Minneapolis Street Sighting: Geo Prizm

With the rise of "captive imports" in the 1980s, GM saw fit to compete with the Japanese cars in build quality, and in price; a partnership with Toyota was launched in an effort to build a cheap, quality economy car that would compete with the Honda Civic, and the Toyota Corolla. In 1989, the Geo brand was launched as a downmarket, youthful brand that would supply vehicles in the emerging "budget" economy car segment of the market. Much like the Scion of today, Geo was the first real attempt to capture the "new-driver" segment as a whole. Instead of new-from-the-ground-up vehicles, the brand was comprised of a variety of different vehicles for many Asian manufacturers looking to improve their success in the US market.
One of the strongest sellers aside from the Tracker SUV was the Prizm sedan. Basically, a rebadged Toyota Corolla, the new car featured slightly different front and rear fascia, and a new selection of wheels and hubcaps; other than minute changes, buyers could purchase the same car under an American nameplate or a Japanese nameplate, whichever their heart desired.
Because it was a Corolla in all but name, Prizms lasted quite awhile; even though the car was discontinued almost twelve years ago, I still see many Prizms around. Even more shocking, is that most of the Prizms I see are the first generation car, like this one--or would this be a first generation "truck"?









Looking like something out of a rejected Top Gear USA episode, this once-economy sedan has been turned into a cute little hauler. Capable of hauling what exactly, I'm not quite sure; I would normally scoff at such a car-to-truck conversion, but for some reason I find this little Prizm kinda cute; maybe its the combination of huge rollbar with affixed lights and the rather small body in comparison.
Prizms on the whole do not get my attention, for better or for worse. What is apparent here, is that owner likes to have fun with his or her transportation; I really like the idea of a home-made pickup truck, and with the slow-and-steady demise of the compact pickup market, doing this only makes sense; where else can one get 30+ real world MPG with the convenience of a bed? Nowhere but here--and I'm sure that's why the owner did it. Major props given, because even though I would never have thought of the idea, I rather like the execution. If only the rest of the Prizms were this cool!