Learnt how to drive in a Suzuki

[Evanzo7]

This section of the forum made me reminisce about when I was learning to drive & forced me to go scouring through my facebook for pictures.

My Grandfather had a Suzuki Samurai, it was a fantastic runner for him, he had it for as long as I can remember.
He later bought himself a second hand Jimny & the Samurai was just used as a backup or what we would call a "Croft Car", something for going up & down the croft/field to do jobs.
After a while it just sat there rusting, so my dad had the idea of taking it off his hands & managed to get it running again so I could learn to drive, I was only 12 at the time mind you, but what 12 year old wouldn't love to go up & down a croft in a small 4x4 having the time of his life?

After managing to make it run, my dad decided he wanted to have a bit of fun with it, so promptly proceeded to cut the back off it & turn it into a mini pick up. Worried that an over exuberant child might roll the now fairly flimsy machine, he decided to build a make shift roll cage on the outside & for a laugh, stick on some ridiculous alloys! They were just something silly to be honest, there was no chance that what's in the pictures below would be any good for off road!

Hope no one loves the Samurai too much because lets be honest, it has been butchered a little bit, but it was great fun at the time.
Now I've gone full circle from learning to drive in a Suzuki to now owning one & I don't plan on getting rid of it any time soon!

[KuroNekko]

My first car was a Suzuki Sidekick (Vitara). I drove that for high school while I lived up on a mountain in Southern California. It was about 5,500 ft high so snow was a reality every winter. Also, the mountain has a lot of trails you could offroad all the way down to the desert. I did that often with my friends, two of whom owned a Suzuki Samurai. Those were some of my best experiences in an automobile and the Suzuki Sidekick's unrelenting durability and reliability is what made me sure the Kizashi was a solid car before I bought it. Though the cars are so different, they do share the qualities of being a durable vehicle for a good value. I'd call it a Suzuki trait.

Here's my Sidekick in one of my many offroad adventures.

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I also can't leave out my Suzuki motorcycle I had until recently. The 2003 SV650S was my first motorcycle so I learned to ride on that. Again, durable and a good value. I only parted with it when I moved and couldn't take it with me.

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You'll find that many Kizashi owners here have a history with Suzuki. From the Samurai, Sidekick, Swift, SX4, etc. to their motorcycles like the SV, V-Strom, GSX-R, etc., the Kizashi isn't the first Suzuki for a number of us.

[Evanzo7]

The more you mention it Suzuki has been a feature within my family for many many years as well, namely bikes.
My Dad & Grandfather have ridden Suzuki bikes from before I was born. My dad was a sucker for their superbikes, he owned two GSX-R 1000, lovely bikes. I was always a little afraid to go on with him due to the sheer speed the thing had!

Love your off-roading pictures, brings back some memories!

[Woodie]

You'll find that many Kizashi owners here have a history with Suzuki. From the Samurai, Sidekick, Swift, SX4, etc. to their motorcycles like the SV, V-Strom, GSX-R, etc., the Kizashi isn't the first Suzuki for a number of us.

Seven Swift/GEO Metro/Pontiac Firefly variants, then a Suxuki Aerio (sold as the Liana in Europe), and then my Kizashi. My boss bought me an 89 Metro and I was VERY impressed with a $6,000 car that went 210K miles in six years with very little trouble. I just kept on getting them until I needed a physically larger car and moved up to the Aerio.

I love Suzukis because they just simply work. I took my Firefly Turbo out this weekend, only driven it 400 kilometers in the past year. Started right up every time, worked perfectly.

[FrankoLaMoya]

I have no history with Suzuki what so ever.... I was tired of bringing my A4 to the garage and I looked into other AWD cars (TSX, Impreza, WRX and Lancer) to replace it. I fell on a Suzuki Kizashi on the internet and started realizing it was the best car for by buck (and I really really digged the design and the wheels). I started talking to friends about the Suzuki brand and read several articles on the brand....that is where I learned that Suzuki is usually very reliable just like a any Honda or Toyota. I also started looking at reliability index charts and saw my favorite brand was not a reliable one (Audi). Probably 25 years ago...and I heard they have been very good recently, but not from 2000 to 2010 anyway. I also noticed a lot of american brands in the bottom (in general) which I was not that surprised about. I hope my Kizashi will be reliable for a long time like a lot of other Suzuki vehicles/bikes!!

[Tom Kizzie]

My first car was a Suzuki swift gti. I have had different swift gti throughout the years and still have a very special 1992 gti .
I used to drive GSX-R also (750cc)
RG125 gamma (Lucky strike edition) : now at a friends house and to be sold
Grand Vitara high exe 2007 (wifes car)
Swift 1.6 Sport 2007 (to be sold)
Swift MK1 1985 GS convertible (like the only one in the world maybe..done by a company in Germany..i order of Suzuki)
Swift MK1 1985 GS (with some work..one of 2 in black/grey in my country
Suzuki LT50 (already sold)