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2019 Suzuki Jimny First Drive Review | Internet darling, real-world riot

FRANKFURT — Imagine a Mercedes G-Wagen hit with an incredible shrinking ray, and you'll not be far short of the new fouth-generation Suzuki Jimny, last sold in North America in the mid-1990s as the Samurai. The resemblance is astonishing, but there's enough of the Land Rover Defender, Toyota FJ, Honda Element and Jeep Wrangler in there, too, to keep Merc's copyright lawyers sitting on their hands. Cute as a family of otters in your bath, the new Jimny's proving the social-media hit of the fall, with online fan clubs starting, splintering and re-forming as they argue over which of the six new body colors is their favorite. Yet Jimny's no style pony. That lime green 'Kinetic Yellow' color might be the ultimate urban accessory, but it's formulated to make this tiny utility stand out in bad weather and on building sites. And in a world of fragile multi-clutch-based all-wheel-drive crossovers, Jimny is the real deal: body-on-frame construction, coil-sprung solid axles with three-link location at the rear and a panhard rod at the front, and a transfer-box set of crawler gears. And with entry, exit and breakover angles and ground clearance to rival that of a mountain ibex; this is a proper all-terrain automobile, just at five-eighths scale. It all started of course with Hope: the Japanese Hope Motor Company. Its OM360 was a 1960s Lilliputian take on the World War II Willys MB Jeep. Suzuki bought the design from Hope, and relaunched it with a new engine in 1970 as the first Jimny. Through three generations and 48 years, Jimny's been called variously: SJ; LJ; Farm Worker; Samurai; Gypsy; and Sierra. It's been rebadged as a Mazda and a Maruti, and has sold a total of 2.85 million across 194 countries, including at one time America, though the company pulled out of the U.S. car market in 2012. The outgoing third-generation Jimny had lost its way with a bland, wind-cheating design. The new Jimny is back to basics. Shortened by 1.2 inches, it's now 143.5 inches long, 64.8 inches wide, 67.9 inches high and runs on an 88.6-inch wheelbase. These bonsai dimensions are dictated by the Japanese Kei car, a size and taxation class aimed at tight urban spaces. The new car also gets a stronger, cross-braced ladder frame under the separate body isolated on eight rubber bobbins.

Suzuki considering Cappuccino revival?

It's not a secret that a few of us here at Autoblog have a crush on Japanese Kei cars. The diminutive sizes and cheeky looks of most of the segment are certainly endearing factors, but it was the sporting Kei cars of the 1990s that made for the most delicious forbidden fruit.
Suzuki's entry in that time and market space was the Cappuccino, a rear-wheel-drive coupe with a removable roof and roll bar, powered by a 657cc three-cylinder motor. The car hung around the Japanese market until 1997 (and was booted up in Gran Turismo form for years after that). Now, rumor has it that the little coupe could be getting a reboot around 2016.
The reports are still a bit short on detail; some indicate that a new Cappuccino could be built up on an existing Kei platform from Suzuki. If the new car were to keep the RWD layout of the original, however, that would mean building up the model on the live-rear-axle bones of the Suzuki Jimny or Carry.

Suzuki recalling 101,000 Forenza, Reno models over faulty headlamps

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced a recall of over 100,000 Suzuki models. The NHTSA recall extends to certain 2004-2006 Suzuki Forenza models and 2005-2006 Reno vehicles, These were vehicles produced from September 2003 through March 2006.
According to the announcement, the recall pertains to potentially faulty headlight assemblies. A poor contact in the headlight terminals can result in the splice pack melting, resulting in partial or complete loss of headlamp functionality.