It’s easy to dismiss the Suzuki Jimny as
a toy car, driven by people who want a fashion accessory rather than a serious off roader. But the car is far more than that. Since its 1970 launch, the Jimny has used
a proper 4x4 chassis that means it’s not just some passenger car pretending to be an
off roader! It’s been higher than any other car in the
world, a record it holds to this very day. As they say, it’s not the size, but how
you use it. There’s been controversy as well; it was
the centre of a lawsuit over this high-sided car tipping over through bends. But it’s still going strong after half a
century. This is the Suzuki Jimny Story. (music) The Jimny didn’t start life as a Suzuki project. The original car was created by Hope Motors
in 1967. They were a small car company founded in 1952
and specialised in small light three-wheeled vehicles. Their initial offerings were little more than
motorcycles, and similar to auto rickshaws or tuk-tuks. The company always struggled against bigger
competitors such as Daihatsu and Mazda, so stopped making cars in 1965. However, with one last throw of the dice they
tried again in 1967 with the HopeStar ON 4WD or ON360. This was much more substantial than Hope’s
previous vehicles and being 4WD with body on frame construction it was designed for
rough terrain. The car would use a Mitsubishi 359cc engine,
rear axle and wheels to save development costs. Top speed was a pedestrian 43mph (70 km/h),
but this was all done to fit into Japan’s strict kei car tax rules that restricted engines
to 360cc and the car’s length to just 3m (9’ 10”). The miniature Jeep went on sale in December
1967. Early reviews from 4x4 publications weren’t good,
and the slapdash construction came in for criticism. For example, the steering could be damaged
by large rocks and it had a fuel “gauge” which was little more than a clear plastic
pipe on the outside of the vehicle. 100 engines had been ordered from Mitsubishi,
but such was the low demand, it’s estimated just 15 of them were used on production models. Hope decided to exit the market for good and
looked around for a buyer. They approached Mitsubishi, a natural choice
as so many Mitsubishi parts were used on the car, but it would be Suzuki that would agree
to purchase the car’s design for ¥12M- that’s just £320,000 ($410,000 USD, €350,000,
$580,000 AUD) today. Suzuki certainly got the bargain of the century! To test of the car’s capabilities, Suzuki
and Hope aimed the ON360 at Mount Fuji and hit the accelerator pedal. The car got to the 5th station – 61% of
the way up the 3,700m (12,388ft) mountain. Suzuki engineers got to work to transform
Hope’s off roader into something that they could actually release. Many of the non-Suzuki parts were removed,
including the Mitsubishi engine. Each Hope ON360 had been essentially custom
built, so Suzuki had to alter the chassis for mass production and create a new body. The new car could manually switch between
powering the two rear wheels, or all four wheels. 4WD mode could operate in high and low mode,
with low mode providing half the speed. But with a top speed of just 47mph (75 km/h)
from Suzuki’s 359cc engine in 2WD mode, the 4WD low mode was strictly for getting
you out of trouble. The Suzuki Jimny was launched in 1970, as
the “LJ10” or “Light Jeep 10”. At the time it was the first 4WD kei car,
if of course you don’t count Hope’s ON360. To keep the car less than 3m (9’ 10”)
the spare tyre was stored inside the car instead of on the back, but this meant there was only
one rear seat. Inside it was spartan, like a miniature Land
Rover. To make this a versatile mini off-roader,
Suzuki added the ability to take power off the engine for accessories such as a winch. With little 4WD competition in Japan, and
no competitor making a car this small, the tiny LJ10 Jimny was a hit. Suzuki would roll out an update just two years
later as the LJ20. The main difference was the switch from air
cooling the engine to water cooling, mainly because of emissions regulations, but the
new engine was also a little more powerful. It also got a Jeep-like vertical grille, a
heater to allow it to operate in colder climates, and a new hard top version. Suzuki were keen to get four seats into the
car, so reworked the spare tyre placement to squeeze two tiny seats in the back. And they experimented with placing it on the
roof to allow for decent-sized rear seats. Suzuki would also try the car out in North
America in 1971 as the “Brute”, where the spare tyre was bolted to the rear of the
car as the 3m (9’ 10”) limit wasn’t really a problem over there! To promote Sony’s new colour TV and U-matic
video cassette system, Suzuki and Sony offered a “video Jimny”. Sony’s products could be powered by Jimny’s
engine, in some sort of odd “record your favourite episode of "Kamen Rider" while you’re
in the wilderness” pitch. Maybe it was aimed at TV production companies,
but regardless, they didn’t sell a single one! 1975 was a seminal year for Suzuki as they
would build their first overseas car assembly line. The new version of the Jimny – the LJ50
– would be manufactured in Pakistan. This new car would use a larger 539cc 3-cylinder
engine. It would be sold in countries such as Australia,
where a van version was also available. With a relaxing of kei car rules in Japan,
and new emission regulations, by 1976 this larger engine was being used in Suzuki’s
home market. Foreign markets weren’t constrained by kei
car rules of course, so the track was widened by 10cm (4”), the fuel tank became 50% larger,
and the engine got another boost. The existing car was seen as severely underpowered,
especially for a body-on-frame 4WD off-roader, so the new Jimny 8 or LJ80 would get an 800cc
four-cylinder 42hp engine in 1977. The larger engine needed a higher bonnet line;
a shape that would become familiar in the 1980s. Suzuki also experimented with long wheelbase
models in export markets to give the car a little bit more cargo space. The interior would also get a boost, with
new seats and steering wheel, and metal doors would become the norm, rather than canvas. These features were turning the spartan Jimny
into a practical off-roader, and soon Suzuki was selling the LJ80 in Europe. A big update arrived in 1982 with the 2nd
generation model, and if you remember the 1980s, this will likely be your first introduction
to the Jimny, or Samurai as it was often called. The chassis remained largely the same, although gas dampeners improved the archaic leaf spring suspension. While the car continued to get a small kei
car engine in Japan, Suzuki continued to insert larger engines for export. In 1982 it was a 982cc 45hp version of the
previous 800cc engine, giving the car a top speed of 68mph (109 km/h). In 1981 Suzuki formed a joint venture with
Maruti in India. Since then Suzuki’s have become a common
sight on Indian roads, and the Jimny was launched there in 1985 as the Gypsy. It was popular with the police and Indian
military, and eventually exported to Australia, Chile, Hungary, Kenya and Malta. However, it failed in the Indian market with
poor fuel economy and an unrefined interior and ride. It was also sold New Zealand as the Suzuki
Farm Worker. Due to not meeting New Zealand’s crash protection
regulations it was only intended for farm work as it couldn’t be registered on the
road. Suzuki continued to expand production. In 1981 Jimny’s were being built in Indonesia,
and soon production would start in Thailand, Kenya and Columbia. In 1984 the Jimny was updated once more, receiving
a larger 1.3L engine, a 5-speed gearbox and more powerful brakes. The body and interior were also redesigned,
with a new dashboard, seats, and grille. Suzuki entered into a partnership with Spanish
Santana Motors in 1985 to bypass European import rules and allow them to sell the car
for much less in Europe. They softened the suspension to make it better
on-road, improved the interior and in the 1990s added a 1.9L PSA turbodiesel to give
the car an 81mph (130 km/h) top speed. By the late 1980s it was a common sight on
European roads, becoming a fashion accessory for the Sharon’s and Britney’s of the
world who never took the car off-road. But in some respects, the car was still fairly
basic. Changing between 2 and 4WD mode meant changing
locking mechanisms on the wheels themselves – not very convenient, and there’s a claim
that Indian drivers thought the fuel economy was bad because they didn’t know how to
put the car back into 2WD mode. In Japan the car got fuel injection and a
turbo to boost the tiny 543cc engine to 51hp (38 kW). New 1990 kei car rules boosted the engine
to 657cc, allowing the power to eventually get to 64hp (47 kW) with a respectable 75mph
(120 km/h) top speed. In 1985 the Jimny made a triumphant return
to the North American market as the Suzuki Samurai. Although it had been sold in 1971, it had
been a tepid introduction through a 3rd party. This time Suzuki was all-in. It was a real bargain, priced at just $6,200,
which is about £11,700 ($15,000 USD, €12,800, $21,000 AUD) today. Sales were initially strong, and in the first
three years Suzuki sold over 150,000 of them. By 1987 over 1M Jimny’s had been sold in
over 100 countries. Suzuki pitched it as a fun lifestyle car for
the masses, with the tagline “Never a dull moment”. Prophetic words, as soon just a few damaging
words would bring sales crashing down. Consumer Reports is a non-profit that tests
consumer products, and they’d become aware of the potential for the Jimny to roll over
after a staff member had tested one. Upon testing it through their standard course
they’d been unable to tip it, and their test drivers reported it being no more likely
to tip than other cars, so Consumer Reports made the course harder to try to get it to tip. After many runs, they managed to get the car
on two wheels. Consumer Reports published an article damning
the Jimny, using phrases like “easily rolls over in turns”. In a press conference they called the car
dangerous, saying only “very limited steering inputs” could get the car onto two wheels,
despite the test drivers needing to make extreme course corrections on a modified, harder course. The report made headlines worldwide and there
were petitions for the car to be recalled. Ironically Suzuki had given the car a wider
stance that same year. Despite Suzuki hitting back with a large TV
ad campaign, sales of the Jimny in the US cratered, just at the time Suzuki was launching
the larger Suzuki Sidekick, known as the Vitara in other parts of the world. With stricter safety rules not related to
rollovers coming in 1995, Suzuki exited the US market. Just one year later, in 1996, Suzuki filed
a $60M lawsuit against Consumer Reports. During the court case, Consumer Reports’
massaging of test results came to light, however internal Suzuki documents showed they had
been concerned for a long time about the Jimny’s potential to roll over. Over the years Suzuki Jimny rollovers have
resulted in 213 deaths, and over 200 lawsuits have been settled. In 2004 both companies reached a settlement. Consumer Reports agreed they would no longer
talk about their 1988 Jimny rollover article, and Suzuki agreed to drop any claim for damages. So, was the Jimny really dangerous? Yes, it resulted in 213 deaths, but when you’re
selling a vehicle that can get into extreme off roading situations, it’s easy for untrained
people to get themselves into trouble. If you watch the car being run through cones
it looks top heavy and looks like it will tip over, but it wasn’t the only vehicle
at that time with a lot of body roll. In the 1980s the US Government mandated the
CJ-5 Jeep carry a sticker saying that if drivers “make sharp turns or abrupt manoeuvres,
the vehicle may roll over, go out of control and crash.”. The Jimny wasn’t recalled by any government
body anywhere in the world, and the US Federal authorities said it was no more likely to tip over than other
cars already on the market. But Suzuki had been selling their go-anywhere
off-roader to customers who never took their car off-road and arguably weren’t as good
in emergency situations. It was those customers who saw the nightly
news reports showing a seemingly unstable car going through cones, and they decided
to purchase something else. This would start Suzuki’s exit from the
US automobile market, and they would continue to lean heavily on minority stakeholder General
Motors to sell their cars for them. But with all the incentives in the world,
a 3rd party can never sell your product as effectively as you can, and Geo branded Suzuki’s
eventually disappeared from American roads. This whole episode would show just how much
weight motoring journalists have. There have been similar cases, such as the
Top Gear / Tesla feud in 2011. Rightly or wrongly, Consumer Reports’ article
effectively ended Suzuki Jimny sales in the USA. The pen is indeed mightier than the sword. While it is of course the responsibility of
car companies to make a safe product, journalists also need to be sure their reporting is as
accurate as possible. Outside of North America, the Jimny got an
update in 1995 with better coil sprung suspension. It got an automatic gearbox, and the interior
got an update to bring the Jimny kicking and screaming into the 1990s. But these changes were a quick revision before
a much bigger update in 1998 when the 3rd generation Jimny was launched. This version was a little wider, but mainly
through larger bumpers as the car still had to meet kei car size constraints. Yes, it’s small, but how big do you need
your 4x4 to be? It’s small enough to fit into the tightest
supermarket car parking spaces, because even mountain explorers need their Cheerios in
the morning. The 4WD system could now be controlled by
three dashboard buttons, and new vacuum-locking hubs allowed the wheels to automatically engage
4WD mode. In Europe where diesels were popular, a Renault
1.4L engine was available. And with all the glass and sunroof heating
up the car, air conditioning was standard in some regions. The interior got another update to make it
a thoroughly modern off roader. Suzuki would also rebadge the car as the Mazda
AZ-Offroad to sell it to more customers. In 2007 the Jimny set a new altitude record
of 6,688m (21,942ft) in South America. In the process they found a sign left by the
previous record holders who’d driven a Jeep Wrangler, saying “Jeep Parking only: All
other don’t make it up here anyway.”. The Jimny record holders threw it in the back
and kept it as a souvenir. After a massive 14 years, in 2012 the car
got a small front facelift, but in truth the 20 years between the 3rd version and 4th version
being launched were quiet, with not much changing. But after the chaos of the 80s and 90s, Suzuki
was probably happy to just focus on selling cars. By the time of the 4th generation model Suzuki
had made 2.85M Jimnys. It’s maybe surprising that in 2018 when
the 4th generation car appeared that the underpinnings of the Jimny were still largely the same as
they had been in 1970. The car was still body-on-frame construction
when some off roaders had switched to an integrated body and air suspension. It still used recirculating ball steering
that felt loose on the road compared to modern rack and pinion steering. But although nearly 50 years had passed, this
was still the best way to make an affordable 4x4. The car was updated with the latest 658cc
turbo kei car engine for the Japanese market, and a 1.5L 100hp (75 kW) engine for everybody
else. It got a square retro looking design reminiscent
of the early 80s car. Inside it was another thing entirely. Features included automatic transmission,
hill hold and descent control, cruise control, heated seats, climate control, electric windows,
autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning and traffic sign recognition. Earlier on I described the Jimny as a miniature
Land Rover, but the 4th generation Jimny had grown to be the same size as the 1st generation
Land Rover. But at less than 1/3 the price than the current
Defender, maybe the Jimny is the spiritual successor of that first Land Rover? If you live in Europe or the USA you might
think the Jimny has disappeared, but it’s sold almost everywhere else in the world
and continues to sell well. Like the original version, the Jimny is still
an affordable way to go anywhere on earth. A big thank you to all my Patrons for supporting
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video!
This was legitimately interesting!