Suzuki Samurai: Historical past, Generations, Fashions, Variations

The Samurai was the primary four-wheeled car Suzuki offered within the U.S., however its historical past begins practically 20 years earlier than the plucky little 4×4 made its method throughout the Pacific. In 1968, Japan’s Hope Motor Firm launched a small kei-class 4×4 with a 359cc Mitsubishi engine known as the ON360. Suzuki purchased Hope and developed the ON360 into the 1970 LJ10 (“Mild Jeep”), also called the Jimny.

Suzuki launched the second-generation Jimny in 1981, and in 1985 it started exporting the Jimny to the U.S. as a 1986 mannequin. Badged because the Samurai, the U.S. model had a carbureted 1.3-liter overhead-cam four-cylinder delivering 63 horsepower and 74-lb-ft of torque. It was noisy and gradual—MotorTrend clocked it to 60 mph in 16.9 seconds, with a quarter-mile time of 20.47 seconds at 64.5 mph—however good enjoyable round city, and off-road it was practically unstoppable, with its main limitation being its street-spec tires. Handbook-locking entrance hubs have been normal, with auto-lockers out there as a dealer-installed possibility.

With a base worth of $6,550, the Suzuki Samurai was two-thirds of the worth of the new-for-1987 Jeep Wrangler. Aided by cute “Beep, beep, hello!” commercials, it was an prompt hit. Suzuki initially deliberate to import 1,200 Samurais per thirty days in its first yr, however wound up promoting 47,000 for the yr, giving the Samurai the perfect first-year gross sales of any Japanese car to that date. It took simply greater than a yr and half for gross sales to hit the 100,000 mark, and by mid-1988 Individuals have been shopping for 8,000 Samurais per thirty days.

Suzuki launched an up to date Samurai in 1988 as a “1988½” mannequin. Softer springs, revised shock absorbers, and a thicker entrance anti-roll bar helped to ease the Samurai’s tough journey, whereas a barely shorter fifth-gear ratio improved freeway efficiency. Conscious of the Volkswagen Beetle’s success via revision somewhat than redesign, styling modifications have been restricted to a brand new grille and wheels on the skin and new gauges, steering wheel, and seats for the inside. That very same yr, Suzuki launched the marginally bigger 1989 Sidekick 4×4, additionally offered by Basic Motors because the Geo Tracker, to promote alongside the Samurai.

However 1988 was to be the Samurai’s annus horribilis. A powerful yen required Suzuki to boost the worth to $8,495, which cooled gross sales, however the impact of worth was nothing in comparison with the Shopper Stories debacle. After an worker of CR proprietor Shoppers Union rolled a check automotive in regular driving, the favored journal gave the Samurai an “unacceptable” ranking, saying it “simply rolls over in turns.” The corporate confirmed reporters a video of the Samurai tipping onto outriggers fitted by CU in a 40-mph crash-avoidance check and urged NHTSA to problem a recall. NHTSA refused.

Regardless, because of the CR report and its intensive media protection, Samurai gross sales plummeted, and Suzuki for the primary time needed to provide money rebates to maintain the Samurai promoting. The little 4×4 turned the butt of jokes: “Have you ever seen the 1989 Samurai? It has a sunroof on the ground.” Suzuki sued Shoppers Union in 1996, alleging the issue occurred when the check was modified to induce a rollover, although Suzuki’s personal inside correspondence revealed concern in regards to the Samurai’s propensity to tip. The lawsuit was settled out of court docket in 2004.

Regardless of these mortal wounds, the Suzuki Samurai soldiered on with few modifications. The 1990 Samurai acquired throttle-body gasoline injection, with a corresponding bump to 68 hp, and Suzuki supplied a two-wheel-drive model between 1991 and 1993. The corporate eliminated the rear seat after 1994, an expedient approach to conform to a requirement for rear-seat shoulder belts, which the Samurai lacked. The final mannequin yr for the Samurai within the U.S. was 1995.

Regardless of its loss of life within the American market, the Suzuki Jimny carried on elsewhere. Suzuki launched a third-generation mannequin in 1998, and after a 20-year run, the fourth-gen Jimny debuted in 2018; it stays on sale all through the world to today.

Suzuki was one of many first importers to acknowledge the significance of customization to American consumers. Earlier than the Samurai went on sale in 1985, Suzuki launched a catalog filled with equipment, which have been to be displayed on the dealerships in a “personalization heart”.

The Samurai’s success took Suzuki abruptly. The corporate had deliberate a gradual rollout, organising dealerships in California in November 1985, Florida and Georgia in December, after which staging a gradual roll-out to different states in the course of the subsequent three years. However preliminary gross sales have been so robust that Suzuki rushed to develop its gross sales community all through the nation.

The Samurai is among the few automobiles supplied on the market within the American market with out an automated transmission.

Although the Samurai got here to the U.S. in 1985 as a 1986 mannequin, exports to Canada and Puerto Rico started earlier. Canadians additionally may purchase a long-wheelbase model not out there within the U.S.

In 2007, Chileans Gonzalo Bravo and Eduardo Canales set the document for the very best altitude achieved by a four-wheel car after they drove their modified 1986 Suzuki Samurai up the Ojos del Salado volcano to an altitude of 21,942 ft. The earlier document of 21,804 ft was set by a Jeep Wrangler; the Jeep staff left an indication that stated “Jeep parking solely—all others do not make it up right here, anyway.” Bravo and Canales introduced the signal again down with them. A Unimog broke the document once more in 2020 when it climbed 21,962 ft up the identical volcano.

Thanks largely to its insanely-good off-road skills, the Suzuki Samurai is now a prized collectible, although many examples have been modified, so discovering one in as-delivered situation may be tough. If attainable, go for a non-modified Samurai, as they’re much less more likely to have been subjected to off-road abuse.

Shopping for a beforehand modified Samurai, however, is usually a big cost-saver in comparison with making the modifications your self, however you’re then topic to the standard of modifications completed by others. Test rigorously for indicators of shoddy work.

Examine the underbody rigorously. Moreover rust, it is best to search for dents, scrapes, or mud in hard-to-reach locations, all proof that the truck did onerous off-road time.

Some Samurai homeowners swapped out the 1.3-liter engine for the extra highly effective 1.6-liter fuel-injected engine from the Sidekick. Although the swap doesn’t require alterations to border or physique, it’s not a easy bolt-in substitution and requires a number of modifications; a poor-quality swap may cause issues down (or off) the street. Additionally, a Samurai with a non-stock engine will not be emissions-legal in some states, so test laws rigorously.

In case you encounter a Samurai with an automated transmission, it is a swap. All US-market Samurais got here with guide transmissions.

Among the many recognized hassle spots: Oil leaks on the distributor, leaky brake grasp cylinders, dangerous transfer-case bushings that lock the case in impartial, brittle plastic inside components, fiddly carburetors, and defective engine-control modules (ECMs) on fuel-injected engines.

The vastly succesful tiny off-roader of yesterday’s goals—and at the moment’s.

Photographs of the small, rugged, Jeep-ishly cute throwback SUV.

Japanese physique kits can flip the Jimny into any certainly one of a number of traditional off-roaders.

Sure, form of. Suzuki nonetheless sells the Jimny (the Samurai’s title exterior of North America) in a number of markets, and the 4×4 is now in its fourth technology. The Samurai title has been retired.

The Samurai is an exceptionally succesful off-roader that’s each sturdy and dependable, therefore its continued reputation and excessive resale values. Nevertheless, as a day by day driver it is gradual, noisy, and never notably snug, with 1986-88 fashions having a firmer journey. Although Samurai followers will argue in regards to the deserves of the Shopper Stories case, the Samurai is extra liable to tipping over in sudden swerves than most 4x4s.

Suzuki offered the Samurai in North America between late 1985 and 1995, with gross sales starting earlier in Canada and Puerto Rico. The Jimny on which the Samurai was primarily based was initially launched in Japan in 1970, and continues in manufacturing to today.

The Samurai was exceptionally standard when it first got here to the U.S., however a 1988 story by Shopper Stories citing an alleged propensity to roll over killed its gross sales, which slowed to a trickle and led to a 1995 withdrawal from the U.S. market. Suzuki sued in 1996, accusing CR of manipulating the check to induce a rollover; the swimsuit was ultimately settled out of court docket. By that point, Suzuki had introduced the bigger and wider Sidekick to market, and it successfully changed the Samurai.