When we got married (1999) my wife had a Geo Tracker she bought new in 1992. At first I was 'WTF is this little POS' That lasted 5 mins. It was an awesome car that could take everything we threw at it including sinking in a pond. It was amazing. The only reason we don't still have it is rust, like pull the seat belt mounts out of the floor rust. I really wish this thing was sold here as a modern replacement.
STM317 said:Remarkably similar considering one is a unibody, and the result of the Fiat/Chrysler marriage while the other is BOF from an orphan brand that's better known for making motorcycles.
SyntheticBlinkerFluid said:
meh, suzuki has a flat roof, flares, and less curves- it looks the part. The Jeep can't figure out what it is.
In reply to STM317 :
Not offended. Just surprised.
Suprf1y said:Suzuki is not an orphan, and probably only in the US is better known for selling motorcycles. They are a significant automotive manufacturer in most of the world and dominant in a few very large markets.
It's an orphan in the US.
Nobody bought Suzuki cars when they were sold here, it would be foolish for them to restart now. Especially without a dealer network. Besides the only people that would want one would probably only buy it used.
That said I think it's pretty cool. If rather see these on the road than a bunch of Nissan jukes and ford edges.
In reply to spitfirebill :
No it isn't.
Again, surprised.
I’ve had three Samurais and a Tracker and I miss all of them. They were jokes among Jeep guys back then even though I could somehow go places they couldn’t and mine cost 30% of what the Jeeps has into them.
Mine were stock engined and axled and just had double-low 4-Lo.
The Jeeps had swapped out the engines for GM small blocks and the Dana 30 and Model 20’s were long replaced with upgrades that mine never needed.
(I still like Jeeps though)
I still have my Samurai. I would have to seriously consider buying a new car if these were imported. A modern Samurai would be nice to have and make the perfect TOAD behind SanFord.
Suprf1y said:In reply to spitfirebill :
No it isn't.
Again, surprised.
How would you describe them? They filed for bankruptcy and ceased selling cars and trucks in the US in 2012. In the US, they're as much an orphan as Pontiac or Saturn or ... etc. An enormous parent company in Japan that still sells vehicles elsewhere in the world doesn't mean they're not orphaned here.
One of the best cars I ever owned, miss you little buddy.
E36 M3, now I'm tempted to buy the 5 speed, 4 door, 2 WD Tracker a buddy of mine offered me for beer money.
Would rock a new one, too, if it got over 30 mpg.
In reply to dculberson :
Oh?
The term orphan car accurately applies to any marque of motor vehicle built by a manufacturer that has discontinued business entirely. The term is sometimes inaccurately applied to a discontinued marque from a still-existing vehicle manufacturer (e.g. Oldsmobile) or a sub-marque (e.g. Thunderbird). In the case of a revived marque where a newer company resuscitates a discontinued brand (e.g. Maybach), only the original vehicles are accurately considered orphans
In reply to pinchvalve :
My son still has one of those, white, low mileage, lifted with one of my cams in it
And it's still slow as molasses
pinchvalve said:
One of the best cars I ever owned, miss you little buddy.
I miss our 01 grand vitara, this ones son. Or daughter. Nice revving 2.5 V6 2 speed transfer case and a real frame under that body.
I miss our 99 JX. It was basically the 4x4 equivalent of a Miata.
I was behind a Suzuki while going to work today....an Equator. Yeah, yeah, I know, but it had a Suzuki badge on it.
Klayfish said:Is it even an updated Samurai, or just new badges? Not that it's a bad thing, I thought the old Samurai was cool.
The Jimny is all-new: Autoblog 2019 Jimny
I would love to have one too. Years ago a friend bought a brand new tin-top Samurai. He called it the billy goat. It was a pretty amazing off-road vehicle even in stock form.
Rumour has it that FCA is going to introduce a Jeep that's smaller than the Renegade. If it should have a flavour like this Suzuki (it won't, but we can hope) it would get my attention. I'd like a small ,truck-like SUV instead of one of the current crop of car based cute utes.
Klayfish said:I was behind a Suzuki while going to work today....an Equator. Yeah, yeah, I know, but it had a Suzuki badge on it.
I've seen like 3 of those in the last 2 weeks. What's the deal with them?
Suprf1y said:In reply to dculberson :
Oh?
The term orphan car accurately applies to any marque of motor vehicle built by a manufacturer that has discontinued business entirely. The term is sometimes inaccurately applied to a discontinued marque from a still-existing vehicle manufacturer (e.g. Oldsmobile) or a sub-marque (e.g. Thunderbird). In the case of a revived marque where a newer company resuscitates a discontinued brand (e.g. Maybach), only the original vehicles are accurately considered orphans
American Suzuki Motor Corporation went bankrupt and discontinued the business of selling cars entirely. 
Never mind that while the 'Wikipedia definition' (wikinition?) you have provided may have been the traditional definition, the contemporary definition has been specifically expanded to include the "discontinued marque from a still-existing vehicle manufacturer" over the years...Such that Oldmobile, for example, is currently allowed into 'Orphaned Car' clubs and shows. In fact, the featured marque at the 2018 Ypsilanti Orphan Car Show is Plymouth. My guess is that the definition naturally evolved as more and more marques (the vast majority today) were ultimately brought under much larger (and longer lasting) corporate umbrellas.
RevRico said:Klayfish said:I was behind a Suzuki while going to work today....an Equator. Yeah, yeah, I know, but it had a Suzuki badge on it.
I've seen like 3 of those in the last 2 weeks. What's the deal with them?
Badge engineered Nissan Frontier
Suprf1y said:In reply to dculberson :
Oh?
The term orphan car accurately applies to any marque of motor vehicle built by a manufacturer that has discontinued business entirely. The term is sometimes inaccurately applied to a discontinued marque from a still-existing vehicle manufacturer (e.g. Oldsmobile) or a sub-marque (e.g. Thunderbird). In the case of a revived marque where a newer company resuscitates a discontinued brand (e.g. Maybach), only the original vehicles are accurately considered orphans
That's literally one guy's definition of "orphan car." In this case, the user Hup234 in 2007 wrote that and put it on Wikipedia. No knock against WIkipedia, but that doesn't make an authoritative definition to me. I would still describe a Suzuki, like my Sidekick, as an orphan in the US. How would you describe it? A displaced person? ;-)
In reply to dculberson :
It's a berkeleying car they don't sell anymore in this berkeleying country.
How 'bout that?
freetors said:Nobody bought Suzuki cars when they were sold here, it would be foolish for them to restart now. Especially without a dealer network. Besides the only people that would want one would probably only buy it used.
That said I think it's pretty cool. If rather see these on the road than a bunch of Nissan jukes and ford edges.
There are actually quite a few running around up here near me. The AWD and 4wd ones were popular and cheap.
I follow HKS on Facebook and they update their page with new Swift Turbo parts and it makes me want one.
volvoclearinghouse said:In reply to dculberson :
It's a berkeleying car they don't sell anymore in this berkeleying country.
How 'bout that?
BUT I NEED A LABEL!
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