1987 Suzuki Samurai Jx Sport Utility 2-door 1.3l $1 Start No Reserve on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Junkyard Gem: 1998 Suzuki Swift, Schnorchel Edition

To enable the use of internal-combustion engines underwater, German submarines during the later years of World War II used a pipe system swiped from the Dutch to suck in air and spit out exhaust. This rig was known as the Schnorchel, and a similar setup can be used on modern trucks to keep the engine from inhaling water or dust during river-fording or off-roading. In fact, you can buy a new Ford Bronco with a factory schnorchel (or snorkel, if you prefer the English spelling) right now. Purchasers of new Suzuki Swifts, however, had no such factory — or even aftermarket — option, and so the final owner of today's Junkyard Gem had to fabricate one using hardware-store components. Yes, this is a fully functional air-intake snorkel, made from PVC pipe and entering the engine compartment via not-so-precision holes sliced through the fender and inner fender. Once in the engine compartment, the pipe connects directly to the engine's throttle body. Sure, for serious underwater use you need to waterproof the distributor plus any sensitive electrical components, not to mention find some way to keep water from getting into transmission vents and the like. We can assume, however, that this snorkel wasn't intended for sustained underwater use. Other limitations of the Swift as an off-road machine, such as suspension design, ground clearance, and lack of four-wheel-drive, may have become apparent once the snorkel was installed. There are some wheel flares installed, to enable the use of oversized wheels and tires. The Swift is the same car as the Suzuki-built Geo Metro, which became the Chevrolet Metro starting in the 1998 model year. Known in its Japanese homeland as the Cultus, these cars were sold in every far-flung corner of the world. It appears that you could buy a new Cultus (with Margalla badges) in Pakistan as recently as a few years ago. This isn't the first interestingly modified second-generation Swift I've found in a Denver-area car graveyard in recent years. Perhaps the "Slokyo Drift" 1996 Swift was modified by the same person. There's just something about a tiny, fully depreciated car that inspires creativity. The 1998 Geo Metro was available with either a 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine or a 1.3-liter four-banger, but every new Swift sold here that year was a big-block car with the 1.3 and its 70 horsepower. This one even has the five-speed manual transmission, for added driving fun. Just 166,280 miles on the clock.

It's a hard knock life for a N"urburgring rental car

Rental cars get no respect. They're abused, misused and flogged mercilessly as athletes in Rental Car Olympics. And that's just at your everyday airport rental counter. The torture gets extreme for rental cars thrashed around Germany's infamous Nürburgring.
Rent4Ring expects its customers to drive its cars around the 'Ring with enthusiasm and, in some cases, less skill than the pros. Rent4Ring just recently retired its Suzuki Swift Sport from its fleet and shared the car's two-year-plus lifetime highlights.
The little hatchback made more than 2,800 laps of the 'Ring over three seasons amounting to more than 310,000 miles driven by 457 different drivers. "Some were fast, some were slow. Some were nice to the car, a few were frankly awful," says a Rent4Ring rep.

Man chases down truck thief and steams it all on Facebook

A Washington man chased down a truck stolen from his family's dealership last Saturday and livestreamed the event on Facebook. According to KOMO, a 2005 Ford F-250 was stolen from Sunrise Auto Sales in Eatonville, Washington on the morning of October 8. Aaron Babcock, who co-owns the small dealership with his father David, told reporters that after reviewing surveillance footage, he later spotted the truck while riding his motorcycle on Webster Road East. "I watched my cameras and found the video of a man lurking around and ending up taking off with my truck," Babcock told KOMO. "Cops came and made a case. Three hours later I was on my motorcycle in Graham, and they drove by me oncoming. It still had dealer stickers on it. It said diesel on the window and it had our dealer plate on it. It stuck out like a sore thumb. It was really easy to see." Once he spotted the stolen Super Duty, he wheeled his bike around and gave chase. He attempted to call 911, but was unsure if the dispatcher heard him due to noise from the wind and the bike's engine. So he fired up Facebook live and started streaming his chase, giving running commentary and updating his location as he chased the slow-moving truck. "I wasn't going to let him get away. I was going to try follow him down. I had no idea what to do," Babcock said. "Nobody could hear me on the phone so I just figured the first thing to do is pull up Facebook live." Babcock's Facebook friends pitched in by calling 911 to report the chase and even jumping in their own cars to follow the truck. At one point, he pulled alongside the truck and recognized both men in the cab. The driver was the man seen lurking around the dealer lot in the surveillance video, and the passenger was an old friend of Babcock's. "I know who you are!" he shouted at them, but the hunkered down and kept driving. Eventually, Babcock lost cell phone signal and the livestream ended. Eatonville police, who by this point were well aware of the incident, caught up with the truck in the 8400 block of 356th Street South in Eatonville. The driver was arrested and the passenger was questioned and released. Both denied stealing the vehicle or knowing it was stolen. Two sets of keys from Sunrise Auto Sales and a stolen credit card were also recovered from the truck. Related Video