I miss my little Samurai. I had the two wheel model and still took it off road all the time. Bought it in High School in 92 and still till this day class mates talk about all the fun we had in it. I even started my first business with it that I run to this very day. Even kissed my first love in my little Sami. Great memories so much fun in the best years of my life.
2wd version, garbage. You didn't ever possess a true Samurai. Your memories should be shameful. I can't believe you would make this post when you only had a 2wd. Eff you
Hell yeah, I have 3 too, a soft top, a tin top, and one that's truggied out. I'm looking for running motor for the tin top, I got two blown engines in the garage, should order a couple rebuild kits.
I've owned around a dozen cars and my 86 Samurai is easily my favorite! I once hit 87 mph going downhill, after pulling off a textbook perfect slingshot off a semi. It was terrifying 🙈
Some of my best adolescent memories were off off roading in one of these with my cousins. There's nothing quite like sitting in the back seat with the top off, feeling the dirt road under you, the sun over you, the air blowing everywhere and having a full and complete experience of your surroundings. Awesome times I'll never forget. I wish they would bring these back into production. I'd buy one in a heartbeat.
They're sill building them, but Suzuki stopped importing cars into the U.S. Jeeps have become so bloated, they can't compete with a small, basic, INEXPENSIVE on/off roader.
@@fredandersen9873 it is unfortunate they don't sell them in the US. I ended up buying a Cherokee Trailhawk and yes, paid WAY too much for it. The upside is that it will go anywhere a Wrangler does but with all the comforts. The downside is that the experience isn't quite the same as a samurai or a wrangler. One of these days when I win the lotto, I'll buy every vehicle to suit my every need and whim. Lol
Bought an '86 Sami in early '87 from a guy who'd had lower back surgery and just couldn't handle (very) stiff the ride. LOVED it!! 3K miles on a "used" car. Still, my favorite ride, EVER! Crazy easy to maintain: Head gasket in a N.H. blizzard -- Heck, you can do a ring job on this silly little thing without pulling the motor!! In 2022, I *still* miss this car. Went lots of places that Ford F-250's, with the full off-road package *plus* add-ons, would dependably need to be winched out of. Man!! REALLY miss that car!
A'Ray- I bought a Samurai, new in 1986. I still own it and have not modified it in any way, except I had new tops made for it. A bikini top with a removable safari top, wheel cover and a tonneau cover . I don't drive much anymore but it only has 96,000 miles on it. I used it for my company car for many years. I had t0 but in a clutch, pressure plate and a throw out bearing at 69,000 miles. It was fast a Suzuki Rep rep told me it was the fastest one he had ever driven. I still have people stopping by to try and buy it. It was one of 3 Suzukis I owned at the same time.
I owned a 1987 Tin Top. Took it all over Colorado trails and back roads. Nothing that car couldn't handle off road. It was unfortunately retired when someone t-boned me in a parking lot. It has 463000 miles on it. Best car I've ever owned.
Dang I love my Samurai's! My first vehicle at 16 was a Samurai! It's undergone a ton of changes, and I even sold it earlier this year, but now it's back and I'm rebuilding it again! Great video!
I have an 86 tin top i spent ten years building as a hunting rig, 3inch spring under lift, hd shackles, late model trans (more rpm in 5th), duel centerforce clutch, 1.6 tracker efi swap, honda civic seats, 4:56 gears front and rear with arb lockers, extended range fuel tank, racks, bumpers, winch, lights, tracker power steering, fender flares etc etc etc restored body and interior. starts in -40 at the cabin, sips fuel, goes anywhere a side by side goes and drives past all the sunk one ton trucks in the pipelines. I will never give up my sammi
I had one from 1993 to 2001. Loved it. The only vehicle that I actually loved. Every other car I've had since has been merely a tool. The Samurai, though, I loved.
I got a 1987 Suzuki samurai when I was 16. I'm 21 now and still have it. My little 1.3 locked up so I put a 1.6 8v in it from a 93 geo tracker. I put a mild lift on it when I was in high school. I love that little rig
I used to work in commercial fencing including a lot of farm fencing in some extremely swampy areas and these little beasts could handle almost any scenario we could throw them into! We generally left them totally stock except for putting tractor tread tires on them from farm swathers.They definitely made the work day a lot more fun!
My friend has a Samurai, I have an MJ, they are both awesome 80/90s 4x4s. The Samurai is so much fun to run around town with, I've also never driven anything more capable in the snow than one in snow tires in 4WD.
You’re never going to convince me it was ever underrated! It was a staple of rock crawling magazines throughout the 90s right beside the Jeeps and Land Cruiser’s.
1988 JA "Tin Top" here; I did the Toyota 3k carb swap; flushed the coolant and replaced the hoses; new brake rotors, pads, and drums; new shocks all around; updated the head, signal, and marker lights to LED; replaced the exhaust to a 2" - cat delete; new shackles, pan hard bar, and poly bushings; replaced the seats with '96 Neon seats for comfort (I'm a fat ass;) powder-coated the stock rims and mount LT235/75r15 MT tires ('cause trailer-size tires are getting hard to find;) replaced the shift knob with one them bougie knobs from online with the Japanese script; cleaned out the gas tank, and replaced all the requisite consumables (filters, fluids, plugs, and wires) to get this little 'Ronin' back on the road and in the dirt! Only things left I'd like to do is weld up a front bumper, install a headliner, spray a bedliner in the tub and find and install OME 1.5" leaf springs!
The first year for the samurai was 1985, it had smaller fender flares, no a/c, no power steering. Very basic and super easy to work on. I learned a lot about working on vehicles with it very fun.
In the mid to late 90's I bought an '86 painted matte dark forest green for $800. I put on 31's, 3" springs, bullbars. At the time, there was a company selling a modified transfer case that gave a 4.7:1 low range and in high range offset the increased tire size perfectly so that you didn't have to do any tinkering with the front and rear axle gears. The little transfer case itself was small, light and "divorced" from the transmission- it had a stubby driveshaft from x-case to trans (almost a unicorn in the 4x4 world). So the new fancy case came shipped in a modified Rubbermaid bin with the new one! You would pop 4 bolts for the crossmember, disconnect the front and rear driveshafts and it was out! I miss that little Zuk with that lift, tire and ultra-low crawler low range it was an astonishing agile little crawler!
Ya i have had my 86 samurai since 08 and still going strong love it so much fun on the trails i can go between the jeeps tracks pick witch side of the trail to run down shatter proof poly windshield its axle flip high steer kit toyota power steering stainless steel header 105 amp alternator 31inch goodyear AT puncture resistance tires on aluminum wheels 3/8 inch front steel wheel spacer removable doors drop down tailgate soft top extra bed liner hard top 8 rock lights custom camo fabric roll bars and back seat 2017 land cruiser black leather front seats costom curved front light bar holds 4 lights and a 45inch light bar cherry bomb exhaust electric cooling fan 6:5:1 transfer case trail gears front and rear winches tow hooks tow bar stereo cd 4 speakers weber carb bigger radiator cb radio its color custom black bed liner and key lime paint i know im forgetting somthing but its a blast in the woods for sure and i still can drive it on the streets shorter smaller narrower than a jeep way worth its money
Nice light weight drivetrain. Had dozen of them over the years mild to wild. Samurais are rock climbers jeeps are 400lb guys trying to rock climb. At least it's what it felt like in my 2006 rubicon I sold. I also will be looking for another Zuk soon.
Good info! Miss my 1988 Sami with a Vitara/Sidekick/Tracker 1.6 engine. 6:44 is not a stock Samurai engine, its the Twincam engine of a Suzuki Swift GTI.
Really enjoyed this video. IU live in Trinidad in the Caribbean and have a blue softop with a 1.3 4 cylinder engine. The only modification is a 2 inc lift, new rims and 235 70 all terrain Falkens. I just added a weber Carb today and heading out to test it. Love Samurais to death. Thanks for this history
Im a 29 old guy and my Mom had a Isuzu Trooper and my Dad a suzuki Samurai like this ( a blue one with a withe soft top ).. We are a family of 6 and at this time my dad cannot afford a Toyota and was way expensive from family budget so he bought the Trooper and 1year later the samurai for itself .. we were living in mountain and the roads were in extremely poor conditions with mud in rainy weather and i dnt remember any kind of problem abt these car specially the Samurai .. one of the thing i remember with my dad he used to ask me to get out and lock the front wheels when he wanted to engaged the 4wd ( wich i didn’t like in the rain ) and Man what a car very low gas consumption cheap for repair and very capable .. we overpassed safari and Landcruiser stocked in the due to their high weight and my dad was smiling at them .. my brother and sisters learned to drive on it but they didn’t like it because it was so bumpy they prefered the Trooper .. we sold the samurai last year to someone in need and now i regret it !! Car nowadays don’t last like that !
Bought a lwb SJ413 a few years ago that had a 2" spring lift and 30" tires fitted, l then added front and rear ARB lockers, heavy duty axle drive shafts, 6.5:1 transfer gear, power steering from a Jimny and a front winch, offroad it easily outperformed my Land Rover Td5 90 that was on mud terrain tires, a lot of hard offroad use soon wore the clutch out so a heavy duty item was installed, it wasn't that fast on the highway but would sit at 60mph comfortably and the heater was superb in winter.
I had the '87 JLX model with the soft top and the optional a/c. I loved that thing and even took it to Turkey with me for the 2.5 years that I was stationed there.
I don't remember the timeline, but the Samurai held the altitude climbing record for a number of years, something Jeep, Ford Bronco, or other burly manly man 4x4s could not claim. I had a '68 classic Bronco when I first moved up here to the Rockies 12 years ago. Cool looking truck. ...but I kept the under-powered Samurai. It's just a better vehicle for my applications, in my opinion. When I need to drive on the highway, I just drive my Tacoma with only 317,000 miles on it. (...I wonder where they got the 0-60 numbers for the Sami. If the wind is in my face, mine doesn't get to 60!!!, but I'm not complaining). Mine is for the mountain roads and trails, and 4wheel low climbs anything I've tried the last 9 years. Thanks for the video. ...From everything I've read over the years, the TDI diesel swap is better than the 1.6 Sidekick swap. My engine is tired, but still hangs in there, but when it's time to replace it, I'll be looking for an upgrade. The TDI gets better mileage, and allegedly highway top end.
I own two, one is getting a VW TDI turbo diesel, sidekick transmission, a underdrive unit built from a sidekick transfercase, jeep YJ leaf springs, aftermarket axle shafts, lockers, roll cage, bumpers , winch.... so much is getting done on it i'm not even sure it will be mostly samurai by weight anymore.
I bought one that sat for 20yrs in TX and had it shipped to NY completely stock unmodified. Had the engine rebuilt. The Paint was 5/10 there for I sent it to a body shop to get it back to its glory days. Im going to keep it completely stock and just bring everything back to life. Now I just cant decide which one to keep in the garage the samurai or my 60k mile geo tracker 😂
I agree with some of the others. Had many vehicles over the years and my 88 Sammy takes the cake for fun to drive. I keep it stock down to carb air cleaner and tire size. Cruise at 60 get great mileage and go almost anywhere. One of the best cheap off roaders ever.
Great video and a tribune to a legendary vehicle 👍👍. you could still get a showroom suzuki samurai in India until last year . They finally stopped selling them to civilians but assembly line is still open for army n police requirements . In india it is sold as a suzuki gypsy with a longer wheel base and a 1.3 litre G13BB mpfi engine making 80hp.. I own a 2016 model and regularly import upgrades from low range offroad , US . The parts are a bolt -on fit.
Loved my 88 tin top samurai, lockers, trail creeper gears in transfer, old man emu springs and propane swap. Mine would go places mountain goat couldn't. Rocky road outfitter were on my speed dial.
I have one. It's a bit rough around the edges but it's mostly stock. Modded the hinges for removal of the doors without tools. The motor has high compression pistons (0.040 over) and a Weber carb. It's still got stock springs though they are de-arched aka. shot! I have some lift springs to go on it and some other repairs I need to do just waiting on better weather as I'm without a workshop currently. It's not the fastest ride nor the smoothest yet it puts a smile on my face everytime. It's got a fun to drive factor that's 10 outta 10 as long as you don't want to go over 60ish MPH. Hard to beat top and doors off driving with the vinyl half doors on.
My dad and brother were given a couple of basket-case Samurais back in the late 1990's, and they assembled one working samurai that is five different colors and they drove and modified this thing for years. It sits on 30's or 31's, with at least a 3" lift. It has an eagle auto-locker in the rear, and it is completely absurd what it will go through or go over.
I have 88.5 little 2” shackled lift, 235-75-15 muddies and the toy 250 carb swap. The drive train is stock except shackles. Pretty much 90% stock I’d say. No major rust but have to say the tube that holds front bumper rusted out and I have removed it. Got little rupee winch to put on 3500 lb. want get some lockers I think and some lower low range gears as most our time together is off-road but not looking for obstacles. Just some normal trail riding not saying she doesn’t like to stretch her legs when needed but always try keep her on a warm up lap and not the race until time needed. Lol love the little beast. Have little over 3 k and wouldn’t take 5 k for her. She’s part of the family. Well I’ve rambled enough so stay safe on ur next adventure and get out and wheel it therapeutic. From ur ole hillbilly buddy.
I’ve had 4 so far in the last 24 years. They are called the Gypsy in India. Lovely things.the last one I completely worked on to rebuild from a rusty beast into a singing example. I sold it after 2 And an Half years, just yesterday... but I’m already on the planning mode for the next one. They stopped production in 2019. But there are lots and lots in the used market. One just has to look carefully and buy...as I said, they are brilliant vehicles.
I have owned a samurai for 10 years... I bought it all rusted.. it was parked for years near the sea in Tabasco, Mexico. The floor was rusted, the motor was not in the best shape, Springs were awful, the only thing that the dashboard showed was themperature.. a complete mess. BUT... the day I bought it, I drove 1150 Km to my hometown Uruapan in Michoacan state. It was a pain to fix it.. but now that it works, It has taken me to the most amazing places without spendig a fortune on a Jeep with all the modifications.. My little samurai is great for taking me to work in the city everyday and to go to remote places where there are dusty, muddy rodes (or no rodes at all), as I am a Beekeper in the weekends. Its the most perfect car that has ever existed.. It simply takes you anywhere you want to go.. period.. it slow, bumpi, hard to turn, slooooow, it breaks from time to tiem. but its AMAZING!! once you have one, you will have a very hard time selling it!
I also own a Jeep Patriot, that's for my wife... and for long run travel.. comodity is not a thing in a samurai.. but there a re very few cars that put a smile on your face EVERYTIME you see it!! just get one!! Even the new Jimny (nice and sexy) is LESS rough than the original Samurai. I will be buying a Jimny in the future but, my old samurai will always be MY FAVORITE TRUCK!! .. Its just Awesome, cute, small, powerfull and its great to be judged by the size and let people with eyeballs out when it performs even better than a pricy, big, bulky Jeep
Yo compré un samurai que vi en internet, fui por el a Guadalajara y ese mismo día me lo traje rodando hasta Victoria, Tamaulipas. El motor estaba en muy malas condiciones: pasaba aceite, el cigueñal traia metales de diferentes medidas, la bomba de aceite daba baja presión, la banda estaba en sus ultimas, el carburador traia muchas mexicanadas, etc etc, pero aun así llegó sin dar problema alguno. Ya tengo 6 años con el y le he cambiado muchas cosas y está en mejores condiciones que cuando lo compré. Es curioso como la gente se les queda viendo cuando haces alto en un semaforo, a todos les gustan.
@@IvanCumpian y más ahora que salió el Jimny.. todos quieren uno pero están caritos... comparé el samurai con el Jimny.. y el mío es mas GRANDE!! por fuera y por dentro es mas espacioso aunque no lo crea uno... mi samurai es genial!
One of my friends had one of these, it was a joke. You could shut the motor down by holding your hand over the tail pipe lol. It didn't have the axil articulation of a CJ5 (springs were mounted inside the frame) and a CJ5 could be equipped with a V8 and fit 33's stock and was not much larger. It was basically the truck Suzuki tried to copy. I pulled one of these out of a mudhole with my 85 Toyota pickup that sucked in water and had hydrostatic lockup while he was in gear. I literally dragged the dead weight of this truck out of a deep mudhole with that Toyota. It really had no respect in it's day, but I can see the nostalgic value of it being rare. They did look really cool lifted but parts were fragile. The ring and pinion were tiny in these trucks, especially if you lowered the gear ratio for bigger tires.
93 sidekick, stock except for suspensions. it has been lifted +3cm! it took me out of very tough scenarios, easy and cheap to repair. not great at high speeds and not very safe to todays standards. but one of the coolest rides you can get at a budget !
Stock it didn't have much articulation. Added a spool rear end and 235/75 15 kumho mud terrains (no other changes) and turned it into an unstoppable force offroad, and made it drive on rails on road. The MT tires had enough wiggle to accommodate the welded rear. Rain was a little scary though.
Bought a 1995 about ten years ago to pull behind an R.V. Due to taking care of elderly family, that did not happen. This little rig had 17,000 actual miles on it when I purchased it, now has 21,000. !00% original and looks like it could have just been driven off the show room floor. Lady Luck appeared to be on my side on this purchase.
The Suzuki was selling too good so consumers magazine put 2 training baby wheel about 4 feet on the side of the jeep and when freeway speed and fish tail the jeep to make it try to tip over and call out the Suzuki as unsafe, and put it out on commercial and kill the sales. But, any truck would lift the tire if you go left right left right at 50-60
I have an 87 and put 2 engines in it and started having carb problems from Hawley Carb that came with engine. I am now having problems starting car. Seems to nor have enough spark to ignite combustion. Any ideas?
Coil sprung samurais were never sold in the USA and the only "generations" were the early 88-88.5, 88.5 -90 where the only change was fuel injection was added and sales ending in 95. The only changes were minor besides fuel injection and were not "generational" differences.
They were made throughout the world beyond the 1996 US models which were actually 1995 leftovers. They were still being sold through 2018, and 2018 models were being produced all the way through March of 2019 if I recall correctly? I might be one year off. Then in June of 2020, they began production again because the Indian military found no other replacement suitable enough as the Samurai aka the Gypsy King in India. No longer available for purchase by consumers, only the military. The same Long Wheelbase Samurai/Gypsy King was sold as the New Zealand market Suzuki Farm Worker through 2016, in both K model long wheelbase flatbed pick up versions, and full body long wheel base removable hardtop cab versions. The Indian versions are made by Maruti-Suzuki. Other versions made by Santana in Spain. There are a half a dozen other model names that the Samurai was called by in various countries
Also, the SJ410 and SJ413 share almost the exact same body and chassis has the samurai. Narrower track on the leaf spring mounting, different dash, and the 410 at a 1000 cc engine where the 413 and Samurai I have the 1300 cc 1.3L engine.
Just short of fabricated?! It was 100% fabricated! And by rollover, what they really mean is that someone driving in an incredibly reckless manner had lifted two tires off the ground, or at least felt like they did, which spawned dollar signs in the Consumer Reports executives' eyes and led them to fabricate a smash hit cover story to slander the imported Samurai and boast about the American Jeep...
The story was so terribly fabricated that normally they do 30 test runs max on the slalom course. The leaked video showed something like 110 runs to get the cover story photo they were after.
The big executive guy driving the story can be heard in the video background audio absolutely furious that none of the test drivers could recklessly drive the samurai hard enough to lift two tires off the ground
Well as Samurai or Jimny as many know it, it was sold as the Sierra in Australia and Gypsy in India. India being the last nation in the world to continue running the vehicle after it had stopped in the Samurai guise in most parts of the world...... The Indian Suzuki Gypsy was last produced in India by 2017 and the remaining stocks were cleared by 2019. So if anyone wants right hand drive Samurai, you'd still get plenty in India with the 1.3L MPFi engine.
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you for convincing me to buy an old samurai instead of a brand new side by side
Same
Have had mine for 6 years, best purchase ever
Smart move if you can find one.
@@johnnywishbone932 and when you do, they have become "jeep money" now.
@@VincentCVazquez do they require a lot of work? I’ve been looking at one but they’re so old and finding parts, I’ve been told is hard.
I miss my little Samurai. I had the two wheel model and still took it off road all the time. Bought it in High School in 92 and still till this day class mates talk about all the fun we had in it. I even started my first business with it that I run to this very day. Even kissed my first love in my little Sami. Great memories so much fun in the best years of my life.
True story i was his first kiss
@@viking3487 LOL.. I spit my drink out!!!!!!!!!!
2wd version, garbage. You didn't ever possess a true Samurai. Your memories should be shameful. I can't believe you would make this post when you only had a 2wd. Eff you
Simp
I have 3! I freaking love them!
Bring the Jimny to America!
Hell yeah, I have 3 too, a soft top, a tin top, and one that's truggied out.
I'm looking for running motor for the tin top, I got two blown engines in the garage, should order a couple rebuild kits.
@@salaamikechunalagaidishe..3349 nice where did you find the LWBs ? they weren't imported into the USA.
@@notsure9735 i have a samurai engine with about 4k on it debate on selling it or storing it for a rainy day
@@notsure9735 Google Samurai truck song.enjoy
@@ktmfour1007 how much where are you
I've owned around a dozen cars and my 86 Samurai is easily my favorite! I once hit 87 mph going downhill, after pulling off a textbook perfect slingshot off a semi. It was terrifying 🙈
45 or 50 is sketchy in mine
@@mr.5.04 yeah, anything over about 55 and the shaking begins in mine too.
@@Eyes0penNoFear my dad owns 2 samurai and a 413 and uses them offroad and rips and drifts around! So much fun😂
Some of my best adolescent memories were off off roading in one of these with my cousins. There's nothing quite like sitting in the back seat with the top off, feeling the dirt road under you, the sun over you, the air blowing everywhere and having a full and complete experience of your surroundings. Awesome times I'll never forget. I wish they would bring these back into production. I'd buy one in a heartbeat.
they exist! I am buying one ;)
They're sill building them, but Suzuki stopped importing cars into the U.S.
Jeeps have become so bloated, they can't compete with a small, basic, INEXPENSIVE on/off roader.
@@fredandersen9873 it is unfortunate they don't sell them in the US. I ended up buying a Cherokee Trailhawk and yes, paid WAY too much for it. The upside is that it will go anywhere a Wrangler does but with all the comforts. The downside is that the experience isn't quite the same as a samurai or a wrangler. One of these days when I win the lotto, I'll buy every vehicle to suit my every need and whim. Lol
These little trucks are very much loved in Australia as they're very capable off road and just about impossible to kill
The long wheelbase version of samurai (2nd Gen Jimny) is still in production in India for Only Army.
Civilian version discontinued in 2017
Bought an '86 Sami in early '87 from a guy who'd had lower back surgery and just couldn't handle (very) stiff the ride. LOVED it!! 3K miles on a "used" car. Still, my favorite ride, EVER! Crazy easy to maintain: Head gasket in a N.H. blizzard -- Heck, you can do a ring job on this silly little thing without pulling the motor!! In 2022, I *still* miss this car. Went lots of places that Ford F-250's, with the full off-road package *plus* add-ons, would dependably need to be winched out of. Man!! REALLY miss that car!
A'Ray- I bought a Samurai, new in 1986. I still own it and have not modified it in any way, except I had new tops made for it. A bikini top with a removable safari top, wheel cover and a tonneau cover . I don't drive much anymore but it only has 96,000 miles on it. I used it for my company car for many years. I had t0 but in a clutch, pressure plate and a throw out bearing at 69,000 miles. It was fast a Suzuki Rep rep told me it was the fastest one he had ever driven. I still have people stopping by to try and buy it. It was one of 3 Suzukis I owned at the same time.
I owned a 1987 Tin Top. Took it all over Colorado trails and back roads. Nothing that car couldn't handle off road. It was unfortunately retired when someone t-boned me in a parking lot. It has 463000 miles on it. Best car I've ever owned.
Dang I love my Samurai's! My first vehicle at 16 was a Samurai! It's undergone a ton of changes, and I even sold it earlier this year, but now it's back and I'm rebuilding it again! Great video!
I have an 86 tin top i spent ten years building as a hunting rig, 3inch spring under lift, hd shackles, late model trans (more rpm in 5th), duel centerforce clutch, 1.6 tracker efi swap, honda civic seats, 4:56 gears front and rear with arb lockers, extended range fuel tank, racks, bumpers, winch, lights, tracker power steering, fender flares etc etc etc restored body and interior. starts in -40 at the cabin, sips fuel, goes anywhere a side by side goes and drives past all the sunk one ton trucks in the pipelines. I will never give up my sammi
I’ve had three of them. They’re the best nothing can stop them. They’re totally underrated!!!
I had one from 1993 to 2001. Loved it. The only vehicle that I actually loved. Every other car I've had since has been merely a tool. The Samurai, though, I loved.
I got a 1987 Suzuki samurai when I was 16. I'm 21 now and still have it. My little 1.3 locked up so I put a 1.6 8v in it from a 93 geo tracker. I put a mild lift on it when I was in high school. I love that little rig
Maybe not the most underrated, but definetly very underrated, and i hope it stays that way
Nothing turns heads more than a samurai cruising
So true! Frequently four of us will jump into one and head to the beach. Top down of course.
I have one, my grandfather left it to me, it’s wonderful
I used to work in commercial fencing including a lot of farm fencing in some extremely swampy areas and these little beasts could handle almost any scenario we could throw them into! We generally left them totally stock except for putting tractor tread tires on them from farm swathers.They definitely made the work day a lot more fun!
The Samurai was my first vehicle, owned a few of them, built my 2nd one as a rock crawler miss that thing lol
They sure do leave an impression, don't they!! 😎🤘🏼
Got an 88 tin top with over $15k previously invested into it for my first car in September 2020, love it so much, gets so much attention lol
had mine 33 yrs. they are awesome
The Legendary Sami 🤘
Even a diehard jeep fan like me can say there epic
The only thing I would sell my cherokee to have.
My friend has a Samurai, I have an MJ, they are both awesome 80/90s 4x4s. The Samurai is so much fun to run around town with, I've also never driven anything more capable in the snow than one in snow tires in 4WD.
You’re never going to convince me it was ever underrated! It was a staple of rock crawling magazines throughout the 90s right beside the Jeeps and Land Cruiser’s.
325,000 miles ,always leaks when it rains,scratches dents,no windshield wipers,no radio,exhaust leak,rust everywhere, 100% stock .........still goes everywhere and gets chicks ✊💪
😂
1988 JA "Tin Top" here; I did the Toyota 3k carb swap; flushed the coolant and replaced the hoses; new brake rotors, pads, and drums; new shocks all around; updated the head, signal, and marker lights to LED; replaced the exhaust to a 2" - cat delete; new shackles, pan hard bar, and poly bushings; replaced the seats with '96 Neon seats for comfort (I'm a fat ass;) powder-coated the stock rims and mount LT235/75r15 MT tires ('cause trailer-size tires are getting hard to find;) replaced the shift knob with one them bougie knobs from online with the Japanese script; cleaned out the gas tank, and replaced all the requisite consumables (filters, fluids, plugs, and wires) to get this little 'Ronin' back on the road and in the dirt! Only things left I'd like to do is weld up a front bumper, install a headliner, spray a bedliner in the tub and find and install OME 1.5" leaf springs!
The first year for the samurai was 1985, it had smaller fender flares, no a/c, no power steering. Very basic and super easy to work on. I learned a lot about working on vehicles with it very fun.
In the mid to late 90's I bought an '86 painted matte dark forest green for $800. I put on 31's, 3" springs, bullbars. At the time, there was a company selling a modified transfer case that gave a 4.7:1 low range and in high range offset the increased tire size perfectly so that you didn't have to do any tinkering with the front and rear axle gears. The little transfer case itself was small, light and "divorced" from the transmission- it had a stubby driveshaft from x-case to trans (almost a unicorn in the 4x4 world). So the new fancy case came shipped in a modified Rubbermaid bin with the new one! You would pop 4 bolts for the crossmember, disconnect the front and rear driveshafts and it was out! I miss that little Zuk with that lift, tire and ultra-low crawler low range it was an astonishing agile little crawler!
Do you remember who made it?
@@j.p.saverance8972 I think it was Petroworks
i have a hard top and soft top, had them for about 20 years. love em!
Ya i have had my 86 samurai since 08 and still going strong love it so much fun on the trails i can go between the jeeps tracks pick witch side of the trail to run down shatter proof poly windshield its axle flip high steer kit toyota power steering stainless steel header 105 amp alternator 31inch goodyear AT puncture resistance tires on aluminum wheels 3/8 inch front steel wheel spacer removable doors drop down tailgate soft top extra bed liner hard top 8 rock lights custom camo fabric roll bars and back seat 2017 land cruiser black leather front seats costom curved front light bar holds 4 lights and a 45inch light bar cherry bomb exhaust electric cooling fan 6:5:1 transfer case trail gears front and rear winches tow hooks tow bar stereo cd 4 speakers weber carb bigger radiator cb radio its color custom black bed liner and key lime paint i know im forgetting somthing but its a blast in the woods for sure and i still can drive it on the streets shorter smaller narrower than a jeep way worth its money
I just got one and I’m so in love with it !!!
Got one, they're something special.
I love my 87 samurai! Spring under on yjs running 32”tires and a 5:14 t case
Back in the 90s I out mudded all my friends 4X4s in my 87 Samurai. It was a beast.
I’ve owned mine for 21 years now… great vehicle. 👍😎
Nice light weight drivetrain. Had dozen of them over the years mild to wild. Samurais are rock climbers jeeps are 400lb guys trying to rock climb. At least it's what it felt like in my 2006 rubicon I sold. I also will be looking for another Zuk soon.
Good info! Miss my 1988 Sami with a Vitara/Sidekick/Tracker 1.6 engine. 6:44 is not a stock Samurai engine, its the Twincam engine of a Suzuki Swift GTI.
Yep, #FACTSMATTER, I'm a REEPER dealer. Closest thing available today with updated technology and factory front/rear Lockers
Really enjoyed this video. IU live in Trinidad in the Caribbean and have a blue softop with a 1.3 4 cylinder engine. The only modification is a 2 inc lift, new rims and 235 70 all terrain Falkens. I just added a weber Carb today and heading out to test it. Love Samurais to death. Thanks for this history
Just picked up a modified 87 Sammy. This thing is nuts!!
Im a 29 old guy and my Mom had a Isuzu Trooper and my Dad a suzuki Samurai like this ( a blue one with a withe soft top ).. We are a family of 6 and at this time my dad cannot afford a Toyota and was way expensive from family budget so he bought the Trooper and 1year later the samurai for itself .. we were living in mountain and the roads were in extremely poor conditions with mud in rainy weather and i dnt remember any kind of problem abt these car specially the Samurai .. one of the thing i remember with my dad he used to ask me to get out and lock the front wheels when he wanted to engaged the 4wd ( wich i didn’t like in the rain ) and Man what a car very low gas consumption cheap for repair and very capable .. we overpassed safari and Landcruiser stocked in the due to their high weight and my dad was smiling at them .. my brother and sisters learned to drive on it but they didn’t like it because it was so bumpy they prefered the Trooper .. we sold the samurai last year to someone in need and now i regret it !! Car nowadays don’t last like that !
Amazing history lesson for this little Trail Beast!
Bought a lwb SJ413 a few years ago that had a 2" spring lift and 30" tires fitted, l then added front and rear ARB lockers, heavy duty axle drive shafts, 6.5:1 transfer gear, power steering from a Jimny and a front winch, offroad it easily outperformed my Land Rover Td5 90 that was on mud terrain tires, a lot of hard offroad use soon wore the clutch out so a heavy duty item was installed, it wasn't that fast on the highway but would sit at 60mph comfortably and the heater was superb in winter.
I had the '87 JLX model with the soft top and the optional a/c. I loved that thing and even took it to Turkey with me for the 2.5 years that I was stationed there.
I don't remember the timeline, but the Samurai held the altitude climbing record for a number of years, something Jeep, Ford Bronco, or other burly manly man 4x4s could not claim. I had a '68 classic Bronco when I first moved up here to the Rockies 12 years ago. Cool looking truck. ...but I kept the under-powered Samurai. It's just a better vehicle for my applications, in my opinion. When I need to drive on the highway, I just drive my Tacoma with only 317,000 miles on it. (...I wonder where they got the 0-60 numbers for the Sami. If the wind is in my face, mine doesn't get to 60!!!, but I'm not complaining). Mine is for the mountain roads and trails, and 4wheel low climbs anything I've tried the last 9 years. Thanks for the video.
...From everything I've read over the years, the TDI diesel swap is better than the 1.6 Sidekick swap. My engine is tired, but still hangs in there, but when it's time to replace it, I'll be looking for an upgrade. The TDI gets better mileage, and allegedly highway top end.
I'm in the process of swapping a tdi into a trackkick right now.
I seen a lot of people modify the Sammy into a utility vehicle. Removed the top, built a steel cab and used them as a UTV
I bought one in 1987. Still own it today. Garage kept original condition. It has been a great little puddle jumper.
I have owned 10 of them but currently have one , I will NEVER be without a samurai be it a mud toy or dd
Agree. I'll have mine as long as I live.
I own two, one is getting a VW TDI turbo diesel, sidekick transmission, a underdrive unit built from a sidekick transfercase, jeep YJ leaf springs, aftermarket axle shafts, lockers, roll cage, bumpers , winch.... so much is getting done on it i'm not even sure it will be mostly samurai by weight anymore.
What year vw tdi? And from what model??
And is the sidekick transmission a lot better?
Thanks!
Pretty stoked to see my little ripper made it in this video 👍
My family and I have two. An 86 & 87.
So much fun.
The Japanese Jeep, that wheelbase alone makes it amazing.
I bought one that sat for 20yrs in TX and had it shipped to NY completely stock unmodified. Had the engine rebuilt. The Paint was 5/10 there for I sent it to a body shop to get it back to its glory days. Im going to keep it completely stock and just bring everything back to life. Now I just cant decide which one to keep in the garage the samurai or my 60k mile geo tracker 😂
in sume countries like Greece is one of the most common offroaders you can get
Same as Turkey my friend!! Hoping to get one in the future..
i love watching videos like this im about to pick up an '88 for my first car next week
The Suzuki Samari is yesterdays Side-by-side.
I would still buy one and build it up today..
Video shooting is very good, bloggers are creative
I agree with some of the others. Had many vehicles over the years and my 88 Sammy takes the cake for fun to drive. I keep it stock down to carb air cleaner and tire size. Cruise at 60 get great mileage and go almost anywhere. One of the best cheap off roaders ever.
Well said!
Great video and a tribune to a legendary vehicle 👍👍.
you could still get a showroom suzuki samurai in India until last year . They finally stopped selling them to civilians but assembly line is still open for army n police requirements .
In india it is sold as a suzuki gypsy with a longer wheel base and a 1.3 litre G13BB mpfi engine making 80hp..
I own a 2016 model and regularly import upgrades from low range offroad , US . The parts are a bolt -on fit.
I think they are still made in Egypt under license by Maurti?
Loved my 88 tin top samurai, lockers, trail creeper gears in transfer, old man emu springs and propane swap. Mine would go places mountain goat couldn't. Rocky road outfitter were on my speed dial.
I have one. It's a bit rough around the edges but it's mostly stock. Modded the hinges for removal of the doors without tools. The motor has high compression pistons (0.040 over) and a Weber carb. It's still got stock springs though they are de-arched aka. shot! I have some lift springs to go on it and some other repairs I need to do just waiting on better weather as I'm without a workshop currently. It's not the fastest ride nor the smoothest yet it puts a smile on my face everytime. It's got a fun to drive factor that's 10 outta 10 as long as you don't want to go over 60ish MPH. Hard to beat top and doors off driving with the vinyl half doors on.
I have a soft top and hard top fully restored and a pick up on its way. Love my Suzuki's
My wife's father just gave me his old 87 needs lots of work but I'm gaining knowledge before I dive in
As an owner of a 1996 Suzuki Sidekick... I love the samurai as well.
Don't forget they were Kingpin/ birfield front axles and a divorced gear to gear tcase.
i love these since they roll over so easily
I wish I still had my Samuari it would run circles around my current rig, a Jeep rubicon.
My dad and brother were given a couple of basket-case Samurais back in the late 1990's, and they assembled one working samurai that is five different colors and they drove and modified this thing for years. It sits on 30's or 31's, with at least a 3" lift. It has an eagle auto-locker in the rear, and it is completely absurd what it will go through or go over.
Just saw one this last weekend and had to double back and take a picture. Definitely love these rigs!!!
@@TrailBuilt Every time I take mine out on the road, people stare and take pictures. It could be because mine is painted camo, though.
I've got a grand vitara 1.6 GV 3 door and I love it I had a vitara before loved that, I think next I'll get the jimney
Aka Gypsy. Highly respected here in India. Army loves it.
I have 88.5 little 2” shackled lift, 235-75-15 muddies and the toy 250 carb swap. The drive train is stock except shackles. Pretty much 90% stock I’d say. No major rust but have to say the tube that holds front bumper rusted out and I have removed it. Got little rupee winch to put on 3500 lb. want get some lockers I think and some lower low range gears as most our time together is off-road but not looking for obstacles. Just some normal trail riding not saying she doesn’t like to stretch her legs when needed but always try keep her on a warm up lap and not the race until time needed. Lol love the little beast. Have little over 3 k and wouldn’t take 5 k for her. She’s part of the family. Well I’ve rambled enough so stay safe on ur next adventure and get out and wheel it therapeutic. From ur ole hillbilly buddy.
I’ve had 4 so far in the last 24 years. They are called the Gypsy in India. Lovely things.the last one I completely worked on to rebuild from a rusty beast into a singing example. I sold it after 2 And an Half years, just yesterday... but I’m already on the planning mode for the next one. They stopped production in 2019. But there are lots and lots in the used market. One just has to look carefully and buy...as I said, they are brilliant vehicles.
I have owned a samurai for 10 years... I bought it all rusted.. it was parked for years near the sea in Tabasco, Mexico. The floor was rusted, the motor was not in the best shape, Springs were awful, the only thing that the dashboard showed was themperature.. a complete mess. BUT... the day I bought it, I drove 1150 Km to my hometown Uruapan in Michoacan state. It was a pain to fix it.. but now that it works, It has taken me to the most amazing places without spendig a fortune on a Jeep with all the modifications.. My little samurai is great for taking me to work in the city everyday and to go to remote places where there are dusty, muddy rodes (or no rodes at all), as I am a Beekeper in the weekends. Its the most perfect car that has ever existed.. It simply takes you anywhere you want to go.. period.. it slow, bumpi, hard to turn, slooooow, it breaks from time to tiem. but its AMAZING!! once you have one, you will have a very hard time selling it!
I also own a Jeep Patriot, that's for my wife... and for long run travel.. comodity is not a thing in a samurai.. but there a re very few cars that put a smile on your face EVERYTIME you see it!! just get one!! Even the new Jimny (nice and sexy) is LESS rough than the original Samurai. I will be buying a Jimny in the future but, my old samurai will always be MY FAVORITE TRUCK!! .. Its just Awesome, cute, small, powerfull and its great to be judged by the size and let people with eyeballs out when it performs even better than a pricy, big, bulky Jeep
Yo compré un samurai que vi en internet, fui por el a Guadalajara y ese mismo día me lo traje rodando hasta Victoria, Tamaulipas. El motor estaba en muy malas condiciones: pasaba aceite, el cigueñal traia metales de diferentes medidas, la bomba de aceite daba baja presión, la banda estaba en sus ultimas, el carburador traia muchas mexicanadas, etc etc, pero aun así llegó sin dar problema alguno. Ya tengo 6 años con el y le he cambiado muchas cosas y está en mejores condiciones que cuando lo compré.
Es curioso como la gente se les queda viendo cuando haces alto en un semaforo, a todos les gustan.
@@IvanCumpian y más ahora que salió el Jimny.. todos quieren uno pero están caritos... comparé el samurai con el Jimny.. y el mío es mas GRANDE!! por fuera y por dentro es mas espacioso aunque no lo crea uno... mi samurai es genial!
In Australia it's called a zook or sierra. And that black one in the footage is at glass house mtns in Australia.
Had one it was almost as good as my ‘67 International Scout . Miss them both .
I would love to find one already lifted and ready to go but I'm not having any luck finding anything...
Better for you if it’s stock bro? Then you can manage exactly what kits you want to go in your samu
@@vincijunior8947 that is true.. just figured I would save the hassle and find one done but I see what your saying...
One of my friends had one of these, it was a joke. You could shut the motor down by holding your hand over the tail pipe lol. It didn't have the axil articulation of a CJ5 (springs were mounted inside the frame) and a CJ5 could be equipped with a V8 and fit 33's stock and was not much larger. It was basically the truck Suzuki tried to copy. I pulled one of these out of a mudhole with my 85 Toyota pickup that sucked in water and had hydrostatic lockup while he was in gear. I literally dragged the dead weight of this truck out of a deep mudhole with that Toyota. It really had no respect in it's day, but I can see the nostalgic value of it being rare. They did look really cool lifted but parts were fragile. The ring and pinion were tiny in these trucks, especially if you lowered the gear ratio for bigger tires.
I have a samurai as my tractor and it is the best car in the world 😍
93 sidekick, stock except for suspensions. it has been lifted +3cm! it took me out of very tough scenarios, easy and cheap to repair. not great at high speeds and not very safe to todays standards. but one of the coolest rides you can get at a budget !
Had the dihatsu badged Sami absolutely loved it and really wish I still had it
love the video just bought one yesterday
Lets gooooooo!
Seeing how popular the Sami is I doubt people consider it an underrated offroader...
Badass vid bro
I had an 88 soft top I miss it id buy another in a heart beat
Fantastic little vehicle, I have a 1999 model here in Australia.
...love mine! ... 6" lift, 6.5 under gearing, 33" tires.
Yep samurai is an awesome off-road vehicle I take mine to the mountains all the time she rips
Still driving my '92 since I bought it in ;94. She's headed to the Rubicon Trail in 2022.
Stock it didn't have much articulation. Added a spool rear end and 235/75 15 kumho mud terrains (no other changes) and turned it into an unstoppable force offroad, and made it drive on rails on road. The MT tires had enough wiggle to accommodate the welded rear. Rain was a little scary though.
Bought a 1995 about ten years ago to pull behind an R.V. Due to taking care of elderly family, that did not happen. This little rig had 17,000 actual miles on it when I purchased it, now has 21,000. !00% original and looks like it could have just been driven off the show room floor. Lady Luck appeared to be on my side on this purchase.
The Suzuki was selling too good so consumers magazine put 2 training baby wheel about 4 feet on the side of the jeep and when freeway speed and fish tail the jeep to make it try to tip over and call out the Suzuki as unsafe, and put it out on commercial and kill the sales.
But, any truck would lift the tire if you go left right left right at 50-60
Goggle
susiuki side kick unsafe
That was paid for my jeep. Co conspiracy
i got mine and i love it
I have an 87 and put 2 engines in it and started having carb problems from Hawley Carb that came with engine. I am now having problems starting car. Seems to nor have enough spark to ignite combustion.
Any ideas?
I have a jimny- friggin' awesome little pocket rocket, I love it! (In australia)
Coil sprung samurais were never sold in the USA and the only "generations" were the early 88-88.5, 88.5 -90 where the only change was fuel injection was added and sales ending in 95. The only changes were minor besides fuel injection and were not "generational" differences.
Exactly. Video was incorrect.
They were made throughout the world beyond the 1996 US models which were actually 1995 leftovers. They were still being sold through 2018, and 2018 models were being produced all the way through March of 2019 if I recall correctly? I might be one year off. Then in June of 2020, they began production again because the Indian military found no other replacement suitable enough as the Samurai aka the Gypsy King in India. No longer available for purchase by consumers, only the military.
The same Long Wheelbase Samurai/Gypsy King was sold as the New Zealand market Suzuki Farm Worker through 2016, in both K model long wheelbase flatbed pick up versions, and full body long wheel base removable hardtop cab versions.
The Indian versions are made by Maruti-Suzuki. Other versions made by Santana in Spain. There are a half a dozen other model names that the Samurai was called by in various countries
Also, the SJ410 and SJ413 share almost the exact same body and chassis has the samurai. Narrower track on the leaf spring mounting, different dash, and the 410 at a 1000 cc engine where the 413 and Samurai I have the 1300 cc 1.3L engine.
It's really for all intents and purposes, the first Samurai was actually called the SJ410 in 1981 or so.
i just bought a white samurai as my first car already build for off road
I own one..its called gypsy in india and believe me it is really the most under rated offroad vehicle
Little known fact, the Samurai floats. My buddy used to embarrass Jeeps by going where they would not dare to go.
Dang I didn’t realize the rollover problem was just short of fabricated. That’s crazy
Now they don’t sell here in the USA because of that lies from CR! Shameless!!!
@@trdtrekker6192 Ik I’ve never been able to tip one over fucking around in 7 years
Just short of fabricated?! It was 100% fabricated! And by rollover, what they really mean is that someone driving in an incredibly reckless manner had lifted two tires off the ground, or at least felt like they did, which spawned dollar signs in the Consumer Reports executives' eyes and led them to fabricate a smash hit cover story to slander the imported Samurai and boast about the American Jeep...
The story was so terribly fabricated that normally they do 30 test runs max on the slalom course. The leaked video showed something like 110 runs to get the cover story photo they were after.
The big executive guy driving the story can be heard in the video background audio absolutely furious that none of the test drivers could recklessly drive the samurai hard enough to lift two tires off the ground
i was looking at a few earlier this week and a pristine one already decked out is only 10k thats not bad for a fully blown up SS
Well as Samurai or Jimny as many know it, it was sold as the Sierra in Australia and Gypsy in India. India being the last nation in the world to continue running the vehicle after it had stopped in the Samurai guise in most parts of the world...... The Indian Suzuki Gypsy was last produced in India by 2017 and the remaining stocks were cleared by 2019. So if anyone wants right hand drive Samurai, you'd still get plenty in India with the 1.3L MPFi engine.
Still being made for the Indian Army.