***1988 35th Anniversary C4 Corvette Original 29k Miles And Zero Accidents*** on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Suzuki Jimny pickup concept heading to Tokyo Auto Salon

Some of the best news this year is coming at the tail end of 2018. Suzuki's Jimny is already pretty awesome, but for the upcoming 2019 Tokyo Auto Salon, Suzuki is preparing something quite special for its little off-roader: a Jimny pickup! Suzuki based the concept on the Sierra trim level. The truck is designed to be an active sidekick for customers who need the convenience of a pickup for either DIY stuff or adventuring. The retro style is immensely cool: gold bodywork, wood sides, different grille, light bar, white roof and matching white wheels with chromed hubcaps — the entire thing is like a 1970s Suzuki aftermarket parts catalogue applied to a new Jimny. The cab has been shortened to ditch the rear seats, and a short bed has been tacked on without lengthening the wheelbase. If you ask us, the wheelbase even looks shorter than stock. Accompanying the pickup is a "Survive" concept that looks ready for adventuring. The stock bumpers have been replaced with sturdy metal ones that improve the approach and departure angle. There's also an external rollover cage, a winch, custom wheels and some Defender-style aluminum diamond plate. Suzuki says the Jimny Survive has been outfitted for traversing "severe nature" under extreme conditions. We'd happily take both of these mountaineering or even for a weekend trip to the cottage. While both of these trucks are obviously concepts, they show the direction where a Jimny owner could feasibly take their truck. And since some earlier generation Jimnys have been available as pickups, it's not totally improbable to imagine a production Jimny pickup somewhere in the next decade. Here's hoping. Related Video: Image Credit: Suzuki Tokyo Motor Show Suzuki SUV Concept Cars suzuki jimny

American Suzuki gets $100M in financing to go out of business... buy more cars?

American Suzuki Motor Corporation (ASMC), which declared bankruptcy in early November, has been approved by the courts for up to $100 million in debtor-in-possession financing to enable it to shutter its US car business. ASMC had received a $45 million loan from the Japanese parent company, Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), last month in order to make repayment deals with its franchise dealers. At the same time, ASMC was awaiting final court approval of this larger loan.
Out of the newly approved funds, $50 million can be used for operations, and oddly, the other $50 million can be put toward purchases of new inventory from SMC. That's right, even as existing inventory was headed for a smooth exit with the help of incentives, customer demand for orphan Suzuki models is so strong - last month's sales were up 22 percent compared to 2011 - that ASMC plans to purchase 2,500 additional cars from SMC that were built after the bankruptcy announcement. Good news for the owners of those vehicles: the top 50 dealers, representing more than 98 percent of ASMC sales, will become parts and services centers.
The press release below has more information. Unlike its recent tenure here, the end of Suzuki cars in the US looks like it's going rather well.

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: