Any possibilities here? http://www.isuzucv.com/reachvan/index.html
Isuzu Reach
- Thread starter snorkel54
- Start date
mhiscox
Expedition Leader
Well, I wasn't going to be the first to bring it up, but Heck Yeah.
Credit: Isuzu Commercial Vehicles
Credit: Shaw Isuzu
Credit: Isuzu Commercial Vehicles
No offroad potential that I can see; far worse than the Sprinter 2500, which with single rear wheels and almost 9 inches of ground clearance beats the reach with duel rears, worse approach/departure/breakover angles and pretty limited ground clearance.
About equal in fuel economy. The 4-cylinder Reach engine is about as powerful as one of the first generation I5 Sprinters; a new V6 Sprinter has close to 40 more horsepower and a bit more than 40 ft./lbs. more torque than the Reach. Pricing favors the Sprinter, but not by as much as you might think, since it's not hard these days to pay over $45K for a decently equipped Sprinter. But the few Reaches yet available are listed on Truckpaper.com at $65K.
The Reach will be wacky for two people as it has only a jump seat for the passenger. It'll be better for one, or for a family, where everyone rides in back and lets the driver drive in peace. The partition is considerably more substantial than the arrangement in a Sprinter. In fact, this is probably the best it gets for cockpit to cabin transits.
But here's where the Reach has special merit for someone who's thinking of an expedition that stays on roads: The cabin would be the easiest van to convert you will run into. It it tall, it is wide, and you have a choice of 10, 12 and 14 foot box lengths. The 83" width means berths can be either crosswise or longitudinal. And the surfaces all intersect at right angles. In a Sprinter, Ford or what have you, you have to tailor the cabinets to fit the curve of the body; everything in the Reach would be a piece of cake. Plus the windows--as many or as few as you want--can go anywhere. The ease of conversion would be impressive. I'm sure someone could furnish it adequately with a trip to Ikea.
FWIW, I haven't seen any pictures of it, but twin doors are cited as an option, and would, for most, be superior to roll-up door in all the pictures.
My take on it is that it won't be too much fun to travel somewhere in the Reach, but once you arrive, it would be tough to find a sub-24 foot conversion that would be more livable. Start sketching your floorplans out now.
Credit: Isuzu Commercial Vehicles
Credit: Shaw Isuzu
Credit: Isuzu Commercial Vehicles
No offroad potential that I can see; far worse than the Sprinter 2500, which with single rear wheels and almost 9 inches of ground clearance beats the reach with duel rears, worse approach/departure/breakover angles and pretty limited ground clearance.
About equal in fuel economy. The 4-cylinder Reach engine is about as powerful as one of the first generation I5 Sprinters; a new V6 Sprinter has close to 40 more horsepower and a bit more than 40 ft./lbs. more torque than the Reach. Pricing favors the Sprinter, but not by as much as you might think, since it's not hard these days to pay over $45K for a decently equipped Sprinter. But the few Reaches yet available are listed on Truckpaper.com at $65K.
The Reach will be wacky for two people as it has only a jump seat for the passenger. It'll be better for one, or for a family, where everyone rides in back and lets the driver drive in peace. The partition is considerably more substantial than the arrangement in a Sprinter. In fact, this is probably the best it gets for cockpit to cabin transits.
But here's where the Reach has special merit for someone who's thinking of an expedition that stays on roads: The cabin would be the easiest van to convert you will run into. It it tall, it is wide, and you have a choice of 10, 12 and 14 foot box lengths. The 83" width means berths can be either crosswise or longitudinal. And the surfaces all intersect at right angles. In a Sprinter, Ford or what have you, you have to tailor the cabinets to fit the curve of the body; everything in the Reach would be a piece of cake. Plus the windows--as many or as few as you want--can go anywhere. The ease of conversion would be impressive. I'm sure someone could furnish it adequately with a trip to Ikea.
FWIW, I haven't seen any pictures of it, but twin doors are cited as an option, and would, for most, be superior to roll-up door in all the pictures.
My take on it is that it won't be too much fun to travel somewhere in the Reach, but once you arrive, it would be tough to find a sub-24 foot conversion that would be more livable. Start sketching your floorplans out now.
cwsqbm
Explorer
I'd love to build a narrow body SRW E350-based bread van with a 4x4 conversion - most have interior widths around 82". A sawzall would solve any departure angle issues, and it'd probably be lighter than an ambulance conversion. Probably wouldn't be that hard to swap in a diesel from another E350 at the same time if desired.
Ford Prefect
Expedition Leader
This would take a massive conversion on a brand new already expensive vehicle, but I think the things I would do right away are take away the driver and passanger doors, then where the cover is for the doors in the rear I would remove those, and put in a door behind the passanger seat. I think if you got the longest version, and do a chop off of the rear end so as to angle up the back and give better departure angle, you would then have a great vehicle to work with. Of course that would again leave you with a rather gutless vehicle that looks even more odd that this one already does!
Still for a couple going around Europe, the USA, and part of South America or Australia, it would not be anything to have a vehicle like this. So long as you are not going too crazy on the dirt roads etc.
Not my vehicle of choice, but you could do stuff with it.
Then again when you consider the same size box on a Fuso would get you far more ground clearance, comperable power, and likely comperable fuel economy on a proven body...... Yeah, well, I also have a thing for the fuso body style regardless of brand.
Still for a couple going around Europe, the USA, and part of South America or Australia, it would not be anything to have a vehicle like this. So long as you are not going too crazy on the dirt roads etc.
Not my vehicle of choice, but you could do stuff with it.
Then again when you consider the same size box on a Fuso would get you far more ground clearance, comperable power, and likely comperable fuel economy on a proven body...... Yeah, well, I also have a thing for the fuso body style regardless of brand.