Hey, guys… Lincoln week has been fun and all that, but having never owned or driven one (nor known any close friends who had one), they’re not really my bag. This Suzuki X-90, on the other hand, well, it’s exactly the kind of car that catches my eye. Small, cute and quirky. And no, that’s not a circus tent on the background.
We’ve already had a pretty thorough writeup of the X-90 here on CC, so I’ll keep this short, like the car. Given these never really sold in “economy size” numbers, and given this is the Middle West, heart of the Rust Belt, seeing one in this nice of condition was quite a treat.
If this one had had a For Sale sign in the window, I would have been mighty tempted to snap it up. Then I could get myself a nice Lincoln and store the X-90 in the trunk when I’m not using it.
I missed the original thread on this…thing…so I’ll offer a few of my patented-pithy observations.
This…is one more car in frantic search of a market. Sure, it’s cute and cuddly…had it come out ten years earlier than it did, my ex would have been all over it. With my blessing…it does appeal to my Inner Child. Or, inner whatever.
The only question is, “What the ____ is it FOR?!” It’s not a Jeep – and even a Jeep is of limited utility unless, in the words of P.J O’Rourke, you’re Smokey The Bear and commute to work. It’s not a car; it’s not a truck. It’s too small to be either. It can carry neither load nor bodies…and the “cute” market is shallow and quickly sated.
It was obviously a car made to a chassis; a car made in the minds of the same sort of Japanese design types who came up with Hello Kitty. And ordered up with no market research; no Left-Brain thinking.
And Suzuki wonders why they failed in the American automobile market? I don’t….
It is perfect for carrying an oversized can of Red Bull. Which is what most of them I’ve seen were doing.
Almost every one of these I ever saw looked like this. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I saw this treatment done to a Mini Cooper.
It’d be fun to find the sales stats, to see what percentage of them were actually purchased by whatever company was dressing them up as Red Bull geldings.
I’d bet it’s shockingly high. Like maybe a quarter of all sales…or more.
There were certainly a lot that got the Red Bull livery, they likely picked them up cheap since they weren’t selling. I’ve also seen quite a few Mini Coopers too. The company that built the minis claims they made over 500. Interesting how they cut them up and produced something that looks very similar to the X90.
Weird. In my college town all the Red Bull cars were Chevy Trackers with that weird truck roof like the Mini, then the Mini’s came out. I never saw an X-90, it seems more natural than the Tracker, the conversions already done for them.
Nearly all of New Zealand’s Red Bull promo cars are Minis, although I think they did one of the original Issigonis Minis too. I’ve never (until now) seen an X-90 done up like that, but you’re right Eric, it’s the obvious choice! Of course, we Kiwis do things slightly differently, as witnessed by the promo truck my employers used when we launched our ‘Big V’ 500ml. V has been NZ’s #1 energy drink for over a decade now, with over twice the market share of Red Bull, and when you compare a Red Bull Mini/X-90 with our monster truck, you can see why folks prefer our product!
The problem with that is you can’t cruise it around on the streets going to sales calls or handing out free samples and getting daily exposure.
Meh, mere details! 😉
Yeah but when you bring one of these beasts out the crowd comes to you.
I think the cute and cuddly thing comes from seein a reasonable factsimilie of these in some pixar movies. Toy story and Cars off the top of my head.
This is the “lifeboat” for the 1971 LTD Convertible one post beneath it. 😛
Unless its manual with a neutral in the transfer case you cant tow it without wearing it out quickly.
Must be the hemisphere difference that makes the joke get lost in translation.
I’m literally picturing the “rigging” attached to the trunk of the LTD and able to deploy the X-90 in the case of an emergency.
It’s not too uncommon to see a ute being towed behind contractors equipment.
My uncle would tow his work ute behind this grader using an a frame attached to the utes front bumper.
Eric nailed it, the only market these cute utes ever found.
Boo, Hiss – – Its Lincoln Week, dude. Bring your Suzuki to this cruise-in some other time. 🙂
I think you found the only non-90’s neon colored X90 ever made. There’s a pinkish purple one I see randomly in my parking garage, and a neighbor used to have a teal one. Other than that I’ve seen red, yellow and bright blue. If you’re going X90 you need to go big (pink or teal) or go home. Who buys the most ridiculously styled car every and gets it in silver? It’s like all those beige Lamborghini Diablo roadsters that were so popular in early 2000’s. Blah…
Automotive equivalent of a platypus. 🙂
Back when GM had a “relationship” with Suzuki, we had a hard time getting all of the old bulls to call them anything but KA-ZOO-KEEs.
Its funny, I thought I had seen just about everything there was that was sold in the US, but never saw one of these before.
Pardon me for being a bit vulgar on this hot sunny Friday afternoon as we get close to packing up to go home:
I remember back in the day when the FWD program was getting going and they brought out this little test mule that someone had stuck an Oldsmobile hood ornament on it as a joke. One of the guys who never spoke much but was prone to sarcastic commentary to get his opinion across said “I have had farts bigger than this…” so that was how some saw cute little cars…
I guess that means there was no chance to sell him a kei car either. Too bad.
It’s still waay cooler than a Smart though. I’ve seen two or three of them and find them hard to stop looking at. Just interesting.
I wonder what type of ridiculously-overpowered drivetrain could be transplanted into one of these without altering the appearance.
Ask, and ye shall receive!
http://jalopnik.com/5867881/for-12000-v8+powered-x90-that-is-all
Heehee, NOW it has a reason to exist! 😉
Beyond awesome!
These were a different body on Suzuki Vitara SWB mechanicals. Sadly they basically threw away all the good Vitara stuff ( attractive styling, practical packaging, four seats), kept the bad ( harsh ride, tip- prone stance)for the automotive equivalent of a clown suit. Then they had the gall to charge more for it. A complete dud.
IIRC these are about the same vintage as the Isuzu VehiCross. Both struck ame s pretty silly at the time, bit today, one seems interesting and one is just plain stupid. No offense to the uhhh … zero? …. X90 owners who read CC. And I like Samurais (Jimnys) and short wheelbase Sidekicks/Trackers (aka Vitaras, Grand or otherwise).
A friend had one of these. Worst ride of any car, ever built.
I have to assume these were aimed at people who were in the market for a Honda Del Sol, but found the Honda “just too much car” for them to handle.