Can this 80s oddity be saved?

We miss the Isuzu Impulse.  It offered cool Italian styling (in the first generation), Turbo power and a cool 80s-modern interior.  These were never record-breaking sellers, but Impulses – turbo or otherwise – used to be fairly common sightings.

What happened?  We can’t think when we last saw one in person and they only come up for sale periodically.

This poor car has 242K miles, hideous aftermarket wheels, a nasty suspension drop and a bit of unspecified meddling under the hood.  Still, we post if here asking whether readers think it can be saved.  Also, we’ve been annoyed by a couple of annoying, automatic-equipped Impulses listed recently.

The seller claims the engine has been rebuilt and mentions an aftermarket exhaust pipe, but not the more obvious mods.  We wonder if a compression test and some paperwork could verify a quality rebuild, in which case this could be doable if it doesn’t go much at all above the starting price.  We wonder how hard it is to find original wheels…maybe that funky square pattern?

Click for eBay ad
Winter Haven, Florida
$1,500 with ZERO  bids and no reserve
09/02/2013 update:  Ended with ZERO bids, likely due to hideous wheels

Ad text:

THE MOTOR HAS BEEN REBUILT NEW SEALS HAVE BEEN PUT IN IT. THE SHIPPING IS DONE BY THE BUYER. THE CAR IS IN GOOD CONDITION DRIVES AND RUNS GREAT. HAS NO RIPS OR TEARS IN THE SEATS OR CARPET. IT DOES HAVE A AFTERMARKET EXHAUST PIPE.