Fourthousandonehundred (and change) kilometres in a 1983 Suzuki SJ410 within six months.
Which roughly estimates to around 52 hours behind the steering wheel. To get the obvious out of the way: No, not all that time was fun. As a matter of fact, a lot of times I very strongly (and loudly) questioned my decision.
But let's start at the beginning: A Suzuki SJ410 is slow. And loud. And if you don't seal all the holes properly, it is also very cold or wet. Or both at the same time. Throw in a questionable alternator and you have a very steep learning curve ahead of you, meaning decisions like: lights, wipers or heater? But it is also the most raw and honest 4-wheeled vehicle I have ever owned. Nothing about a Suzuki SJ is pretentious. Your feet rest against the inside (or outside depends of the point of view) of the wheel wells. The roof? You see the inside of the sheet metal that is the roof and it keeps on going like this. Creature comforts? Well, it's got a heater and provisions for a radio and the gauges are there to inform you about the engine's vitals and what is mandated by the legal code for motor vehicles.
When working on one it becomes rather apparent that some engineer took a very long look at a World War II Jeep and decided that they could do better. And better they did. Let's start at the very front under the bonnet: A "mighty" 970cc four-cylinder (F10A - also known as the "Yes, Daddy"-engine ), pumping out a rather modest 44hp and around 70NM of not exactly a lot of torque. But this engine has a very different redeeming feature: Once dialed in properly it simply ignores the fact that it can only put out 44 horses. It also completely forgets the fact that these power-levels are reached at deafening rpm-levels. Pair this with a pair of short-geared axles and a (very nice) four-speed box and you have a little powerplant in front of you screaming at you at 5000 to 6000rpm until let you go of the throttle. Because that's the other thing, the engine is an absolute peach.
A full grown car with about the overall dimensions of the original Smart, live axles and leaf springs is never going to be a Rolls Royce. Period. Once loaded with 100-200kg in the back the rear springs stop kicking you in the back and whilst still hampered by the short wheelbase, it becomes a lot more bearable. Still the stretch of Autobahn entirely made from concrete slabs spaced approx. the same distance as the wheelbase makes the whole car bounce like a wild bronco. (And made the exhaust split in half.)
So do I regret the Suzuki? No, not at all. A good way to describe it would be to call it a motorcycle with four wheels and a roof. It is surprisingly fuel efficient usually between seven and eight litres per 100 kilometres. It is (just about) fast enough to follow the lorries on the Autobahn and it can do so for several hours without overheating and in a world where everything has to move faster and faster it's a vehicle that will do more than just remind you that whilst it can keep up with most traffic, it's preferred speed is rather different.
(Also there's more stuff coming again on the blog - no worries. 😉)
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