1981 Amc Eagle Sx4 Automatic Transmission, Full-time 4wd, 6cyl, Sunroof on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Suzuki's next Jimny won't veer too far from The Way Of The Samurai

Suzuki might be gone as an automaker in the US, but the brand is still driving along in other parts of the world. In fact, it even has new products in the pipeline and among them is a replacement for the venerable Jimny compact SUV (better known as the Samurai in America). The last all-new Jimny hit the market back in 1998, but the little SUVs have grown quite a cult following, especially in the UK. Farmers love them because the compact vehicles can go just about anywhere, thanks to a relatively high ground clearance, small size and four-wheel drive. With the new generation due in 2017, according to Top Gear, that's nearly 20 years of hard work for this off-roader. Though, Suzuki refreshed the Jimny slightly for the 2013 model year (pictured above) across the pond with a revised front end. Don't expect the future iteration to go soft, though. Unlike the similarly long-lived Land Rover Defender, which is rumored to be a bit friendlier in its next generation, Suzuki wants keep the model's abilities as capable as possible, while adding some modern assistance systems. "The next Jimny will be an evolution. It will follow the same recipe. When you see it you'll know it's a Jimny," said the automaker's UK sales boss Dale Wyatt to Top Gear. "If you were a sheep farmer in the Scottish hills you'd see the car is perfect; no argument to change it." If all these promises about the future come true, we might get to hear about the Jimny driving around the world or pulling a huge truck out of the snow for many years to come.

Suzuki concepts are exploring mountain trails and the culinary arts

Attention is already on Suzuki products headed to the upcoming Tokyo Auto Salon thanks to Japanese tuner DAMD. The company turned two Suzuki Jimnys into the Little 5, a tribute to Renault's 5 Turbo and 5 Turbo 2, and the Little Delta, a tribute to the Lancia Delta Integrale. Suzuki's got a trio of its own creations on the way as well, highlighted by new conceptual takes on the Swift hatchback and Spacia kei van that differ from the ones shown during the Tokyo Auto Show. The star player is the new, fourth-generation 2024 Swift hatchback (below) that's probably best considered an evolved third-gen, here called the Swift Cool Yellow Rev Concept for not-exactly-obvious reasons. Solely a flashy cosmetics package, the design drapes a black roof and black roof pillars over a greenish yellow body and dinky black wheels. The grille wears gloss black above a front splitter, the LED headlights and taillights get smoked lenses, and the vinyl wrap advertises the arrival of the front-wheel-drive variant that went on sale in Japan in December.     Show-goers could be more captivated by the Super Carry Mountain Trail Concept, shown up top. Built atop Suzuki's Super Carry commercial truck sold in places like Japan, India, and Southeast Asia, it looks like a shrunken version of an overlanding build we'd see at SEMA; the Super Carry retail model stretches just 11 feet long — 20 inches shorter than a two-door Mini Cooper — and uses a 658-cc engine. The exterior roll cage and tube doors set the tone immediately. Dimensionally proportionate gear runs from the roof rack and light bar to the off-road racing bucket seats, grilles over the side and rear windows, front skid plate and D-rings, Hi-Lift jack strapped to a riser in the bed, and little knobby tires on little off-road wheels. Smoked headlight lenses make their way to this creation, too. This one's reported to be a concept only, meant to show audiences the potential in commercial vehicles outside the workplace.  Finally, there's the wonderfully named Spacia Papa Boku Kitchen Concept. This slightly adventurous kei car disguise outside hides a kitchen in the cargo bay. We'll find out what the chef's area looks like during the show, but designers are said to have envisioned a space where parents and kids can bond over cooking adventures while camping.   The Tokyo Auto Salon is putting this and all sorts of other novelties on display in Chiba City, Japan, January 12-14.

Junkyard Gem: 1990 Suzuki Sidekick Convertible

When General Motors decided to create the Geo brand in 1989, for vehicles designed and/or built by Isuzu, Toyota, and Suzuki (strangely, the Daewoo-built LeMans kept its Pontiac badges even as the Corolla-based Chevy Nova became the Geo Prizm), the only Geo truck was the Tracker. The Tracker (later a Chevrolet) was really a Suzuki Escudo aka Vitara, and Suzuki decided to sell these trucks in North America with Sidekick badges. Here's one of those early Sidekicks, photographed in a Denver self-service yard with period-correct aftermarket wheels. The first-generation Tracker and Sidekick were sold here for the 1989 through 1998 model years, after which the Tracker name lived on for a few more years on the second-generation truck and Suzuki ditched the Sidekick name in favor of Vitara and Grand Vitara. Suzuki kept selling Grand Vitaras here until the very end (which came in 2013). This is the first Sidekick I've documented in the Junkyard Gems series, because they never sold as well as their Tracker siblings and have become quite rare. Power came from this 1.6-liter G16 engine, a bored-and-stroked version of the engines used in such machines as the Suzuki Samurai and (four-cylinder) Geo Metro. Carburetors were nearly extinct on new vehicles in the United States by 1990, but you could still buy a few throwbacks that didn't have EFI. Might as well brag a bit with a badge like this one! You could get the '90 Sidekick with a five-speed manual or a three-speed automatic, with your choice of rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. This one has the five-speed and 4WD. American Sidekick shoppers had their choice of a two-door hardtop or convertible version; this one is the convertible. It's equipped with exquisitely 1990s spoked wheels, complete with the stretched narrow-tire treatment. The brightly-painted interior trim pieces suggest more of a mid-2000s influence. Just over 150,000 total miles on the odometer. Leaf springs? No, the Sidekick got modern coils. In the Sidekick's homeland, the TV commercials went for a North African look. Related video: