When was your first...?

Sighting of the Vx? I am sure we all remember where we were and what we were doing. Love at first sight!!

I was living in Blacksburg, Va. year- 1999, I was driving a Toyota Rav4 which had recently come out and I thought it was the coolest, funkiest looking car ever.....
until driving to school one day I saw a 1999 IronMan Vehicross sitting in the middle of an Isuzu lot. It stuck out like a sore thumb!
And I loved it! I had to have it!
Mind you I was a college student who could barely afford the ramen noodles needed to sustain me, but that didn't stop me from drooling and scheming! I even considered selling some organs on the black market : P

Well that is how I met my true love. I never got that IronMan btw, and thankfully so, I still have my liver! :p I was finally able to buy a used Astral Silver in 2003, I could finally afford it! : P I then proceeded to drive it fullspeed into a large cement driveway cauldron and total the thing. Love hurts :(

Funny you should mentioned. I drive a city bus in Olympia Washington, and often I do the express to Tacoma. Well, A few years ago, Tacoma was putting in light rail between the theater district and the Tacoma Dome Station, So they had us parking on a different street, sorry, alley. We had to walk thru this car park and take a elevator down to go to the bathrooms. In this car park was a silver VX, I didn't have a clue what it was, but I loved it, it was me,... period. Many times I would drive back to Olympia hoping there wasn't any delays, any accidents, cause I never made it to the bathrooms in Tacoma. When the time came, I was just going to take over 'she who must be obeyed's' mazda Pro5, sweet ride. But in the end, for the same money, I could have a VX. Guess you know the end to this story and I haven't looked back.

Other than the Auto mags...I didnt see one "live" for 5 years.

Then..there it was , in all its Proton Glory...pulling up next to me in my Yellow Early Bronco.


I felt like I did after my first kiss.......

DANG...what took me so long!.


The search started that night on the web...I found this forum....6 months later I found ( what was to become!) the ORW!

Life changing event...seriously!


jo

It was 2000, I was on a business trip in Palo alto CA . I was training an I.T. department at Stanford University on a server that I had just installed. I was there for about a week and every day I’d go out and eat lunch with the department director. She had an ebony and it was amazing. At the time I drove a 99 F250 SuperDuty and wasn’t really in the market for a new car. But that ebony stuck in my mind and the rest is history.:heart:

well sad to say that i dont remember the first time i saw a VX...but the first time i can remember is the VX i own now...

i had just graduated high school and it was time for something more reliable and better in the snow than my integra...so my dad and i discussed me getting a car for a while and we finally decided the time was right so we went shopping...

i looked and drove the scion TC, lexus RX300, dodge durango, subaru STI, modded wrx, heavily modded H22 prelude, toyota tacoma.....
then i found the VX in the newspaper...i remember seeing one at some point in time and liking it....i was amazed at the price tag for such a cool looking car because i knew they were around 35k....
went and looked and bought it on the spot....drove it to the bank to take out a 2 year loan for 14,600......

and the rest is history and you guys know most of it....

including 6,800 for new motor shipped and installed, tires, lift, and rims....when the motor blew up

i was 15 and my neighbor let me drive his 2000 rodeo around the block right after he got it, and i was plotting which car i wanted to get when i got my license.. i had settled on a rodeo sport hard top after driving that rodeo, so i went to isuzus website and saw the vx on there and was like whoooaa! but after looking at the price resigned myself to the rodeo sport

saw a proton maybe a year later in a parking lot at a walmart in walkersville, md.. then another proton parked in the postal service employee parking area at 30th st station in philly then the next one i saw was after i flipped my civic, i was looking for an accord and the local honda dealership had it sitting there after someone traded it in.. after seeing that.. there was no way i was getting an accord

Mission to Mars, the VX02. That was I believe the first. I can remember maybe then seeing a live VX only a few times on the road for years after that. Never really thought too much of it since I couldn't afford one.

When I switched jobs in 2002 I needed a new car and was thinking about a Rodeo Sport... and there sat my VX on the lot. All new with 24 miles on it, just waiting for me this whole time. Took about 2 seconds to make the decision to buy it.

I saw an ebony on the local Isuzu lot when they first came out so I had to go & look. I loved everything about it except the price tag & the red interior (sorry - personal preference). I plotted - I schemed - I waited. When I found the Proton on ebay with lift, 33's & OFH (Offset From H---), that was all she wrote.

Summer 1999, New Haven, CT, out with friends at BAR. The weather was warm already, so they had the "garage doors" at the front open to the sidewalk & street. I'm chatting up some chick, when I sensed a disturbance in the Force. I looked up, and a sweet, shiny Proton rolls down Chapel Street, nice and slow. I knew what it was from the previews in Car & Driver, and I just sort of stumbled toward it in a daze. The VX disappeared down the street, the chick gets all pissed off at me for ignoring her right in the middle of some story she was telling, so she disappears, too. But I couldn't have been happier. :-)

I saw one on a dealer's lot a couple of weeks later, but was surprised to see that it was even more expensive than C&D had estimated (the supposed "optional" CD changer became standard for US-bound VX's). I couldn't afford one new, that was for sure, but I knew I would have one eventually...

Easy question.

2001 in Colorado Springs. Me and an Army buddy were in my yellow Land Rover Discovery XD and we stopped at the Isuzu/Chevy dealer when we saw a Proton on the corner. I bought a '94 Trooper, new, to take to Alaska, and I had a high opinion of Isuzus. We wanted to take the Proton for a test drive, alone, and the salesmen were kind of leEry. I made a weak joke about them holding my Rover keys for collateral, they responded back with the $30K price of the VX.

Long story, but we took the test drive, drove into a field with wet grass, hills, and a little mud and got the VX stuck. Dropped it into low and with a little pushing got it out. By this time it was getting dark so we just returned it and parked in a darker area of the lot. They didn't notice the virgin mud in the wheel wells. I do remember how absolutely cool the truck was, but I also remember being unimpressed with the interior, sans the Recaro seats. It was just ridiculously priced.

My last push to ownership was when returning from Iraq the last time in late '06. I ran across some pictures on the internet and fond memories of getting the Proton stuck came back to me. I joined the forum then and took until May of '08 to shuffle/sell cars and find the VX I wanted, now that I could finally afford one. 'Haven't regretted it for a second...

There I was, driving along in my Montero (just made the final payment..:rolleyesg), minding my own business, when out of the corner of my eye I see this weird looking...car?...truck?...sports truck?

Whutinnahe11 IS that thing???:confused:

I recognized it as a Hotwheels car I had seen before, but had NO idea what it was, or that it existed as anything other than a Hotwheels "concept".
Went back to check it out & was impressed right away by the interior, suspension, 4 wheel discs, etc, etc...:cool:
Let's just say that after the test drive, it was "Game OVER"...I knew I was about to have car payments again...:rolleyesg

That was Feb 03', and I've had no regrets. Never had a vehicle this long without getting "the itch" for something newer.

Seriously, I can't imagine driving anything else...:thumbup:

I owned a Jeep CJ-5 for 13 years. Then I owned a Fiero (I transplanted a 180 HP Olds Quad 4 engine into it - fun!) for 10 years, then owned sportbikes (my last was a 2000 Blackbird). Because of my interest in bikes at the time, I wasn't aware of the existance of the VX. I hit a groundhog with the Blackbird, and after 3 surgeries, a fair amount of titanium in my right hip and leg, and a permanent limp, I had to be through with bikes. I bought a 2004 Toyota Tacoma while I was recovering. It was a great vehicle, but it wasn't "fun" to drive. I wanted something that combined the off-road, all weather ability of the Jeep with the sports car feel of the Fiero. I waited for Toyota to build the RSC, but they never did. One day last November I passed a flatbed truck with a VX on it (looked like they were headed to a car show). I saw the "Vehicross" badge on the side. I didn't know they existed until that day. I searched the internet, found this great site (and it's cheerful band of addicted loonies!), located a VX for sale in Chicago, and now I own 2 of them! I can't imagine a vehicle more perfectly suited to me!

I was driving down the main road. I had never heard of the VX. I was thinking I would need 4 wheel for winter instead of my trusty Isuzu Amigo. I saw this bright yellow thing in front of a dealership. I pulled in to check it out. It had the keys in and ir said Proton on it. I thought tht was the name of the car. Salesman comes out says sticker is $33000 but it was on sale for $28000. I back off that is a house not a car price tag. He convinces me to go for a test ride. I go love it but still too much money. I research on the internet and find it is the only new Proton I can find. I offer $23995 the best price I could find. They say no. I stick to my guns and get it for $24000.

I had been in an ISUZU since '93 so I followed ISUZU news pretty close. Always got brochures in the mail about new models and working in an autobody shop back then kept me up to par anyways. But I guess the first time I saw a VX was in a brochure sent by my ISUZU dealer. I was pretty floored instantly and rolled down to the dealer as soon as one was actually in. I recall it being a '99 IronMan and me wanting it SO bad, but sadly, I had only just bought a '97 Rodeo and I didn't wanna put myself into a bigger hole than I was at the time. But, the story has a happy ending anyways. :)

I'm starting to notice a trend. Most 'first experiences' were with a Proton.

2001 Presidents Casino, Biloxi MS. Casino since destroied from hurricane Kartina.
It was a 2001 Proton. The yellow Proton stood out from the hundreds of cars in the parking lot. I went over and took a look and said one day.
With a price tag of around $ 32,000 at the time, I knew I had to wait.
Finally in 2006 I got my VX.

While I am not 100% sure, I think the first live VX I saw was Gill's Ebony in Chicago. I then looked online and saw "Daver's" black VX and from that point on, always loved em.

Bart

Bart,

Why did Daver's make you fall in love and not Gill's?

Waitta minit ... I don't wanna know.

Yeah, the protons do all the marketing.:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by tom4bren

I'm starting to notice a trend. Most 'first experiences' were with a Proton.

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Originally Posted by tom4bren

Bart,

Why did Daver's make you fall in love and not Gill's?

Waitta minit ... I don't wanna know.

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I'm just saying, it was Gill's VX that initially turned my head and made me go online to find out more, and that's when I saw Daver's VX with those sweet rims and found out more about these trucks. Before I bought my Chambers (which I think are the coolest truck rims ever) I tried to find those rims that Daver had on but failed.

Bart

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Originally Posted by tom4bren

I'm starting to notice a trend. Most 'first experiences' were with a Proton.

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Originally Posted by kodiak

Yeah, the protons do all the marketing.:rolleyes:

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My first sighting was at the 2001 auto show. I needed something more practical than my Fiero & motorcycles, so I went to there with a work buddy (and a $25,000 price limit) to shop for something new. I had a friend working at Volo's antique car display, and stopped by to say hello. We were talking about what I was looking for in a new vehicle (AWD, performance, looks, etc.) and she told me to check out the VehiCROSS. I had never even heard of it before, but when I saw that shiny Proton VX roped off from the teeming masses & up high on its pedestal... I had to check it out. Nothing else came close, and (with the sale of my Fiero balancing out the added cost) I figured I had to get one. The local dealers didn't have many (or any), but I test drove an Ironman and was hooked. I told the sales guy that if he could get me an Ebony with the black & grey interior like the Proton we'd have a deal! I got my own '01 VX in July, and have spent way more than $25,000 on it. :bwgy:

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Originally Posted by nfpgasmask

While I am not 100% sure, I think the first live VX I saw was Gill's Ebony in Chicago. I then looked online and saw "Daver's" black VX and from that point on, always loved em.
Bart

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by tom4bren

Bart,

Why did Daver's make you fall in love and not Gill's?

Waitta minit ... I don't wanna know.

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I'm glad I had a role in getting someone else addicted! We have a great crew here. :thumbup:

we already have 4 cars and a motorcycle so i wasn't even LOOKING at getting another vehicle. BUT....when we drove by a dealership and saw our little black beauty sitting there, that was it! love at first sight! i had to have him! we bought him that night. to this day, i never saw a VX before or after our purchase. can't wait to meet some more!

kind of ashamed of myself....we each have our own porsche, and our own SUV. :laughing: I guess we don't share very well with each other. :lookp: wait! we share the crotch rocket! :thumbup:

"wait! we share the crotch rocket!"

I have NO response to that!!!

^^oh!! hahahahaha!!! that DID sound a bit funny didn't it! :laughing:

I remember the commercials that came out showing the VX riding along with a Jet car and the wallet on top. That was my first intro, then over the years I would see them around Denver. Finally the timing was good and so was the money, so I kept an eye out, all the while seeing a Proton parked along Alameda near Broadway behind a house.

I liked the Kaiser the best, so I found one in Kansas City, bought it over the phone and USPS, then flew out and picked it up. Eventually that one was wrecked and while in Ohio, I found another Rhode Island from a guy on this site that bought a new Mustang when they came out (boring). :smilewink

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Originally Posted by vxstorm

Sighting of the Vx? I am sure we all remember where we were and what we were doing. Love at first sight!!

I was living in Blacksburg, Va. year- 1999 ... Mind you I was a college student who could barely afford the ramen noodles needed to sustain me...

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Funny thing, I was there at the same time (graduated 2001). I don't remember much from that year that didn't involve football. :)

I didn't actually see a VX in person until 2004/5 when I saw one on a used car lot in Fredericksburg, VA - but I instantly recognized it from a TV commerical I had seen 5 years earlier (I'm sure the Isuzu marketing department would be proud). I stopped by, took it out for a test drive, and was hooked. Unfortunately I couldn't afford to buy one at the time, but this spring I finally had the opportunity to pick up my Foxfire VX. (The fact that I went to a college with maroon as a school color had everything to do with picking the Foxfire). ;)

An interesting side note: the VX on the car lot was also a Foxfire, which means that though only 210 were made, I actually saw it before I ever saw a silver one.

Mav - I think I test drove that same VX (I was holding out for a Proton tho).

I saw a Silver VX from behind on 610N here in Houston in 1999 and saw the massive ISUZU on the back and I had to learn more about this sweet vehicle, then I remembered there being an Isuzu dealership out on 290W which was the #1 way I travel out of town because of my family in Waco and then later a girlfriend I was dating at Texas A&M. So almost everytime I drove that way I would either exit and stop and look at the 3 or so they had on the lot or take the exit and drive by slow, or if I didn't have time I would just stare as I passed by on the highway. I was a college athlete at the time and was on a fixed stipend from the University and could not make that much money during the summers, so the VX was out of my price range at the time, so I knew I would just have to wait, but every time I saw one on the roads I would stop and stare and be completely jealous, but in Dec 2004 when I was debating buying my dad's '67 Mustang Conv from him that we restored as a 2nd car, my daily driver was totaled while it was parked in front of a house I was teaching a youth bible study in, so I was forced to buy my first car after college and it had to be a VX! So I found one online in Chicago that was an Ebony (by far my favorite VX color) with the 285/60-18 Terra Grapplers already on it, and I knew I had found my next car, I got a loan from State Farm, got a one way plane ticket and picked up my dream vehicle and drove it home listening to the PV1 and loving it the whole way.

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Originally Posted by tom4bren

I'm starting to notice a trend. Most 'first experiences' were with a Proton.

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Once you see yellow, you'll never mellow!

(Look, I know they can't all be winners, but I'm trying...)

PS - GREAT thread idea!

i'm (well i used to be) all about cars... from like 8 years old... so i saw about the concept and followed it... when they hit the states i went to the local Isuzu dealership with my mom and saw my first LIVE VX (cant seem to post the pic from my album but u can see me huggin one haha.. page three first pic row two :)) then i followed all info i could thinkin i'd never own one.... bought the hotwheels... lost a couple (had each color atleast twice) moved to WV... never saw one... moved back to So-Cal got my job at Honda... worked for maybe three months and a PROTON was traded in for a CRV... as soon as i could touch it i took it for a spin.... tested EVERYTHING and blocked it behind like 15 cars until i could tell the used car manager it was mine..... one $13,000 check from grandma later i had her pink slip :bgwo:
payin her back slowely but surely.... thanks G-ma!!!... love you!!!

For those with Protons (or prior Proton obsessions) thought this auction might interest you...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Holsten-Offroa...1%7C240%3A1318

is all messed up. All the letters are jumbled its like its some other language:?:

Seller is German.

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Originally Posted by vt_maverick

Funny thing, I was there at the same time (graduated 2001). I don't remember much from that year that didn't involve football. :)

I didn't actually see a VX in person until 2004/5 when I saw one on a used car lot in Fredericksburg, VA - but I instantly recognized it from a TV commerical I had seen 5 years earlier (I'm sure the Isuzu marketing department would be proud). I stopped by, took it out for a test drive, and was hooked. Unfortunately I couldn't afford to buy one at the time, but this spring I finally had the opportunity to pick up my Foxfire VX. (The fact that I went to a college with maroon as a school color had everything to do with picking the Foxfire). ;)

An interesting side note: the VX on the car lot was also a Foxfire, which means that though only 210 were made, I actually saw it before I ever saw a silver one.

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Ah yes!! Back when Micheal Vic was a good football player and not a bad dog fighter : P That was when I actually started watching football. We always won!! : ) Congrats on your foxfire, they are a rare breed.

It was 2004 i just came into the US when i begin working at a shopping mall.

Around december i saw this guy pulling into the parking area with his silver VX,i felt so curious about it,but i felt shy about approching him to ask questions,one of my co-workers who have worked there for years told me that the guy always comes to shop so it wouldn't be the last time i'll see him.

After few weeks i felt confident enough & saw him coming so kindly ask him about it,he were so excited about the VX that he ask me to take a drive around the mall so i can be convinced about what he was tlaking about, :eek: Guys that was it,my thoughts were : cheez,can i ever own one,so patiently i begin to research more about isuzu & after three years i was ready for the hit,my bank approve me a loan & found my toy in riverhead,LI 67 miles away from home & here i'm with all you guys :)
My VX is originally from pocasset,MA,was always serviced at a nissan dealership located at that city :)

I don't know where I saw my first one, but I tailgated this one across the continental divide around this day two years ago. I snapped a hurried picture of it so I could look it up when I got home. I knew I had to have one.

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...s/100_0610.JPG

My father ( rest in peace) came home one day in the summer of 99 and said "son ..let go down and see this new thing ISUZU made".We got to the local dealer and.he said" look at that thing ".."It looks like some kind of MAD GERBIL 4X4.:mad:.."well I fell in love with it ..and next to it was a decked out AMIGO.
i jumped into the seat of the VX and said "HELL YES".:p.then we looked at the price...OUCH..
well i have'nt seen one since i started to look for one..
I was in a bad car crash and the insurance settlement was coming .and I
figured I would get a 4X4 this time ..and started to look at CJs and came across
a VX on the internet..WOW "Honey I said that's what I want" I told the wife.:rolleyes:.hehe ..well Now I got one of my Dream cars..:p

I liked them ever since I saw photos of them at launch. Anyway, the first time I actually saw one in the flesh was when I'd driven 350 miles to see and try one I had no intention of buying at the time.

Well, I didn't buy that one, but I did know that I definitely wanted a VX. I saw a couple in the US too - a silver/dark grey one in Vegas and one with a newsprint-style livery in S/F.

Then I saw one advertised moderately locally to me and... 11 months and 18,000 miles later :smilewink

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