzu requested Giugiaro to increase the overall dimensions of the car (especially the wheelbase that went from 2405 to 2440mm and the width from 1620 to 1655mm) so as to make the passenger compartment roomier in view of possible exportation of the car to the United States market (the Asso di Fiori brief envisaged a study of the Japanese percentages).

From this point of view of shape the variations are minimal: The front bumper has a larger cross member, the underbody, a different shape of the air intake, the door opens by means of a traditional handle instead of pulling on the sheet metal.

The interior maintained all the layout of trim and instrumentation while the design of the displays themselves and the shape of the satellites were revised, although still being sdjustable. The climate-control system with sensors centralized on the left-hand satellite was practical: with a simple finger touch, every single vent can be opened or closed to the various distribution levels.

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