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Junkyard Gem: 2010 Suzuki Kizashi SE

American Suzuki Motor Corporation filed for bankruptcy in 2012, and new Suzuki-badged cars stopped being sold here the following year (meanwhile, Suzuki went on to create one of the biggest-selling cars in its home market). While many of the United States-market Suzukis of the previous decade had been Daewoos beneath the emblems, the Kizashi sedan was designed and manufactured entirely by Suzuki. There were high hopes – at first – that it would revive the brand's American fortunes. Here's a first-model-year example, found in a San Francsico Bay Area self-service yard a few months back. The word Kizashi means "something great is coming" in Japanese, but the Great Recession and the decreasing popularity of non-truck-shaped new vehicles in the United States kept sales of these cars low (even as Monster Tajima broke the ten-minute barrier in a Suzuki at Pikes Peak). You could buy a new Kizashi here until American Suzuki folded its tent and left in 2013, leaving just two-wheeled Suzukis available here for highway use. That was unfortunate because the Kizashi provided a lot of value for the price. This Kizashi SE had an MSRP starting at $21,499 (about $27,085 in 2021 dollars), and it had a pleasant interior and a bunch of unexpected standard features. You got keyless ignition, power seats with memory, 17" alloy wheels and a pretty decent seven-speaker audio system with USB and Bluetooth inputs (both of which were still uncommon in lower-priced cars at the time). If you upgraded to the GTS or SLS trim levels ($22,499 and $24,399, respectively), you got goodies including a thumping 10-speaker Rockford Fosgate audio system, a power sunroof and 18-inch wheels. But unless you were selling Hayabusas or KingQuads, 2010 wasn't a great time to have a Suzuki sign in front of your American showroom. The days of Geo- and Chevrolet-badged Suzukis roaming every American road ended with the Metro and Tracker; by the end, only the Kizashi, SX4 and Grand Vitara remained here. It appears that a Ford dealership in Pennsylvania sold this car at some point prior to its migration west. The 2.4-liter four-cylinder made 185 horsepower, better than its four-cylinder Mazda6 and Altima rivals. Smaller-displacement versions of the J24B engine went into the Aerio, Esteem, Sidekick, Tracker, and Vitara; the Grand Vitara got the 2.4. A six-speed manual transmission was available in the Kizashi's other trim levels, but SE buyers had to take the CVT. This content is hosted by a third party.

Junkyard Gem: 1991 Geo Metro LSi Convertible

Americans lost the ability to buy a new Detroit-made convertible starting in the 1977 model year (unless you count aftermarket conversions), not regaining it until drop-top Chrysler K-Cars showed up in showrooms in 1981. This gave convertibles a certain magical quality that lasted for quite a while here, and so it seemed to make sense for GM to offer an open-air version of the Geo Metro. Here's one of those cars, spotted in a self-service yard in northeastern Colorado. The Metro was really a second-generation Suzuki Cultus, successor to the 1985-1988 Chevrolet Sprint. While a four-cylinder engine became available in the later Metro (which got Chevrolet badges when the Geo brand got the axe in 1997), all Chevy Sprints and early Metros got this 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine. You're looking at 55 Suzuki horsepower here. The XFi version of the Metro (not available with a convertible top) managed to get better than 60 highway miles per gallon with an engine rated at 49 horsepower. There was an automatic transmission available… for 465 bucks (about $993 in 2022 dollars). That would have added nearly 5% to the cost of this $9,740 car ($20,805 today) and killed the fuel economy, so nearly all Metro buyers got their cars with three pedals. Do you like simple instruments in cars? You'll love the Metro! This one is good and rusty, with some really scary corrosion underneath. I think it sat in a field, buried to the axles, for many years. However, the bra tells us that it once had an owner who loved their then-shiny red convertible. No 1991 competitor could offer a new convertible with a price tag even close to that of the $9,740 Metro LSi. Oh, sure, a ragtop version of the wretched Yugo was available in 1990 and maybe 1991, but that doesn't count. A new Miata cost $13,800 that year, with a Mazda-based Mercury Capri going for $12,588. The 1991 VW Golf Cabriolet cost $16,175, and prices for convertibles just got higher with other competitors. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. How much? No way!

Buy my Vitara, special-effects pro says in greatest commercial Suzuki never made

A month ago, Eugene Romanovsky posted an advertisement to sell "my best friend," his 1996 Suzuki Vitara, also known as the Sidekick in the United States, on YouTube. The 2.1 million people who have viewed the commercial so far may not have actually considered taking the car off his hands, but every one of them has had a good laugh. The production values of the video far surpass the production values that went into the making of the car itself. Romanovsky is a special-effects artist at the creative group Gravity in Tel Aviv. For the remaining few million of you who have not yet seen the #BuyMyViara video, it would be a disservice to tell reveal what's in it. Let's just say there's not much that isn't in it. The car's book value of a couple-grand belies the fact that it is truly the most amazing vehicle ever built. It does, after all, boast 96 horsepower and a manual transmission featuring a low gear. Trust us, just watch the video. Related Video: Weird Car News Suzuki SUV Videos viral video