So I got this car from a couple that are in my car shop class. It's a slavage title, but started right up, runs and drives. It needs some help as it has been sitting at least 2 years, but it should be a fun little project.

Anyone have one, know anything about em?

COOL

get a real lift from www.calmini.com

It MAY be worth less than you paid for it! Seriously these things were way under built, and rust likes them, so be sure it is structuraly sound before you think you scored! you don't need a car that will fold like a Kleenex when some asshole rear ends you!

/whap

Come out here and help me seal that motor already...sheesh!

Death on a Stick

When the whole roll over thing was in the news in the late 80's a friend was trying to get it to roll to prove the TV wrong. Well we didn't roll but we got on two wheels pretty easy, scared us silly

They are a popular rock crawler rig...

Ferg

They don't call then Summersaults fer nothing.....

I see you have TJ, ...go to www.jeepforum.com You'll get your help!

Yes they are popular for 4wheelin/off-roadin too. There's a club up here in WI, those guys have a good time in their Suzies.

PUT A ROLL BAR IN THAT BEAST AND GET A pair of 5 point harnesses - to be safe.

jim

Ahhh Old Suzuki Samarai! Those are so cool! I bought one new off the show room floor for $5000 during the big roll over scare and proceeded to drive it 75,000 trouble free miles.

The 1.3 liter motor is amazing. It doesnt move the car very fast, but its a torquey little bastard for a 1.3 and the mechnicals are fairly bullet proof. The rest of the vehicle is crap. They are awesome little off roaders I did some absolutely wicked off road trips that a bigger 4x4 would not have made.

As a street car I hated how hard I had to work to keep the car at 65 MPH. Never came close to tipping the Samarai and had plenty of emergency situations, However in hands of an inexpereinced driver they are probably death traps due to short wheelbase and high center of gravity. The next generation Suzuki sidekick was a huge improvement in power, refinement and safety. Put 60,000 miles on a Sidekick too.

They are fun, but if I was a parent I wouldnt let my kid drive one on the street. If it had proper roll cage and safety gear it would be a fun off road toy.

Fun video of Suzuki S: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBPkQ7Tj3rA

It's just for fun, beach, parts hauling and maybe some fishing trips assuming that I can make it healthy. I don't want to dump a ton into it, but it was too cool to pass up.

"Phoenix Red" == Orange.

Paint it yellow, it will be faster... there is a shop near by where I live that uses them for rock crawling, I'll post some pictures, they're pretty wild looking.

I am sure their are forums dedicated those. there are a bunch of guys on my 4x4 site, that have them. maybe check a 4x4 site.

Put a battery in it, tune up and drive it.....ignore that guy who said to put a lift kit in it.....just what it needs is a higher center of gravity....

bad tub...bad tub...!

Damn lurker... go back to PP with your pretty 6 and ass draggin ways.

speaking of ass....can you pleeeeeez lose the whales? I'm sooooo bored with them.


I'll give you treefiddy to do it.

Fine. Let me think about a suitable replacement.

it is a cute suzie in person.

needs some balls and a lift.

I bought one for my youngest son and he had a ball with it. Moorpark 10 years ago had plenty of places to play in the hills and river beds. It turned into a bumper car and he routinely was able to go where other ford/GMC got bogged down. It was underpowered but had a great granny gear that walked thru almost all terrain. I never had to worry about him getting a speeding ticket.

The couple that bought mine came by last night. They just had it
painted and set up for pulling behind their rv. I sold it to them for
the price of the rebuilt longblock I had just put in it.
I needed room for Muellers green car.
It was the most useful off road 4x4 I have ever had because of
its size. It was not just short but narrow. It would go places my cj5
could not imagine, climbed in granny as well as my old 88 landrover,
and never broke. The engine got tired after 130k miles.
A couple bales of hay would fit in back, it fits through tiny gates so
is a great ranch toy.
Good gas milage, slow as a slow thing on the highway, but it will get
there. I can believe they flip over, I've seen the carnage, but mine
never did. Beware the smog police target them for "test only". A big
problem is the egr runs through the head and clogs and causes failures.
I'd take another if they were being given away.

patrick

I would too ....IF it was given away.....but a better choice in the archaic realm of old 4X4's is to go search for a decent old Eagle wagon. These things are virtually indestructible and have the Jeep reputation and hardiness to take what that poor little Suzuki could only hope to become if it grew up. I would take the freebie, use it for target practice and then not worry about the folding panels issue as that 18 wheeler sideswipes it on the highway and slaps it across the ditch like a fly being swished from the backsides of a mule's ass.
An Eagle's inline six returns about 20 mpg in two wheel drive mode and about 1 mpg less in 4 wheel. All the while running down the highway at 75-80 or crawling rocks out on the north 40. Bitchin' little buggers ----and the galvanized steel is more crashworthy than the standard issue "Skuzzy's" tinfoil packaging.

So, tell me how you really feel.

Bought a new one back in 88 I think. Traded a sweet black 2.0 74 914 in on it, I think they gave me like $1200. I regretted it almost immediately. It couldn't go 65 up hill on a highway unless I drafted behind a semi. Not 2 months later, the big roll over deal hit the press, and I literally couldn't give the thing away. Car lots wouldn't even talk about taking it in a trade. I was driving home from school that winter, hit some ice, got a tiny little bit sideways, hit dry pavement while slightly angled and BANG, rolled it 5 times down a hill and into a corn field. Ended up upside down, 2 feet deep in snow with gas pouring on me because the gas cap came off during the roll. Thankfully, I had replacement value insurance, so they had to pay me the full cost of a new one. I bought a Chevy with the money.

Not a bad gift horse (Mule?). Look it in the teeth for rust, change the oil if it has none, and DO remember, at all times, that it has to be driven so differently than yur 914 that you'll have to develop reserves of reserve you never had. Be cautious, and enjoy.

No rust. A few dings here and there. I need to change all of the fluids for sure. Looks like the water pump is weeping a little too =(

The Samauri was a fun car... a buddy of mine had one when I lived in Oklahoma. We had a blast in that thing.

Nice score.

Lone Pine.

Now THAT is the first good idea I have heard yet. Come over and take a look T.