This micro-truck slays me. It’s just so damn cute and toy-like, my desire to take it home and put it in my playroom is mighty powerful. Have you ever seen anything like it before? I didn’t think so; I never had. But then it’s not exactly a vehicle that was ever sold on the US mainland. No, it’s from the North Pole, where Santa’s elves drive a fleet of them between the factories and warehouses. And occasionally a very lucky boy or girl gets one sent their way. Wish it had been me.
You’re going to be spared a lengthy CC today, because we’ve covered aspects of this truck before here. The short story is that this baby truck is a pick up version of the Suzuki Jimny SJ 20/LJ80, which was the final iteration of the first Suzuki 4×4, which had its roots a a vehicle called the HopeStar ON360, that Suzuki bought in 1968. That became the Suzuki LJ10, the first of a long line of Suzuki mini-4x4s.
Those early Suzukis were built to the Japanese kei-car standards, and had a 360 cc 2-stroke twin. Eventually, larger two-strokes (539 cc) were on tap, but in 1977 a slightly enlarged SJ20 featured the first four stroke four cylinder engine, an 800cc unit with some 41 hp. That’s what’s most likely in this truck.
This particular truck sports DoD stickers from 1979, which means it had a pass to be driven on the base, not that it was actually owned by the military. Although it certainly would have made a perfect parts runner on an Air Force base or the like. The color is right even.
The likely explanation to this truck’s existence is that it was originally sold in either Hawaii, Guam, or Puerto Rico, where Suzukis were distributed and sold back then, and so it presumably met the US vehicle requirements of that time. Or not. With vehicles like this, it’s not always possible to be 100% certain, unless one can look at their manufacturer’s plate.
The little LJ two stroke Suzukis were quite fondly adopted as little off-road toys in Germany, introducing a low-cost option to getting the tires dirty in that country. And of course, the “baby Jeep” has become almost a global icon, being produced in other countries and in various configurations. We of course are familiar with the later Samurai versions, but the Suzuki had spread the LJ and SJ around the world before it finally found a home here in the land of the the one and only Jeep.
The whole family of these little Suzukis are extremely simple but durable and tough little work horses. I would love to have this one as a hardware store parts runner. But someone was more deserving, it seems.
Related CC reading:
Suzuki SJ Farm Worker: The Little Truck That Could
Do not be silly, we all know you want a Toyota T-100. Nice looking pint sized pickup, maybe I will see one in Portland someday.
Am I right in assuming these photos are from 09 or are the tags just horribly expired?
nar suzuki are the best
I’d buy one like this if it were for sale and it were driveable.
Nice find. The LJ80s were sold in Canada and I occasionally get to see one – usually in a rural setting. As you’d expect they are not super highway friendly.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-asian/short-car-day-4×4-edition-1980-suzuki-jimny-lj80/
I remember rarely seeing one, but you had to look quickly before they turned into little brown flakes.
That absolutely could have been a military base vehicle. These days they have all kinds of weird little truck-lets made by Hyundai that schlep stuff from warehouse to warehouse.
I have always wanted one of these myself. Nice find!
Nice little trucklet .
-Nate
This breed of Suzukis and the later Samurai did extremely well in soft / muddy terrain. It had all the off-road hardware you needed combined with the facts that it was very light and had a short wheelbase with ideal approach and departure angles.
The big heavy toys with their big-displacement engines sank down in the mud while this little jeep kept on floating and flying.
My brother had a Samurai in the early nineties. It had a 4 cylinder gasoline engine, 1.3 liter displacement IIRC. Back then these were very populair as a first or second car, they were really everywhere. Now you only see them at 4×4 events, often heavily modified and transported on a trailer.
With 8.25×16 tyres fitted these actually float try that with a jeep.
Interesting. Jimny-like Jimny Cricket? Not to be confused with a GMC Jimmy.
The ones that I have seen here in Puerto Rico that still are original, say that they conform to all of the Federal reglamentations and statues applicable to the year of manufacture. But, I saw the owners manual of one, and found it funny that on one page it said that the vehicle could only be used on Puerto Rico, Guam and Hawaii but not in the mainland due to the availability of parts and service centers.
Love it. I owned two Samurais (serially – interrupted by a fling with a Suzuki 550ES – long story as to why), and loved the vehicle. Only reason I sold the second one was we had a baby on the way and decided it wouldn’t be a good family car. Shoulda kept it.
Shame there’s really nothing like this on the market (US) today. I saw a pristine Ranger pickup yesterday on our way home from a wedding in Jackson, MO – there’s another category that’s been sorely lacking here for some time.
That’s right Letg, I remebwr when they were first sold in Puerto Rico, around late 1979, after Hurricane David hit the island. I was 7 years old and we had the 3 versions of this LJ80. There was a sticker in Spanish on the driver side’s door stating exactly what you said about its usability being limited just to Hawaii, PR and Guam.
Sweet looking Suzuki Jimny. I’ve heard of them, and I’ve seen pictures of these vintage Suzukis. They were the predecessor to the Suzuki Samurai suv. I could drive one, and possibly enjoy it, if one were available. I’d rather have something like this, than what’s being offered today. This is what an SUV should be.
Agree! All the infotainment doodads and 47 airbags are fine for family cars but a sports utility should be barebones and battle rugged.
I agree. And besides that, all the safety features in the world don’t make the vehicle safe. All they do is reduce the chances of injury in case of an accident. They don’t prevent accidents from happening in the first place. As the driver, you’re responsible for what the car does. 🙂
I agree. I’m all for safety, and there are some safety features on today’s cars that I wish were on cars 40+ years ago. But 40+ airbags? That’s insane! I believe that how a car, truck, SUV, etc. should be safety enough. From there, the driver determines what a car does.
The thing is Car Nut ;
Once you’ve nearly been killed in a crash (or five) it begins to weigh on your mind .
In a few moments I’ll climb into my deathtrap vintage VW that wasn’t safe when new .
I added safety belts, radial tires and suck but I have zero illusions about what will happen if I crash in it or my sweet if tin foil Ranger pickup .
Now they have air bags for Motocycles .
-Nate
Whatever you can do to make a car safe, excellent!
Just so C.N.T. ;
Oddly enough there are many who are more interested in how it looks than how it goes on down the road……
Safer also means (to me anyway) I can drive it _faster_ and that’s always a good thing .
-Nate
Love at first sight!
I could imagine this thing on a farm or ranch. I think I would prefer that over a Kawasaki Mule.
Absolutely. Those side-by-sides that are so popular just don’t make a lot of sense to me. Something like this or the original flatfender willys Jeeps aren’t much bigger than those, but are a LOT more powerful, have better offroad capability, higher payloads and can be driven on the street. The only advantage is that sidebys are ATVs and don’t face all the ridiculous regulations as ‘normal’ vehicles…therefore theyre considerably cheaper. But since you then need to invest in a fullsize pickup and a trailer to get them off your property…wheres the savings?
We had a ’87 Samurai when we lived in the Virgin Islands.
Loved that little bugger. Had it in 4th gear once and
never did get to 5th.
I wish I could afford one now. Here in New Mexico they are
still very popular, lots being pulled behind RV’s.
What a cutie!
I love it, having owned a 1988 Suzuki Samurai for almost 6 years and 100,000+ miles. Definitely got my moneys worth out of that one, plus it was a lot of fun. Finally the engine started losing compression. I traded it straight across for my current ’64 Fairlane, with a guy I used to work with. He was going to put a Chevy V6 in it, along with a body lift and big tires.
” He was going to put a Chevy V6 in it, along with a body lift and big tires.”
Several of these got 4.3 V6’s swapped in. That would make for a screamer. Even the craptacular 60 V6 would be a serious boost in oomph. But the conversion that I liked was a VW TDI swap…there was a company that made kits just for that.
I like the functional, open “SUZUKI” badge on the front grille. Probably aids cooling somewhat.
Jeep is really leaving money on the table by not having something competitive to this. The Wrangler may be the best offroader money can buy but theyre also overblown with doodads and luxo garbage. If they could offer a stripped down back to basics rugged 4×4 that can do anything a side by side can AND be driven on the street and keep the price down, they’ll have a winner. That dopey Renegade doesn’t come close, since its basically a scion xB that can handle snow or a gravel road.
Yes *except* that no one will buy the damn things .
Sad , isn’t it ? .
-Nate
I dunno about that. Hardcore enthusiasts build and/or restore vintage 4x4s every day and drop enough coin on them to buy one of those plasticky CUVs and 2 more just like it. Jeep has never had a problem moving CJs and Wranglers. But theres always the push to soften them to sell high profit doo dads and bring in non enthusiasts. Trouble with that is, you get a few one time buyers who then move onto something else. At least Jeep throws the enthusiasts a bone and has repeat buyers.
Sadly , I *do* know about that ~
I worked briefly for a Jeep Dealer and got to see the insiders view .
I also grew up Down East , land of the totally rusted out $250 jeep with snow plow and everyone who’d driven one in WWII or Korea thought they were the best thing since sliced bread .
Fast forward to Sunny Southern California home of endless Deserts , Canyons , Mountains and dirt roads , no shortage of old Jeeps with dead or gone missing engines here , totally un sellable , I can’t understand why not .
The Bike Pimp picked up a really clean Flat Fender MB (might have been a CJ-2a) with no engine and the tranny and transfer case (! uncracked !) in the back , a few dents , old crappy Olive Drab paint , NO RUST ~ no even on those always rusted out frame out riggers .
He picked it up in lieu of a debt , not much value $ wise .
I told him ‘ great ! you’ll have no problem selling this for good money ! ‘ .
Nearly a year later it still sat un sold in his back yard 20 miles East of Down Town L.A. , no one even came to look at it for $150 .
Go figure .
Runners can be had for $1,500 .
I looked at a nice Ex Army one with a Pinto engine (!) for asking price of $2K , he would have taken anything over $1K and it ran and drove , had current tags etc. but was of course , the typical ex Movie car , lots of dents and terrible paint , electrical harness mostly patches and tape .
-Nate
I love these small trucks. Big trucks are fine if you have bigger and heavier loads, but sometimes all you need is a small utility truck.
I worked for a large insurance company in the ’80s. We had a collection of about 30 Samurai’s in the salvage yard; all of them rolled. I think they were kept as evidence against a lousy design that was too top heavy and too narrow.
Most of the recalls you hear about were the result of a pattern of claims to an insurance company. The companies are allowed to share loss data, so when something starts failing, it sticks out of the rest of the losses pretty quickly. This is partially why the ignition key recall at GM didn’t trigger any alarms. Only 13 people killed over 10+ years, and most of them the result drunk driving, excessive speed, or some other driver error.
I saw these in Hawaii in 1983,even went to the dealer on Oahu . Got the brochure and price- $5000 + $800 to ship ftp the east coast .
Nice, you dont often see the tray back version, not that any are common any more. I cant imagine a new version, crash testing would be a challenge to say the least!
Teach L’il Man to drive and then you can add one to your fleet.
He’s getting the F100 down pretty well. His shifting needs a bit more work, though.
But now that his sister Nikki has come to live with us too (rescued from a bad situation), something a bit smaller like this Suzuki might just be the ticket for her.
Love these, too bad these pickups are extremely cramped. The non-pickup versions are slightly better. Paul mentions it’s very probable it has the 4-stroke 800cc engine. It’s really very easy to find out. The 2-stroke versions have no oil pan and, IIRC, the front differential has no offset (symmetrical). A pic from underneath would solve the mistery.
This would be a tall order for a lot of reasons, but an article on cars that were only available in Hawaii or other island properties of the United States without being available in the lower 48 would be kind of fun. Hawaii, Guam, and so on have had a few, but they are also rust-breeding climates that don’t assist 30 year survival rates in happening, which would make modern curbside pics hard to get.
Well, at least here in Puerto Rico you could for example, besides the Chevy Sprint/Metro and Suzuki Forza/Swift models, purchase supposedly Canada only variants like the Pontiac Firefly. You could also purchase between 1987 and 1989, the Nissan Sentra Honey Bee, which was a B11 (first generation Sentra 1982-86) alongside the second generation one. They were Mexican made and they only came in 2 door sedan form. One completly stripped model, with manual transmission, and a better equiped automatic transmission one. My dad purchased one in 1987 which eventually became my first car after he died in 89 and I got my drivers license in 1992. Also, I do remember seing othe supposedly Canada only models here. All of this cars had the stickers saying that they conformed with all of the Federal goverment requirements regarding emissions and crash standards.
Also most of the time, cars sold here don’t come in the same trim levels or with the same option packages or even engine or transmission options as those sold in the mainland. I have seen that this is mostly true with Japanese and Korean cars. I have also noticed many similarities with the trim levels of certain models to their Canadian counterparts, with the exception that all cars here, even the cheapest models come with A/C and at least a dealer installed radio. Gerardo Cruz, if you see this, perhaps you remember any other models or differences in trim levels.
I miss the simple, primitive, utililitarian trucks like that blue Suzuki. The front end reminds me of a cross between a older CJ Jeep (grille) and Land Rover (turn signal/parking light placement on fender). Then there’s the interior — lots of exposed sheet metal, simple gauges and controls and bare steel floor panels. Just hose it out to clean.
I remember when trucks were utilitarian. They were comfortable, but they were also utilitarian as well.
I agree. The last truly utilitarian truck I drove was my stepdad’s 1978 Toyota pickup truck. I loved it.
I just bought a 1997 Suzuki pickup LJ81 and it needs 2 hubs in the front. Does anyone know where I can find those ?
Floyd
Floyd ;
First thing find an on line parts catalog, .PDF if possible and find the correct part # then begin your search .
What’s wrong with the hubs ? be specific please .
-Nate
Hi Nate
The splines that match the axle inside the hub have worn out.
Floyd
@ Nate: For me, safety means that you can avoid getting into an accident.
A T.C.T. :
*EXACTLY* .
-Nate
Floyd ;
For 1997 Suzuki I have these choices :
ESTEEM
SIDEKICK
1.6L L4
1.8L L4
SWIFT
X-90
Do you know which chassis matches yours ? .
-Nate
Maybe here ? :
https://www.onlineautoparts.com.au/products/Sierra-LJ81-Swivel-Hub-Repair-Kit-Swivel-Hub-Kit-MRK/ZPN-32869…F3200E7?make=Suzuki&model=Sierra&series=LJ81
-Nate
@ Nate To survive an accident is good. But to be able to avoid an accident in the first place is even better.
Just so ;
I’ve managed to survive several ‘fatal’ collisions / accidents in oldies but I’m all broken up so I don’t want to have any more of them .
-Nate
Same here. I’ve had a few driving accidents that would’ve done some of us in. I don’t think any of us want to have an accident if we can help it.