Back and boxy: the all-new Suzuki Jimny revealed

Wednesday, 20 June 2018

So many classic 4X4 design cues in one tiny package - the new Suzuki Jimny.

Suzuki has revealed the first official images of the forthcoming all-new Jimny - and just look at it!

Previously spy photos of the Japanese domestic market version of the new Jimny had circulated, but these official pics of the international wide-body version (the pumped up black guards) show a vehicle that looks like a perfectly minaturised version of the original Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen, with hints of Land Rover Defender and a bit of Willys Jeep thrown in for good measure.

And it is perfect.

Suzuki has released no information other than a few pics of the exterior in both single and two-tone colour variations and one of the interior (which also looks brilliantly old-school 4x4 as well).

With a ladder chassis, low range and not much weight, the new Jimny should be an absolute beast off road. A tiny, tiny beast.

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* Suzuki Jimny has decades of history

The current Jimny has been with us for some time now and its combination of peerless off road ability and a remarkably low price keep it selling.

* Japan's five coolest kei-cars of all time

* Serious fun cars that you can buy for less than $20k

Perhaps you would prefer your new Jimny in a single colour, sir? Suzuki will happily do that too.

* Triple-powered Suzuki Swift RS is small in size but big on performance**

But it has dropped another pic that tells us quite a lot about the new Jimny, and makes us even more excited about it.

There was worrying talk that the next Jimny might walk away from its rugged and capable ladder chassis in favour of a monocoque, possibly based on the new Swift platform, but thankfully the pic shows otherwise - a proper ladder chassis with an engine facing the right way (longitudinal), three-link rigid axle suspension and a low range transfer case.

Meaning that the new Jimny will almost certainly be as outrageously capable off the sealed stuff as the current one is, if not even better. And, again, just look at it!

The Jimny first appeared in 1970 and quickly developed its legendary off road reputation. A second-generation model appeared in 1981, while a third was launched in 1998 and is still with us today.

More than 2.85 million Jimnys have been built since 1970 and it is sold in more than 194 countries and regions across the planet.

The new fourth-gen Jimny is likely to be powered by a 660cc three-cylinder engine in its home market (keeping it firmly in the Japanese Kei car class, where it has always dwelled), while export markets will get a choice of 1.2 and 1.5-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder engines, or Suzuki's brilliant little 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo BoosterJet engine that we see here in the Swift RS.

If the new Jimny sticks to tradition and weighs next to nothing like the current one, the brilliant little BoosterJet engine would be fantastic in it and make for a seriously capable, impressively frugal and massively fun baby SUV.

And in a day and age where a lot of manufacturers are backing away from their boxy, rugged traditional off roaders, it is fantastic to see Suzuki instead doubling down on it.

And - one more time - just look at it!