AN OLD FRIEND

The Resurrection and Restoration of Lomego

- RYAN LEE PRICE

WHEN ONE THINKS OF STREET TRUCKS DURING THE ANYTHING-GOES MINI-TRUCK ERA OF THE LATE 1980S AND INTO THE ’90S, NISSAN PICKUPS, TOYOTA TACOMA AND MAZDA B2200S IMMEDIATELY SPRING TO MIND. What is slightly more difficult to picture is a bagged Isuzu Amigo scraping the streets and collecting trophies at the shows. But that’s exactly how it was in 1998, when this 1990 Isuzu Amigo first rolled out of Rob Rodell’s fabrication shop and onto the July 1998 cover of the iconic magazine, MiniTruckin’..

From Orbisonia, Pennsylvania, Jonathan Moore describes himself as your “average everyday grease monkey.” He is a factory worker by day and wrench turner by night, “living the life,” as Jon says.

Jon was introduced to the mini-truck scene as most enthusiasts are, via friends.

“One of my friends was a couple of years older than me, and he joined the Navy,” Jon recalled. When he came back for some R and R that summer of 1993, “he came back in a lowered Suzuki Samurai. And I was instantly hooked. I needed a mini-truck.”

This was a time of ground effects, drip paint jobs, neon lights and wire wheels…anything goes in an era when extravagance was excellence.

Jon’s first foray into the mini-truck industry was a 1973 Datsun 620 he picked up for $150 that was worse for wear even when he acquired it.

“It had its day before I bought it, but I squeezed every ounce of life out of it I could,” remembers Jon.

It was blue with red scallops. The torsions were cranked down, and it rode on 3-inch blocks in the back, a perfect ride for a high school student. But thanks to the Pennsylvania weather, rust eventually got the better of it and Jon moved on to other projects.

Having always been involved in cars and trucks, he next picked up a Suzuki Samurai similar to his high school buddy’s.