Suzuki Samurai: The tiny Jeep from Japan

[@ericwhitehead6451]

Suzuki had always built good, solid cars and SUV's. I was sad to see them go, they had a nice line up when they left the US market.

[@autochatter]

Yeah..That last sedan they had here was a pretty nice car too!

[@ericwhitehead6451]

@@autochatter I can't remember the name of that... Didn't it have an inline 6?

[@autochatter]

​@ericwhitehead6451 The Kizashi. It had a 4, but the Verona had a I6. Verona was a rebadged Daewoo.

[@trevork8925]

Its another one of those cars that are fun to drive until your friends find out! LOL 🤣

[@autochatter]

LOL.. I wouldn't put a Samurai anywhere near that status..Thats more like a moped!!!

[@MotorMaster_Stunticon]

Thanks for another interesting video. I enjoyed the footage and the history of the vehicle was quite intriguing. My uncle owned a Samurai back in the early 90s. I can’t recall the last time I saw one on the road. But yeah I agree, you can find well-kept examples online and prices for models like these are slowly creeping up. I like the undeniably 80s rugged, utilitarian and spartan interior of these haha.

[@autochatter]

LOL. Its like a 4x4 side by side you can buy today, but it's street legal! Thanks for giving it a watch Rob. Still on the lookout for your next one!

[@acousticbutler]

Nice job

[@autochatter]

Thank you Yoda!

[@P_RO_]

"If you want a Samuri you can still find them?" Where? Lots of 4WD enthusiasms where I live and darn near every Samurai has been lifted cut and butchered into a very capable off-roader- you can't find an original for sale. Used to see many on the road, but again they're scarce now and at best you'll see a few a week instead of dozens a day. It took awhile for the off-roaders to catch on but once they learned how to build a Samurai they began leaving their breakage-prone expensive Jeeps at home. A lot of people used them as a stepping-stone to Jeep ownership because back then they were cheap. Suzuki got screwed by the safety-nazis, of course it roll over more easily than most cars. It even tells you that in the owner's manual. Jeeps have the same problem, but being American made nobody tried a scare campaign on them. I was SO glad to hear that Suzuki was suing the idiots whose understanding of vehicle dynamics was so low they should not have been allowed to drive. It also showed that anyone making Nader-like claims had better be ready to prove them in Court or pay for their errors. There's not too many cars I really really want that I'd have half a chance at getting, but a Samauri is one of them.

[@autochatter]

Well...I didn't mean to imply finding a stock Samurai would be as easy as a used Rav4, but there are SOME lol. You can go to places like Duncan's imports and find a 25 yr and older one they may have available too.I saw a white stock Samurai last week and a Citreon 2CV on the road in showroom shape and that's rare! But yes, alot of Samurais are modified over the years....like Jeeps as I can't remember the last time I've seen a stock older Wrangler. Everyone gives them bigger tires and a few inches of lift at least.I feel the Samurai was targeted in that testing too. Consumer Reports blasted the Ford Bronco 2 for the same reasons about a year later, so they didn't just go after Isuzu and Suzuki. Guess they enjoy being the "fun police" LOL.

[@P_RO_]

@@autochatter Any vehicle which is really good at something which consumers want is going to become hard to get in time. Old VW Diesels are snapped up by veggie-oil/biofuel fans, old Ford Festivas are scooped up by hypermilers, and Samurais go to off-roaders. All are great platforms for their purposes with nothing else doing those things so well. The world is much different back east here between big cities where there are no specialized car dealers, meaning you have to put more effort into finding good old cars, and where the best ones are hidden away somewhere with few people knowing about them and the owner reluctant to sell to just anybody. The good stuff disappears fast and gets shipped away to where the prices are higher. With enough money you can have anything, but that doesn't mean it's generally available. Not as many barn and backyard finds as there once were. I might know where one is hiding, and if it's still there in that barn it will be stock and in fantastic shape. If I ever get some money together I'm going to look into that one.

[@autochatter]

@P_RO_ The internet has made it easier for even someone in the middle of nowhere to advertise. Years ago I stumbled upon a house in the country out near where I lived and the resident was gone..Older man deceased from what I was told. He had a shop out back with three nice dune buggies...Two of which just looked like they just needed a bath. I tried to find out who owned the property now to make an offer...But one day I got word the shop was empty.

[@domjohnson8723]

It's a shame that it got such a bad reputation in the US.

[@autochatter]

I know. I've always loved these little Suzukis