Tag Archives: suzuki
NEWS: Retro fourth-gen Suzuki Jimny leaked ahead of July debut
Though it has been on the market for nearly 50 years, the stalwart Suzuki Jimny has had only three complete generational changes. The fourth generation of the kei SUV debuts this July, but renderings based on leaked information in Japan’s Best … Continue reading
VIDEO: Suzuki Jimny ads sure beat the crap out of these kei SUVs
We continued to be tickled by the fact that Suzuki is releasing a lot of archival footage showing the evolution of their products. From animated history lessons to old ads, the company seems to be digging deep into the vault for this stuff … Continue reading
VIDEO: 30 years of the Suzuki Sidekick
It’s hard to believe, but the Suzuki Sidekick is 30 years old. In some markets it was called the Vitara, or Escudo, or Geo Tracker, but we know what it really was — a nonstop barrel of monkeys.
VIDEO: A cartoon history of the Suzuki Alto and motorcycle business
After a brief hiatus, Suzuki is back with two new cartoon videos explaining how the company got where it is today. The first outlines the genesis of the Alto, a revered name in kei cars, and the second explains how … Continue reading
Kidney, Anyone?: Hardtop convertible Suzuki Sidekick
The Suzuki Sidekick hails from the waning days of the SUV golden age, before they all devolved into the rolling unibody mayonnaise jars we call crossovers. As a more civilized version of the Samurai, it was a truck admired by both … Continue reading
EVENTS: 2018 New Year Meeting, Part 03 — Seventies and Eighties
Our first two installments of the 2018 New Year Meeting featured cars from 1960s Japan. Those beautifully crafted machines from the early days of country’s motorization served a specific purpose, but the 1970s is when the modification culture became truly widespread.
VIDEO: The introduction of Suzuki’s first car
Suzuki’s first car, the Suzulight, was launched in 1955. At a time when few in Japan owned private cars, and few roads existed, the first cars were sold to doctors so they could make house visits.
VIDEO: The origins of Suzuki in anime form
Suzuki has released a new animated video showing the origins The origins of Suzuki go back to the late 1800s, when founder Michio Suzuki was finishing up an carpentry apprenticeship at the age of fourteen. He devised an automatic loom, as … Continue reading
KEI HERO: Suzuki Alto Works
Poor America. We don’t even know how bad we have it. In the States, we think of hatchbacks as puny, minimally equipped tin cans that people buy because they can’t afford something better. Elsewhere in the world and especially in Japan, not only are … Continue reading
25 YEAR CLUB: Mazda Autozam AZ-1
Kei cars are cool. Slow and small they might be, but they are feats of engineering ingenuity that extract the most space, efficiency, and usability out of a tightly defined set of rules. And sometimes, the most fun as well. … Continue reading
EVENTS: 2017 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 09 — Bikes
Hey guys, we’ve been totally slacking on a hugely important segment of Japanese Nostalgic Cars because, well, they’re not actually cars. But, even with two fewer wheels, motorcycles and scooters have been an integral part of Japan’s motoring history. Here are … Continue reading
CLASSIC CM: Behold, a solid half hour of Suzuki commercials
Do you have some time to kill? Well, then perhaps you can watch a solid half hour of Japanese Suzuki TV spots, ranging from 1978 to 2000, ranging from sincere to zany and selling everything from scooters to off-roaders. Michael … Continue reading
KIDNEY, ANYONE?: Never-titled Suzuki RE5 rotary motorcycle
Given the strengths of the rotary engine, you would imagine that they would be a natural fit for motorcycles. Small displacement, high power and high revving, these are all prerequisites for a motorcycle engine. Surprisingly only a handful of motorcycle … Continue reading
PIXELATED: Kat’s Run Zen-Nippon K Car Senshuken
Have you ever played Mario Kart and thought, “I wish these were all kei cars.”? If so, we have a game for you. Kat’s Run: Zen-Nippon K Car Senshuken produced by Atlus Games in 1995 was available exclusively for the Super … Continue reading
KIDNEY, ANYONE? 1969 Suzuki Carry LHD
Generally speaking, here at Japanese Nostalgic Car we don’t feature JDM cars when we do Kidney Car posts because we would end up copy-pasting half of goo-net-exchange weekly. That being said, this is a very special car in that most Suzuki … Continue reading
EVENTS: New Year Meeting 2017, Part 07 — Motorbikes
The New Year Meeting is an amazing show, but there is one element missing, one that’s just as much a part of Japanese classic culture as the cars we love: motorbikes. Unlike in the US, where two-wheelers are mostly a … Continue reading
NEWS: Suzuki, the Real MVP, issues recall for a single Cappuccino
Suzuki has launched a nationwide recall campaign in Japan that affects only one car. That’s not a typo. There is apparently only a single 1996 Suzuki Cappuccino with the problem, and rather than reach out to the owner directly, the company issued … Continue reading