The Suzuki Swift s 40 years old! Mk1 Swift Goes for a Drive

[@alansorbie4038]

Suzuki make great cars. However I think you’ll find the ‘80s was about 5 years ago and not 40. Oh, hang on……😂

[@danmccarthy4700]

It's insane how fast time goes.

[@martynwebster8360]

I used to work at a Suzuki dealer and this was sat in the showroom for about 4 years. Great to see it being used and thrown round the roundabout rather than parked up with flat tyres

[@furiousdriving]

I wondered where it had come from!

[@martynwebster8360]

I’m glad to know that it is now part of the heritage collection, the Swift was for sale at £6000 at the dealer

[@AJT296]

Forget your Lamborghinis and Ferraris and Paganis, I find little ordinary cars like this far more interesting. I like the fact that Suzuki makes simple, honest cars like this. A lot of very clever engineering

[@williamegler8771]

A neighbor had a Chevy Sprint with A/C and automatic. She didn't learn how to drive until after her husband passed away and although she could afford almost any new car she bought the same one the driving school used and she learned to drive because she was familiar with it. Not too long after she got it she and her toy poodle drove it from Wisconsin to Texas, a distance of over 900 miles, to visit high school friends that she hadn't seen in decades. She said crosswinds on the highway blew it all over the place and a medium-sized bird decided to commit suicide by flying into the hood. The hood was so badly damaged it had to be replaced. But she did keep it for 15 years before she can no longer drive. By that time it had developed a significant rust so she eventually junked it. It only had 52,000 miles on it.

[@nickbrice8497]

My Dad had a MK1 Swift GTI , 101hp from a 1.3 n/a engine in 1988. The little car was so quick back in the day, it only weighed like 700kg

[@luketrend1161]

My second car was an ‘88 1.3 GLX… it had been my Mum’s car whilst we were kids. Then my sister had it, then my auntie, and when I came home from Italy and needed a car quickly, I ended up with it. I thought it was so cool with its electric windows when i was 10 years old 😎Alas, years of living by the coast with our kid took its toll, and when it spectacularly failed it’s MOT due to rust in 2005, it was like a family member had died! 😢 I always thought it looked very similar to the 3rd gen civic that I saw on my paper round! 😊

[@carloverhaar2797]

This gen Swift was my first car in 1988. A 1 litre 3 cylinder in absolute base spec. Had to pay extra for the passenger sun visor! Drove it for 6 years and 200k kilometers, without any mechanical issue whatsoever. Ridiculously frugal as well. Great memories, thanks for the video!

[@markdugan6231]

I bought a new 1986 Chevy Sprint for $6,000 US. dollars with AC to use as a commuter car after ten years of 55 mpg it was over for it. I loved that car and put 355,000 miles on it, that thing was awesome.

[@furiousdriving]

335,000 miles? Not bad!

[@danmccarthy4700]

Dude that's insane mileage!

[@jonnycando]

Highway mileage is great for cars…they run a constant speed, stable temperature, and if your oil changed it will run forever. Even badly made cars will last a long while if operated at constant speeds, and gets good maintenance.

[@geoffnoyes520]

I owned a 1973 Suzuki LC 20, Fronte. Tiny, but with four doors and rear engine and rear wheel drive. It had a 360cc 3 cylinder 2 stroke motor that sounded great. It could cruise at 100 kph all day, and happily. Good memories, delightful little car. Thank you for your interesting videos!

[@big5944]

One quick way to identify what engine this generation Swift came with is to look at the headlights, the 1.3 had flush lights while the 1.0 litre variants had recessed units similar to a low spec Austin Metro.

[@mrkssld]

Swift GTi was a cool little car

[@VincentLander]

Beginning in 1985, these were sold in Canada as the Suzuki Forsa (and also sold as the Chevrolet Sprint and Pontiac Firefly). The second generation was sold as the Swift.

[@bertskidmore5506]

Was sold in Australia as the Holden Barina & the Suzuki Swift, I recall car testing magazines at the time loved this car, with 1.3 5speed manual would out accelerate many 2 litre manual cars... Was a good car many still survive on Aussie roads..

[@arieplomp8906]

Lovely car Matt! My first car was a Mk 2 3 door Swift 1.3 GS Black metallic with go fast 💨 striping! Lovely car to drive ! Thanks for taking us in this very rare car! 👍🏻👍🏻 🆙 like allways!

[@RoadTripAu]

Mine was an '88 badged as a Holden Barina. Terrific little car, I was very sad when it got written off.

[@davidjbatley]

I've got a 1991 that's been locked in a garage since 2007 I keep looking at it though the window thinking one day I'll get round to doing something with it.

[@fhwolthuis]

Lovely car, I hope you will do some more Suzuki's in the future!

[@furiousdriving]

I definitely will be!

[@tonys1636]

@@furiousdriving Don't forget the 4x4's. Very capable little vehicles and far cheaper to run than a Landy or a Niva.

[@Fastwunz]

My best mate at sixth form had a silver one. He saved up and got some Fox alloys from Halfords for it, a kenwood head until and a pair of 6x9’s with a sub. Best day ever.

[@Ivorbiggin]

Don’t forget that Suzuki started out making Cotton looms Circa 1910 then progressed to motorcycles Circa 1955 …….all in all a fascinating company

[@dlittlester]

I had a 1.3 SOHC. It was indeed a fun car to drive. It had a 5 speed gearbox that was delightful, but rust finally killed the little car. Changing the timing belt on that four cylinder was a challenge. Took me all of eight hours, but I got it done.

[@focusrssteve]

When I was younger I always wanted to try the swift gti, but one never came up on autotrader or local newspapers when I was selling/changing cars. Great review as always.

[@alifloydtv]

I got a Swift Attitude as a courtesy car in about 2008/9, for a couple of weeks. Red with white stripes. At first I was mortified, but about 2 minutes in I realised how great it was. I ended up really sad when it went back, bless its wee cotton socks. Would definitely have another if I ever downsize.

[@doordedeur]

From what I remember, the 3,50m long mark I was roomier than the 3,75m long mark II. But the mark II also came in a 10cm longer and 10cm higher five door version, with a more straight back end. That was a very roomy car.

[@michaeltutty1540]

Back when these were new in the mid-80s, a driend and his wife bought a pair of these. His was boue, hers was red, otherwise the same. The bought them because this was the car thst fit both if them well. He was 6'5", she was barely 5'4". They were incredibly reliable and durable. I am going to guess that the bug reason for the rear wiper and heated screen is because both were mandated on 3 and 5 door hatches and wagons (estates).

[@LesterLovesWatches]

Imagine if you could open the W123 bonnet by twisting the three-pointed star.

[@Phiyedough]

In Hungary the Swift is the most popular car but Suzuki had (have?) a factory making them there.

[@furiousdriving]

They did make them there, but only from the mk2

[@sirhenners204]

Yep, still there making cars. the Hungarian-made Suzukis have "TSM" as the first letters of their serial number.

[@ajfurrell3744]

GM did sell this model as one of their own models in Australasia. The Holden Barina was a badge engineered version, as was the next model, before they fell inline with GM Europe and started rebadging the Corsa.

[@maxidyne]

What an awesome survivor! Haven't seen one in decades. So glad I grew up in the 80s, so many great cars back then. One thing I missed in the review: interior shots. Thanks for another great review Matt!

[@lesklower7281]

We owned a 1990s Suzuki Swift although in Australia it was called the Cino and l remember the Holden Barina and we got the 1000cc three cylinder engines our Cino was the four cylinder 1300 cc engine and it was carburatored were by then emissions laws had came in and the sporty Suzuki was known as the GTI it was a 1300cc engine with double overhead camshafts and electronic fuel injection and now rare and even rarer an unmodified one the GTI was a turners favourite infact l remember seeing one in a magazine with all wheel drive

[@filmcameras4evr45]

I used to own a Mk2 Face-lift Swift GLS, that had the 3 cylinder G10 in it. 63k miles when I got it and it had the tombstone seats in it. Great fun for an early 20 something and taught me a lot about driving with no ABS and no power steering! Sadly it got written off, but it was an experience none the less.

[@GoldenCroc]

At 10:50, no matter how many times I listen, I can only hear "1180 kg" weight, which would be 100kg more than something like the mk2 cavalier you mentioned earlier in the video ... I take it you meant something like 780kg for this car? Anyway, I would be interested in seeing you drive a mk1 gti 1.3, I think that would be right up your alley. They are sometimes, still to this day, used in various rallies.

[@Stratospherian]

I find weight numbers depending on model/spec 620-750 kg / 1,367-1,653 lb

[@scottishcarenthusiastsandtrain]

An excellent review Matt, had forgotten about this generation of Swift, cannot believe the Swift is 40 years old!

[@furiousdriving]

time flies, right?

[@scottishcarenthusiastsandtrain]

@@furiousdriving makes me feel old knowing I am a year older than a Suzuki Swift, but the 80's were a good era for cars.

[@robertevans8161]

Great review. I am a big Suzuki fan and am on my third. I currently own a Baleno which seems to be a similarly niche car in the UK. Growing up in Norfolk there was a Suzuki/Ford/Seat dealership at the bottom of our road called Manney Motors, and we actually lived opposite the dealer owner Bob and his wife Pauline (both now sadly passed away). As a result all sorts of Suzukis of this era were on his driveway and a disproportionate number of Suzukis in the small town. I can remember a Swift in the same colour being owned by a local, as well as one in a lovely burgundy metallic. A neighbour had the sporty two-tone GS in red and white and as a child i was enthralled by its three cylinder thrum. I wish my dad had bought one of these when he walked into the dealership in 1987 rather than a pretty terrible poverty spec Ibiza with the hopelessly underpowered 900cc Fiat engine! Another neighbour had a similar era Alto FX which gave very reliable service too.

[@philipbellew9645]

I had a red E reg Swift Gti from new and it was one of the best mini hot hatches within a budget. Revvy 1300cc multi point fuel injection 101bhp (non turbo) engine and lightweight controls. 38mpg hooning it around and the only issue was after 5 years I blew a head gasket after too long sitting at the red line. Never see them around now so this brought back the memory. They also were seen in the touring cars taking on the Golfs and MG metros. Odd tyre size with limited suppliers, Dunlops or Firestone fire hawks (which only lasted 4 months).

[@Stephenb033]

I do love the worts on the rear for the number plate, the same are seen on a K10 Micra.

[@communicate17]

I'm from Australia and have a mk2 gti I never knew they had a turbo version for JDM The performance engine in Australia was the N/A G13B that made a claimed 100hp The weight is more like 780kg

[@Stratospherian]

I found weight numbers depending on model/spec surgesting 620-750 kg / 1,367-1,653 lb

[@frankpowell1778]

I worked for a highway crash cushion company and we used these as a small car sample. We took many of them off the road along with Chevy and Dodge pickups.

[@roversteve8772]

Also sold in the New Zealand and Australian Market as the Holden Barina.

[@Jon-bx1ij]

Im def a fan of Suzukis. The 2004 Alto I had last year was a hoot to drive. Only a 1.1 but very nippy, especially round town.

[@sectionateme]

"Side repeaters, only seen in the eighties." Apart from vehicles like the BMC ADO16 and ADO17s.

[@flipflopthong2]

What a well preserved Swift. They sold well in Australia as a Holden Barina and are very rare these days. I don't think I've ever seen an auto in that generation. Auto became much more common in later Swifts and Barinas. To my mind, the best Swifts were from the mid 2000s when they had 1.5L and 1.4L engines. I'm not impressed with the latest 1.2L auto - it is gutless on a country highway - it struggles to overtake lorries at 110Km/h. Baleno 1.4L auto is a better proposition.

[@danielreigada1542]

I remember when these were sold here in the USA as the Chevrolet Sprint. They are a very rare sight these days. I am pretty sure that this generation was only sold with the 1.0 liter 3 cylinder engine here. It was

[@jasonandreoli4135]

Great car, my mother had a SA310 in that colour, she bought it from auction on the 15th April 1989, the day of the Hillsborough disaster. The auction was in Rothwell near the junction of the M1 and M62 and driving it home the motorway was full of slow moving football traffic returning home in shock, we only found out why later. The car had a digital dashboard, as a nearly 16 year old I thought it was a brilliant feature in an otherwise dull car. In retrospect it was a pretty nice runabout.

[@fugawiaus]

Here in Australia we had both the Suzuki swift and the Holden barina. The best was the Suzuki swift gti.

[@johnscarsandstuff]

Wow, those performance figures are very respectable. And the advantage of automatic transmission is that an ordinary driver can get much closer to the quoted acceleration, without fear of wrecking the clutch or anything else. About 20 years ago, I borrowed a small Suzuki hatchback from a garage, while they fixed my car. I'm not sure which model it was, but it was on a B or C registration. I remember it was a 1300 with 5-speed gearbox. I can remember what the Mini Metro was like, the Suzuki's engine and gearbox are what Metro owners dreamed of.

[@edwinreid8355]

I learnt to drive in a Suzuki Swift through my driving school which, from around 2003-2004/05, must've been a facelifted version of the mark 3. I didn't object to driving it but at the time, as an 18-19 year old it wouldn't have been the most desirable choice of supermini. Back then it was the likes of the 3 Door Civic Type R, the Saxo Sport whatever & anything from Peugeot etc. Incidentally, I did get a 206 as my first car.

[@mattw8332]

A supermini with air conditioning would have been exceptionally rare at the time.

[@prec5552]

I have 3 mk1 gti, one for daily, and one is in a full restore proces.

[@robertngreen6]

What a lovely little car - a fantastic survivor!

[@McElroysMotors]

145/80R12 is amazingly small for a tire. My Trabant has 155/80R13's from the factory.

[@jaspal666]

My pal in school, his sister had a Swift just like this from new. So square and odd. Esp for the US market. People kinda laughed at it but hey, it was a fun little car. 😂

[@billeves4627]

That interior is all GM. Steering wheel. Door armrests and instrument binnacle all look familiar to VL Commodore and Camira models. Swifts were sold in Australia as the Holden Barina. They later changed to the Opel Corsa model in 1994.

[@paultasker7788]

Impressive BHP. The polo 1.3 of the time only had 55bhp from same sized unit. We had the 1.0 polo with just 45bhp and 18 seconds to 60!!. I bet if we’d borrowed a swift whilst that was in for servicing or repairs we’d have been very envious! Reviews of this swift at the time were not particularly good. I read the old What Cars. Now the differences between them compared to differences with more modern cars are much less

[@jefferysmith3930]

My former girlfriend got one of these new…or nearly new after she wrecked her Beetle (USA Chevy Sprint) I never got to drive it because we were on the outs by then.

[@davidhinkson8856]

These were all over the place in Barbados when I was a teenager, where it was called the Forsa. Very few left now and they tend to be the base one litre model. I once planned to buy a GTi but I would have had to spend too much money to get it up to scratch. A workmate of mine's first car was just like this but he had a manual.

[@Morgans_Miles]

Massively underrated cars. Another car of the similar period you should drive (if you haven’t already) is the Mazda 323 1500GT - the original FWD version. I owned a few 323s when I lived in Dorset (beloved of old folks, at the time so there was a ready supply in that part of the world). But the 1500GT was an amazing beast the chuck around.

[@doordedeur]

The Swift is a very good car and is very fuel efficient. But that can't be said about the 1.3 with automatic transmission. It has only three gears, so from 50 to 150km/h you are driving in third gear, whereas the manual also has a fourth and fifth gear. That makes you have to tank every week, instead of once a month.

[@billgriffiths1685]

Yipee I'm still watching.

[@jimmyjimjims7483]

I had an 87 Sprint when I was 16 years old, bought it for $800 from a lady and her husband and drove it all over, it was a little gutless but got GREAT mpg. Then I bought the "newer" version of this one in the US called the Geo Metro (mine was a 94 XFi) and I had that for a few years until my dad wrecked it then I bought the final version of the one we got here in the states, mine was a 2000 Suzuki Swift GL and had that for 7 years until again my dad wrecked it lol. The main difference is in the US most of ours were 3 cylinder 1.0L unless they were directly a Suzuki Swift and not the Chevy/Geo version.

[@Richard-Bullock]

Oh I desperately want that car! Huge fan of Suzuki cars having owned 2. 2009 Swift DDiS, and 2019 Celerio SZ3 Dualjet.

[@bodybuildingandpaintingana8167]

I always like the time you take to describe and focus on the details of the car. Thank you for all of your work on the channel 🙂 I remember the spots on the glass too, on a Hyundai Pony... Was it help with temperature distribution? Not sure though.

[@furiousdriving]

Glad you like them!

[@williamwales6619]

Lo Matt, Love the look of this. Mindd you i can't help but think ive seen something similar to it in Profile. Im thinkin Nissan Micra K10 had a similar profile. Never driven that particular model but i have driven plenty of Swifts right up to modern day. They produce some nice cars. Thanks for the vid .Excellent commentary as usual. Later👍

[@jgg02]

Great review, I would love to see a late eighties Swift Gti on this channel as well. Keep up the good work!

[@uhn100]

What a cute car Matt and so well equipped you must have felt like a king behind the wheel best regards Andy Allen

[@keithhooper6123]

Great cars.So many great 80s Japanese cars.

[@vangestelwijnen]

Remember the commercial in the Netherlands... it's a giant Suzuki!

[@chrisowen738]

Was sold in nz and aussy as the Holden barina .

[@kevinnye5132]

Obviously didn’t need much to fascinate you as a child Matt 😂, but yeah I remember those dots being on a few car windows. What a lovely little car and I do remember them on roads but not the EXECUTIVE, makes my 1987 Beige Sierra look poverty spec 😕, nice video Matt , always good to see 80s models.

[@asharwaseem1848]

It was sold as Suzuki Khyber in Pakistan (Named after The Khyber Pass)

[@hilly6849]

The front end reminds me of a mk2 cavalier. I like it

[@peterdevreter]

I like the swift. Had every model until 2007. Currently busy replacing the bearings in the gearbox of my 1.3 2007 manual. It started to make some weird noises 😂

[@jon-ie4li]

Lots of MK1s still in daily use in Greece.

[@tonysargent7787]

Another great video has always. Matt

[@Andy-eo3mq]

Another excellent video Matt! 🙂 Out of interest, will you be reviewing a 2011-2017 model with the 92bhp 1.2 engine? 🙂

[@99AmethystZJ]

Beautiful little thing, one for the wanted list! Like to see more interior details and finish if there's a follow up or add in edit?..

[@furiousdriving]

There were quite a lot of interior details, about a quarter of the video was the cabin

[@paulscountrygarage9180]

Sold, in Australia, in both Suzuki and Holden variants.

[@danmccarthy4700]

One of my grail cars is a Pontiac Firefly Turbo but I have doubts there are any left.

[@James-ld2jc]

Lovely condition - glad it has survived

[@richardhowlett7398]

So rare, it must be the lesser spotted swift .

[@RobRussellCM]

Your UK version is SOOOOOOOO much nicer that the Chevy Sprint that we got here - the build quality of the US models was terrible - your UK one looks very well put together

[@furiousdriving]

Interestingly, having driven and rented a few cars in the US I was familiar with here, I’ve found the same-the Toyota RAV4 I did route 66 in was definitely not built as well as the Euro spec cars

[@RobRussellCM]

@@furiousdriving Yes, I experienced the same when I moved back to the US after living overseas for over a decade. Another good example is the Honda Jazz/Fit - outside the US, it's brilliant, inside the US, however..... 🫠

[@jusb1066]

Can you please test drive Toyota Aygo, Peugeot 108,107. The early models are 20 years old now and time to drive some! See if you can get in before hubnut eventually realises they exist

[@stephenwestley1017]

brilliant cars hired one once didn't want to return it fantastic car

[@anthonystevens8683]

I've been a fan of Suzuki for decades for both bikes (I've had quite a few) and the cars (I've never had a Suzuki car). I do remember the MK1 Swift though, well equipped and modern for the time. I also remember the SJ series of small off road style cars that got crucified for rolling over if you were an idiot who failed basic physics. Great cars in my humble opinion and a great review of the MK1 Swift, is it called Taylor by chance? I'll get my coat.

[@tupaei01]

Thanks Matt, could you show the details of the interior?

[@vitorpassos309]

Always liked the Swifts but they are very hard to see in Portugal.

[@DreamsOfGaruda]

This is a very nice looking car

[@taxus750]

Badge-engineered and sold as a Holden Barina in Austraia.

[@jameswalker7874]

Problem with the Swift Sport is it's slow as!

[@TheV8nutter]

Great work Matt.

[@pb5x5]

Great video but are you sure it weighs as much as 1180kg, that is the similar to modern supermini. A Renault Clio 1.4rt 1995 weighs only about 815kg.

[@michaelstaunton1632]

Good video 👍👍👍

[@bid84]

No way this car weighed 1150kg. More like 850kg, also you didn’t show back seats or the 4 electric windows, didn’t mention the spec at all.

[@jonnygti]

Matt, are you going to Retro Rides at Malory Park next Sunday?

[@furiousdriving]

No, I’m working

[@X-Typewoes]

No interior shots/review?

[@andrewthompsonuk1]

Rumour or fact? if you broke the windscreen in one of these and drove too fast, you could bend the roof with the air pressure?

[@MineshShah]

Where did they find it? was it religously serviced by them on behalf of the orginal owner who bought from them back in1987 and then has now become too old to drive it?

[@tonys1636]

Did the tea shelf pass muster?

[@kamseihra]

This was called the Alto in India

[@furiousdriving]

I think that was a separate model to the swift

[@BillyNoMates1974]

what speed auto is it and is it a torue converter auto ?

[@frimleyfrodo]

I had to laugh when I saw it was an automatic. You’re jinxed when it comes to driving cars with the gearbox you hate!

[@furiousdriving]

I know…but with this beggars can’t be choosers!