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Some bullies fear the dark. I learned this as a sixth-grader at Holy Redeemer Elementary School in New Orleans. Lil’ Man, the class terrorist, used to beat me up. He’d slap my head. I’d protest. He’d punch me.

The abuse continued until my Grandma Dora told me about voodoo. “You put the gris-gris on that boy,” she said, referring to a spell. “You tell him that gris-gris gonna come and snatch him up at night. That’ll fix him,” she said.

And so I told Lil’ Man that he was in danger of disappearing in the night. He punched me, but I laughed and taunted: “Gris-gris gonna getcha, gris-gris gonna getcha, gonna snatch you up at night!”

Next day, Lil’ Man’s mom came to school to complain that he couldn’t sleep because of “some awful thing” a classmate told him about vanishing in the night. She told this to Sister Irene, our teacher, who whipped me. But Lil’ Man never punched or slapped me after that. He was a bully without portfolio, just like some sport-utility vehicles.

You see some of those big, expensive four-wheel-drive machines rolling around, and they look really menacing on the highway. But they can’t do diddly off-road or in the deep, dark forest — partly because their tracks are too wide to safely travel narrow off-road paths, but mostly because their owners are scared silly about scratching paint, muddying fancy carpets or bumping their super-wattage stereos into soundless oblivion.

That’s not the case with the compact 1998 Isuzu Amigo. What you see is what you get, and what you get is a rugged little sport-ute that climbs hills and sloshes through mud with nary a worry. And when you’re done getting it dirty, you just wash the thing off, scrub its meant-to-get-soiled carpets, and go to a movie or restaurant or something. It is what a true sport-utility vehicle ought to be — fun.

The Amigo had been missing from Isuzu’s U.S. lineup for three years, mostly because of politics. Our government classifies two-door sport-utes as “trucks” and four-door models as “cars” for import tariff purposes. Trucks pay a 25 percent tariff, and cars pay a comparatively skimpy 2.5 percent. The Amigo was a two-door import from Japan.

The new Amigo also has two doors, but it’s now built in America at the Subaru-Isuzu Automotive plant in Lafayette, Ind. That eliminates the tariff business and allows Isuzu to sell the Amigo the way it was meant to be sold– at a reasonable price.

Built on the Rodeo platform, the Amigo attacks the bigger-is-better sport-utes at their weakest points — acceleration, handling, fuel economy, affordability, and off-road use and maneuverability. As such, it is more of a running buddy than a parking lot ornament.

The Amigo, thus, is a key component of Isuzu’s long-term strategy to move toward super-versatile vehicles — hybrid car-trucks and manageable, fun-to-drive sport-utes. Favorable public reaction to tested Amigos indicates that the company is moving in the right direction.

Currently there a re two basic versions, convertible soft-top jobs available with either two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive — with a standard in-line four-cylinder engine or an optional V-6.

The cast-iron, 2.2-liter, four-cylinder Amigo engine produces 130 horsepower at 5,200 rpm and 144 pound-feet of torque at 4,000 rpm. The aluminum alloy, 3.2-liter, 24-valve V-6 produces 205 horsepower at 5,400 rpm and 214 pound-feet of torque at 3,000 rpm.

A five-speed manual transmission is standard for both models, which seat five people, four of them comfortably. A dash-mounted switch operates the four-wheel-drive system, along with a floor-mounted gear to transfer from four-wheel high to four-wheel low.

A hardtop Amigo is coming for 1999.

1998 ISUZU AMIGO

Complaints: Isuzu needs to make up its mind on four-wheel drive. Go with the dash switch or with the floor-mounted lever, but not both.

Praise: One of the most decently packaged, affordable sport-utility models available. A home run for fun and overall common sense.

Ride, acceleration and handling: Excellent ride and handling in the four-cylinder model. Acceptable acceleration. Aces all around for the six-cylinder version, which really moves! Good braking — anti-lock, power front discs and rear drums.

Head-turning quotient: High marks from the young and the restless — the Amigo’s target audience.

Mileage: In the six-cylinder model, about 20 miles per gallon in mostly highway driving. Fuel tank holds 17.7 gallons of regular unleaded gasoline. Estimated range is 342 miles on usable volume of fuel.

Sound system: Optional six-speaker AM-FM stereo radio and cassette, installed by Isuzu. Okay.

Price: Amigo prices are soft at this writing and are subject to change. But figure $14,995 for the base two-wheel-drive model; $17,500 for the four-cylinder, four-wheel-drive; and $19,350 for the V-6 four-wheel-drive. Major options include air conditioning, limited-slip differential, outside spare tire carrier and leather seats. Add $445 for transportation charges.

Purse-strings note: Good value. Compare with Toyota RAV-4, Honda CR-V, Kia Sportage, Jeep Wrangler and Chevrolet Tracker/Suzuki Sidekick.