The Honda Jazz was a Japanese Vauxhall Frontera
Today, proper motoring journalists are somewhere in Europe taking a look at the new Honda Jazz.
But PetrolBlog isn’t here to talk about ALL NEW 2020 HONDA JAZZ SEO ROBOTS REJOICE. Instead, here’s some useful useless trivia about a Jazz of the past.
It starts with the venerable Isuzu MU mid-size SUV.
The Isuzu MU had more identities than Frank Abagnale, wearing the badge of no fewer than six different manufacturers. The Mysterious Utility assumed the identity of Isuzu, Chevrolet, Holden, Opel, Vauxhall and Honda.
You’re probably familiar with the Honda Passport, but did you know that the MU also spent the mid-90s masquerading as a Jazz?
Not to be confused with the supermini driven by people who love to ruin a good B-road drive, the Jazz was also a Japanese domestic market SUV on sale between 1993 and 1996.
Welcome to the pleasure field
Rather brilliantly, it featured the words ‘PLEASURE FIELD’ on the side, which sounds like the name of an illegal rave organised somewhere in a field in Hampshire. The Honda Jazz, feat. Nicky Mac, Ellis Dee and Top Buzz.
Makes a change from Honda Jazz, feat. National Trust sticker, beaded seat cover and Werther’s Original.
Needless to say, armed with a Honda badge, the SUV commonly known as the Frontera was far more reliable than its Vauxhall sibling and less likely to be driven by a guy called Terry wearing a shell suit.
The Japanese Jazz – available as a three-door only – is also less likely to be found at the top of Snowdon. Thanks to a 3.0-litre turbodiesel engine, the Pleasure Field could probably haul itself to the top of Mount Fuji. Don't get any ideas, Mr Williams of Cheltenham.
It’s PetrolBlog’s duty to share trivia like this: the kind of guff you can share at dinner parties and use to woo a potential date. It’s like discovering that the guy who plays Mike Ehrmantraut in Breaking Bad was also Zack in Beverly Hills Cop.
As for the new Honda Jazz, it does have a really nice steering wheel.