All F-series trucks are cab over designs and the cabin comes fully built from the factory.

While Isuzu's main plant is in Japan, these trucks are locally assembled from CKD kits in numerous countries.

Confusingly, the smaller Isuzu Elf (N-Series) has been sold as the "GMC Forward" in the United States and other markets.

[5] The Isuzu Forward is among the commercial grade trucks used by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force for rear line duties.

All of the original models came equipped with Isuzu's D500 diesel engine, a 5.0 L (4,978 cc) inline-six with 125 PS (92 kW).

The D500 engine was largely replaced with the new 5.4 L (5,393 cc) 6BB1 direct injection inline-six producing 145 PS (107 kW).

[7] The glowplug equipped 6BB1 had the smallest displacement per cylinder of any direct injection diesel engine in the world at the time and went on to power a large number of the Forward, the Elf, and many other Isuzu vehicles for the coming decades.

A 1992–1994 Isuzu Forward truck appears in a scene of Studio Ghibli's 1994 animated movie Pom Poko.

[11] The fourth generation Forward was released in February 1994 with all SOHC engines starting with the naturally aspirated or turbocharged 6HE1 until 1999 and replaced with the new 8.2 litre 6HH1 and 7.8 litre 6HK1-TC (also shared with the American-developed Isuzu H-series) engines mated to the six-speed manual or Isuzu's 'Smoother F' automatic gearbox, with Power Shift and HSA are standard equipment, only the ABS/ASR are optional.

For the Chilean and Peruvian markets, the trucks were shipped from Japan as CKD kits to Huechuraba, Chile, where up to two a day could be assembled by a team of 13 workers.

It featured the Isuzu 5.2L 4HK1-TC engine developing 215hp and 520 lb-ft of torque paired to an Allison 2000 series 6-speed automatic transmission.