seems as though their relationship with GM has hamstrung them over here.
That's an understatement! LOL!

isuzu is making a sports car now???
More like "again". My '84 Impulse is what got me hooked on Isuzu to begin with, and it was an incredible handling coupe with a style that set the bar in design for virtually everything the competition could produce afterward. Example of 1st Gen Impulse:

When the news of the 4200R came out in the late eighties as a potential replacement for the Impulse I started saving money for a deposit right then and there. If they had produced that car I'd probably still be driving it! The 4200R: