Zorak has a good point...checking the source.

Westlund Isuzu and Scarff Isuzu in Washington both agree that all Victory Whites sold in the USA were originally intended as the "Ironman Edition", although nobody seems to know why there was a need for such a name or edition.

I owned one of the first-year USA Ironman VXs...a Victory White '99. I purchased it from Bellevue Isuzu, in Bellevue, WA...where they also informed me that white = Ironman and Ironman = white.

Anything else is speculation. Plus, it doesn't really matter, since many of these extra-cost Ironman editions were indeed immediately debadged. Those decals were sort of over-the-top. What, is every driver claiming to be a winner...or even just a participant...of the Ironman Triathlon?