Mint Condition

Aaron Oliver’s Twizted Isuzu P’up

AARON OLIVER HAD A LOT TO THINK ABOUT WHEN HE FOUND HIMSELF STRANDED ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD IN A NOT-SO-CHEAP TURNKEY TRUCK HE HAD JUST PURCHASED. Luckily, his son Ryan was along for the ride, so the two had each other for company. The situation gave Aaron lots of time to reflect on how things could’ve been different, but also how much he still wouldn’t change about his current scenario.

“At the time when I purchased this Isuzu, I was looking to buy a truck that was already done,” Aaron says about his latest minitruck acquisition. “I’ve owned many trucks over the years, and I was finally in a position to buy something that was done that I didn’t have to rebuild or finish.”

While that does sound like a good spot to be it, it didn’t help make an untimely smack of hard luck sting any less.

“Two hours into our trip back to Ohio from Chicago, the Isuzu’s engine blew while we were passing through Indiana,” Aaron says. “The trip didn’t go as expected, but four of our Twizted Intentions club members, Jesse Kidd, Buddy Hedland, and Craig and Angie Snyder, responded to our distress call and got us back home safely and quickly.”

After that first incident with the truck, Aaron fully assessed the situation when it was finally parked inside his garage. The Isuzu only had two previous owners who cultivated the Isuzu into the condition it was in when he found it for sale. Kane Ferris was the original builder of the truck, who then handed it over to Thomas Townsend, owner of Paint Asylum, who pulled the strings to put his own spin on it. Aside from painting the truck its current cool minty green color, Thomas also had reached out to Chris Allred of Unusual Fabrication to build new ‘bag mounts, as well as a set of one-off tubular control arms to narrow the front end 3 full inches. It was all this work that kept the Isuzu fiends out there interested and talking about the rebuild, which is exactly how Aaron caught wind of it being on the market again.

“Chris Couch, who is one of our Twizted members, told me about the Isuzu, and that it had only been to one show since it was freshly remodeled,” Aaron says about the inside info he received about his future new truck. “Chris also mentioned to me that the owner would most likely be interested in selling if approached with the right offer.”

With that lead, Aaron and his son made their way to Chicago with pockets full of money and a plan to drive their new truck back home as a victory celebration if it was to their liking. While only part of that plan carried on without a hitch, Aaron made sure to see the situation for what it was—a good