microcarfan
  • Microcar utility
  • Japan
  • Four wheels
  • Four-wheel drive

Suzuki Jimny

Also known as スズキ・ジムニー, LJ10, LJ20, SJ10 “Jimny 55”, SJ20 “Jimny 8”, LJ50, LJ80 (export), Suzuki Brute (United States)

Suzuki did not design its first four-by-four. It bought one from a failing maker of three-wheeled trucks, after Suzuki Osamu had watched an 8 mm film of it climbing a steep slope. The result was the only true off-roader in the kei class, and the start of a line still built today.

Yellow open small 4x4 with round headlamps, a white bumper and black wheels at an indoor show, visitors in the background.
A yellow 1970 Suzuki Jimny LJ10 from the front quarter at a show in 2025, with its horizontal grille slots.Photo: TTTNIS, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

The spec plate

Suzuki Jimny

LJ10 · Suzuki

Built
1970–⁠1981The first generation, April 1970 to April 1981; the line is still built
Country
JapanSuzuki Motor; the design bought from Hope Motor of Tokyo
Maker
Suzuki MotorSuzuki Jidōsha Kōgyō, from the Hope Star ON 4WD
Engine
359 cc air-cooled two-stroke twinThe FB, from the Carry truck; water-cooled from 1972, a 539 cc three from 1976
Power
25 PS18 kW at 6,000 rpm; 27 PS the next year, 28 PS for the LJ20 of 1972
Length
2,995 mm1,295 mm wide, 1,670 mm high
Weight
600 kgThe LJ10 by Suzuki’s figure; English Wikipedia gives 590 kg
Seats
3Two and an auxiliary seat; four in the LJ20F of 1975
Wheels
4Engine in front; rear-wheel drive, with part-time four-wheel drive and a low range
Price new
¥482,000The LJ10 in Tokyo, 1970
Production
98,750The first generation, 1970–⁠81: new registrations in Japan, without exports
Top speed
75km/h75 km/h

How big is it?

True proportion

3.00 m

It is 25 mm longer than a Fiat 500, about 1.7 adults laid end to end.

  • 1.29 m wide
  • 600 kg: about eight adults
  • The spare wheel rode inside, to keep it under 3 metres1
  • Ladder frame and rigid axles at both ends23
Drawn at true proportion. The track is 3.6 metres long; the adult stands at the same scale. The Peel P50 is the smallest production car, on every page for comparison.

The story

History

The design came from Hope Motor of Tokyo, whose founder, Ono Sadayoshi, built the Hope Star ON 4WD in 1967: a Jeep’s layout in kei size, with rigid axles at both ends, 16-inch wheels and a two-speed transfer box.34 Hope could not build it in numbers. Ono offered it to Mitsubishi, which built Jeeps under licence and was not interested.3 Suzuki Osamu, later Suzuki’s long-serving chief, bought the manufacturing rights over opposition inside the company.23 The two main sources give him different titles at the time, managing director in Suzuki’s account and head of Suzuki’s Tokyo sales company in Japanese Wikipedia’s, and he may have held both.23 The price is said to have been about ¥12 million.3

もっと軽の特長が生かせるユニークな車を

Suzuki’s company history, giving the thought of its managing director, Suzuki Osamu. In English: “a unique car that makes more of the kei’s strengths”.2

By Japanese Wikipedia’s account, executives mocked the purchase, one of them promising to walk round the company in a lantern parade if the thing sold.3 Suzuki re-engineered the ON for its own lines, with the engine and gearbox of its Carry truck, standard steel sections and existing Suzuki parts, and gave it sportier looks. A power take-off on the transfer box could drive a winch.3 To keep the car under 3 m (118 in) and inside the kei class, the spare wheel went inside the body, which left room for three seats rather than four.1

LJ10, 1970

The Jimny LJ10 was launched in April 1970, the only true four-wheel drive in the kei class; Suzuki calls it the first mass-produced kei four-wheel drive.231 Its FB engine was an air-cooled two-stroke twin of 359 cc and 25 PS (18 kW) at 6,000 rpm, raised to 27 PS the next year. It had a ladder frame, leaf springs, four speeds and the two-speed transfer box, and it cost ¥482,000 in Tokyo.21 At first production was subcontracted and done largely by hand, before it moved to a line of its own.1

Forestry offices and civil-engineering firms bought it as a working tool, and others as a leisure car.2 (Japan’s other small working vehicles are on our page of micro-vans.) Nearly 5,000 were sold at home in the first year, more than the Mitsubishi Jeep, and over 6,000 in 1971.1

LJ20, 1972

In May 1972 the LJ20 brought a water-cooled two-stroke twin, the L50, of 28 PS (21 kW), reached at 5,500 rpm, with a hot-water heater; the grille’s slots turned from horizontal to vertical, which is the easy way to tell the two apart. A full-steel van, the LJ20V, sold well in the snowy regions.231 That July came the Video Jimny, an LJ20 with a Sony 18-inch colour television and a U-matic video recorder, powered through the transfer box’s take-off. It went to the Tokyo Motor Show, and not one was sold.3

Exports began in 1974.2 Suzuki itself did not send Jimnys to the United States, where International Equipment Co. imported them as the Suzuki Brute.1 The four-seat LJ20F of February 1975 carried its spare outside, and the emission-controlled LJ20-3 of December that year was built for only about four months.23

Jimny 55 and Jimny 8

The 550 cc rules brought the SJ10 Jimny 55, pronounced “go-go”, in June 1976: a 539 cc water-cooled two-stroke three of 26 PS (19 kW). At first it kept the old body, 3,170 mm (125 in) long; in June 1977 its tracks grew by 100 mm and the fuel tank from 26 to 40 litres.23 The Jimny 8 (SJ20) of July 1977 had the F8A, a 797 cc four-stroke four and Suzuki’s first four-stroke car engine. Too big for the kei class, it was registered as a small car; only 1,799 were registered in Japan, and abroad it was the LJ80.31 Steel doors replaced canvas ones on the soft-top in November 1978, and the first generation ended in April 1981, with 98,750 registered in Japan.23

The SJ30 that followed in May 1981 kept the two-stroke for its pulling power at low speed, and it was the last Japanese four-wheeler with a crankcase-compression two-stroke engine, sold until 1987. A turbocharged four-stroke came in 1986, and new generations in 1998 and 2018.23 Through it all the Jimny has kept its ladder frame, its front engine and rear drive, its part-time four-wheel drive with a low range, and rigid axles.2

Open yellow bonnet over a black engine with a large air-cooling duct, a ribbed silver hose and a white reservoir.
The air-cooled FB two-stroke twin in the engine bay of a 1970 LJ10.Photo: TTTNIS, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Dark green boxy small 4x4 with a steel roof, round headlamps and a white bumper, parked on gravel by a red and white barrier.
A green LJ20V, the steel-bodied van added in 1972, with the LJ20’s vertical grille slots.Photo: TTTNIS, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Hope Star

1952–⁠1967 · a record on this page

Hope Motor (Hope Jidōsha) of Tokyo was a pioneer of the light three-wheeled truck. Its Hope Star of 1952 is called the first proper kei three-wheeled truck, but the Daihatsu Midget and others squeezed it out, and Hope left car-making around 1965.54 Japanese Wikipedia’s list of kei-truck makers, without a source, also credits Hope with four-wheeled trucks, the Unicar and the OV, and calls the OV Japan’s first cab-over kei truck, a claim that competes with the Kurogane Baby’s.5

Then, in 1967, Ono built the Hope Star ON 4WD, with a Mitsubishi air-cooled two-stroke twin, and sold it as an all-purpose vehicle for rough ground. Hope says it was Japan’s first kei four-wheel drive.34 About 15 were built with Mitsubishi engines, and three with Suzuki engines, at Suzuki’s request, for evaluation.3 Japanese sources call it the ON-type 4WD; English Wikipedia calls it the ON360.314 Hope moved into amusement-park rides, and lasted until it was wound up in 2017.4

Pictures

More photographs, old and new

The car 9

  • Dark green open small 4x4 with black seats and a roll bar, round headlamps and a white bumper, parked on a car park by trees. Opens a larger view

    1 A green first-generation Suzuki Jimny with its top off, photographed in 2013.

  • Dark green small 4x4 with a grey canvas top, round headlamps, a slotted grille and a white bumper, on a car park. Opens a larger view

    2 A green first-generation Suzuki Jimny with its soft top, photographed in 2013.

  • Yellow small 4x4 with green wheels, a roll bar and a slotted grille, parked on a concrete lot with palm trees and a red pick-up behind. Opens a larger view

    3 A yellow first-generation Suzuki Jimny in the United States in 2010.

  • Sand-coloured small 4x4 with a canvas top and canvas doors, round headlamps and black wheels, on a car park among other cars. Opens a larger view

    4 A Suzuki Jimny LJ10 with its full soft top and side curtains at a car meeting in 2008.

  • Rear quarter of a yellow open small 4x4 with a spare wheel and black seats in the tub, a barber’s pole and visitors behind. Opens a larger view

    5 A yellow 1970 Suzuki Jimny LJ10 from the rear quarter at a show in Japan in 2025.

4 more picturesFewer pictures
  • Rear quarter of an orange small 4x4 with a cream spare wheel on the tail, steel half-doors and a roll cage, on tarmac. Opens a larger view

    6 An orange 1976 Suzuki Jimny LJ50 from the rear quarter in 2022.

  • Yellow open small 4x4 with a spare wheel in the tub, round headlamps and a white bumper, lit on a black stand with white line graphics. Opens a larger view

    7 A yellow Suzuki Jimny LJ10 on a dark display stand in 2017.

  • Yellow small 4x4 with a canvas top, round headlamps and a white bumper, on a green museum floor beside an information panel. Opens a larger view

    8 A yellow Suzuki Jimny LJ10 of 1970 in the Suzuki History Museum, Hamamatsu.

  • Yellow small 4x4 with a soft top and a Jimny plate on its bumper, on a museum floor with motorcycles and a placard beside it. Opens a larger view

    9 A yellow 1979 Suzuki Jimny 55 (SJ10) in the Suzuki History Museum, Hamamatsu.

The car: LJ20 11

  • Yellow open small 4x4 with yellow seats, a black roll cage and a front bull bar, on grass with visitors and classic cars behind. Opens a larger view

    10 A yellow Suzuki LJ20, sold new in Australia, at a car show in Lakewood, Washington, in 2015.

  • Yellow open small 4x4 with a soft-top frame, round headlamps and a white bumper on bark chippings, a white 4x4 behind. Opens a larger view

    11 A yellow 1972 Suzuki LJ20 at a car show in 2018.

  • Green open small 4x4 with black bucket seats, round headlamps and a white bumper, on a stand fenced with bamboo poles. Opens a larger view

    12 A green 1973 Suzuki Jimny LJ20 with its top off at the Toyota Automobile Museum in 2008.

  • Mustard small 4x4 with a grey canvas top and doors, vertical grille slots and round headlamps, beside a red hatchback on a car park. Opens a larger view

    13 A mustard Suzuki Jimny LJ20 with its soft top at a car meeting in 2008.

  • Boxy small 4x4 with a steel roof and camouflage paint, round headlamps and a slotted grille, beside an information stand in a museum. Opens a larger view

    14 A camouflage 1974 Suzuki Jimny LJ20V from the front quarter in 2009.

6 more picturesFewer pictures
  • Rear quarter of a green open small 4x4 with a spare wheel standing in the load tub, on a stand with bamboo rails and a basket of fruit. Opens a larger view

    15 A 1973 Suzuki Jimny LJ20 at the Toyota Automobile Museum in 2008, from the rear quarter, the spare wheel carried in the tub.

  • White small 4x4 with a grey canvas top and rear curtain, round red tail lamps and a black bumper, in an indoor hall. Opens a larger view

    16 A white Suzuki Jimny LJ20 with a grey soft top, seen from the rear quarter, in 2010.

  • Rear quarter of a boxy small 4x4 with a steel roof, painted in grey and green camouflage, with a spare wheel on the tailgate. Opens a larger view

    17 A camouflage-painted 1974 Suzuki Jimny LJ20V hardtop at the Lane Motor Museum, Nashville, in 2009.

  • Rear quarter of a dark green boxy small 4x4 with a spare wheel on the tailgate and a white bumper, parked on gravel. Opens a larger view

    18 A Suzuki Jimny LJ20V van from the rear quarter in 2011, with its spare wheel on the tailgate.

  • White small 4x4 with a soft top, round headlamps, a slotted grille and a Japanese plate, behind a low rail in a museum. Opens a larger view

    19 A white Suzuki Jimny LJ20 at the Motorcar Museum of Japan in Komatsu.

  • Green open small 4x4 with a roll bar, grey seats and a white bumper on a green museum floor, an information placard beside it. Opens a larger view

    20 A green 1972 Suzuki Jimny LJ20 in the Suzuki History Museum, Hamamatsu.

The car: SJ20 5

  • Side view of an olive green open small 4x4 with a roll bar and rear spare wheel, parked on cobbles by a waterway with boats. Opens a larger view

    21 A green 1979 Suzuki Jimny LJ80 in profile beside a Dutch canal in 2024.

  • Rear quarter of an olive green open small 4x4 with a white-rimmed spare wheel on the tailgate and a Dutch plate, by a white house. Opens a larger view

    22 A green 1979 Suzuki Jimny LJ80 from the rear quarter in the Netherlands in 2024, with the spare wheel on its tail.

  • Rear quarter of a pale blue open small 4x4 with a folded black top, a white-rimmed spare wheel on the tail and mud flaps, on a perforated floor. Opens a larger view

    23 A pale blue 1979 Suzuki LJ80 from the rear quarter in a showroom in 2015.

  • Rear quarter of a pale yellow small 4x4 pick-up with a grey canvas top, a side-mounted spare wheel and mud flaps, on paving. Opens a larger view

    24 A Suzuki Jimny SJ20 convertible pick-up from the rear quarter in 2026, with its spare wheel.

  • Front view of a blue small 4x4 with a white roof, round headlamps, a slotted grille and a Dutch plate, between a brick wall and a wooden gate. Opens a larger view

    25 A blue 1982 Suzuki LJ80Q in a farmyard in the Netherlands in 2013.

Inside and details 7

  • Yellow painted dashboard with round dials, a black steering wheel with a Suzuki horn button and a black ribbed seat. Opens a larger view

    26 The cockpit of a Suzuki Jimny SJ20 pick-up in 2026, with its body-coloured dashboard.

  • Green small 4x4 from above: flat painted dashboard with central dials, a thin steering wheel, black pleated seats and a gear lever. Opens a larger view

    27 The cockpit of a 1972 Suzuki Jimny LJ20, seen from above.

  • Pale blue painted dashboard with round instruments, a thin black steering wheel and black vinyl seats, seen through the open door. Opens a larger view

    28 The dashboard of a 1979 Suzuki LJ80, painted in the body colour.

  • Open bonnet showing a compact engine with a black air intake, yellow ignition leads, a radiator and wiring against white bodywork. Opens a larger view

    29 The engine bay of a Suzuki Jimny LJ20, with its water-cooled two-stroke twin.

  • Dark green small 4x4 with its bonnet propped open and doors open, a British number plate, on grass with visitors and cars behind. Opens a larger view

    30 A 1981 Suzuki LJ80 with its bonnet raised to show the four-stroke engine, at a show in England in 2023.

  • Chrome Jimny script with a small star over a blue and black Water Cool emblem, on mustard paint with rust spots. Opens a larger view

    31 The Jimny Water Cool badge that marked the water-cooled Suzuki Jimny LJ20, photographed in 2008.

  • Faded yellow small 4x4 with a slotted grille parked in long grass next to a rusting orange old car body, by a wooden fence and trees. Opens a larger view

    32 An abandoned 1979 first-generation Suzuki Jimny beside a derelict hot-rod project in New Zealand in 2012.

Variants and relatives 8

  • Olive green open small 4x4 with a black roll bar and white wheels, parked on brick paving in front of shops. Opens a larger view

    33 An olive green 1979 Suzuki LJ80 with a roll bar, parked in a Dutch street in 2024.

  • White open small 4x4 with a black roll bar, a front bull bar with lamps and a German plate, parked on a street by a grassy dyke. Opens a larger view

    34 A white Suzuki LJ80 with a bull bar in Cuxhaven, Germany, in 2019.

  • White open-topped small 4x4 with a roll bar, round headlamps and a slotted grille, parked on a gravel lane in the shade of trees. Opens a larger view

    35 A white 1981 Suzuki LJ80 with its top off, parked under trees in Grondola, Tuscany, in 2013.

  • Mustard-yellow boxy small 4x4 with a steel roof, round headlamps and a slotted grille, parked on a gravel yard by a wire fence. Opens a larger view

    36 A yellow 1981 Suzuki LJ80 with the steel hardtop in Ede, the Netherlands, in 2015.

  • Yellow small 4x4 with a black soft top frame, white wheels and a slotted grille on a show stand, visitors behind. Opens a larger view

    37 A yellow 1981 Suzuki LJ80 at InterClassics in Maastricht in 2023.

  • Dark red boxy small 4x4 with a black steel roof and alloy wheels, parked by a pavement with cars and trees behind. Opens a larger view

    38 A red 1980 Suzuki LJ80V with the steel hardtop, photographed in 2014.

  • Beige small 4x4 pick-up with a short cab, slotted grille, round headlamps and a flat load bed, parked in a shaded yard. Opens a larger view

    39 A beige 1980 Suzuki LJ81 pick-up, the long-wheelbase export version, in Chile.

  • Pale yellow small 4x4 pick-up with a soft-top cab, round headlamps, a slotted grille and cream wheels, parked on paving. Opens a larger view

    40 A yellow Suzuki Jimny SJ20 convertible pick-up, a Japanese-market car, in the Philippines in 2026.

Variants and relatives: SJ10 4

  • White small 4x4 with a soft top and a half-open canvas door, a man climbing in, parked on grass among classic cars. Opens a larger view

    41 A white 1976 Suzuki LJ50, the export SJ10, at a car show in Australia in 2014.

  • Orange small 4x4 with a black bonnet, cream wheels, steel half-doors, a roll cage and a front winch, parked on tarmac. Opens a larger view

    42 An orange 1976 Suzuki LJ50 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, in 2022.

  • Dark green boxy small 4x4 with a steel roof, round headlamps, a slotted grille and auxiliary lamps, on a car park by a brick building. Opens a larger view

    43 A green 1979 Suzuki Jimny 55 (SJ10) van, photographed in 2013.

  • Black and white picture of a small open 4x4 with a soft-top frame, round headlamps and a slotted grille, against a corrugated wall. Opens a larger view

    44 A Suzuki Jimny 55 (SJ10) photographed in black and white in 2004.

Picture credits (44)
  1. 1 TTTNIS, CC0
  2. 2 TTTNIS, CC0
  3. 3 Motohide Miwa, CC BY 2.0
  4. 4 Tennen-Gas, CC BY-SA 3.0
  5. 5 TTTNIS, CC0
  6. 6 Elise240SX, CC BY-SA 4.0
  7. 7 Y.Leclercq, CC BY-SA 4.0
  8. 8 Rainmaker47, CC BY-SA 3.0
  9. 9 Rainmaker47, CC BY-SA 3.0
  10. 10 John Lloyd, CC BY 2.0
  11. 11 Cars Down Under, CC BY 2.0
  12. 12 Mytho88, CC BY-SA 3.0
  13. 13 Tennen-Gas, CC BY-SA 3.0
  14. 14 dave_7, CC BY 2.0
  15. 15 Mytho88, CC BY-SA 3.0
  16. 16 TTTNIS, Public domain
  17. 17 dave_7, CC BY 2.0
  18. 18 TTTNIS, CC0
  19. 19 先従隗始, CC0
  20. 20 Rainmaker47, CC BY-SA 3.0
  21. 21 louisznl, CC BY 2.0
  22. 22 louisznl, CC BY 2.0
  23. 23 Dennis Elzinga, CC BY 2.0
  24. 24 Ethan Llamas, CC BY-SA 4.0
  25. 25 Niels de Wit, CC BY 2.0
  26. 26 Ethan Llamas, CC BY-SA 4.0
  27. 27 TTTNIS, CC0
  28. 28 Dennis Elzinga, CC BY 2.0
  29. 29 TTTNIS, Public domain
  30. 30 Calreyn88, CC BY 4.0
  31. 31 Tennen-Gas, CC BY-SA 3.0
  32. 32 Riley, CC BY 2.0
  33. 33 louisznl, CC BY 2.0
  34. 34 Ra Boe, CC BY-SA 3.0 de
  35. 35 rvandermaar, CC BY 2.0
  36. 36 Niels de Wit, CC BY 2.0
  37. 37 Rutger van der Maar, CC BY 2.0
  38. 38 order_242, CC BY-SA 2.0
  39. 39 papurojugarpool, CC BY-SA 2.0
  40. 40 Ethan Llamas, CC BY-SA 4.0
  41. 41 Sicnag, CC BY 2.0
  42. 42 Elise240SX, CC BY-SA 4.0
  43. 43 TTTNIS, CC0
  44. 44 Tennen-Gas, CC BY-SA 3.0

Variants

The first generation

The Jimny and its forerunner, 1967–⁠82
VariantYearsWhat differsHow many
Hope Star ON 4WD1967Hope Motor’s original, with a Mitsubishi air-cooled two-stroke twin; three had Suzuki enginesAbout 18
LJ101970–⁠72Canvas top, three seats, horizontal grille slots; FB air-cooled twin, 25 then 27 PSNot found
LJ20, LJ20V1972–⁠76Water-cooled L50 twin of 28 PS, vertical grille slots, a heater; the steel van addedNot found
LJ20FFrom 1975Four seats, the spare wheel outsideNot found
SJ10 “Jimny 55”1976–⁠81539 cc water-cooled two-stroke three, 26 PS; widened from 1977Not found
SJ20 “Jimny 8”1977–⁠82797 cc four-stroke four, too big for the kei class; LJ80 for export1,799 in Japan

Specification

The LJ10 of 1970 unless noted

Engine and drive

EngineFB, air-cooled two-stroke in-line twin21
Capacity359 cc (21.9 cu in)21
Power25 PS (18 kW) at 6,000 rpm, soon 27 PS (20 kW)21LJ20: water-cooled L50, 28 PS (21 kW) at 5,500 rpm
GearboxFour speeds, with a two-speed transfer box231
DrivePart-time four-wheel drive, switchable to rear-wheel drive2

Body and chassis

FrameLadder frame23
SuspensionRigid axles front and rear, on leaf springs23
Wheels16-inch21
BodyCanvas top; a steel van from 19722

Dimensions

Length2,995 mm (118 in)23,170 mm for the SJ10 of 1976
Width1,295 mm (51 in)21,395 mm for the widened SJ10 of 1977
Height1,670 mm (66 in)2
Wheelbase1,930 mm (76 in)2
Weight600 kg (1,320 lb)2590 kg in English Wikipedia; the LJ20 625 kg, its van 660 kg

Performance and running

Top speed75 km/h (47 mph)1LJ20: 80 km/h, and 93 km/h for the later 26 PS version
Climbing35° for the LJ20, 39.7° for the SJ10, by Suzuki’s claim2
PayloadLJ20: 250 kg (550 lb), the van 200 kg1
Price¥482,000 in Tokyo, 1970; LJ20 from ¥489,0002

How many were built?

Registrations in Japan

98,750 in Japan, 1970–⁠81Japanese Wikipedia gives 98,750 new registrations in Japan for the first generation, the best single figure found; it leaves out exports, and no breakdown by model has been found. English Wikipedia’s figures for the first two years fit inside it.

  1. 98,750first generation, new registrations in Japan, 1970–⁠81One source

    Japanese Wikipedia3

  2. over 6,000sold in 1971One source

    English Wikipedia1

  3. nearly 5,000sold at home in the first yearOne source

    English Wikipedia1

  4. 1,799SJ20 “Jimny 8”, registered in JapanTwo sources agree

    Japanese and English Wikipedia31

  5. about 18Hope Star ON 4WD, 1967One source

    Japanese Wikipedia3

  • Two sources agreetwo good sources give the figure
  • One sourcea good source, alone
  • Unconfirmeda lead only, not yet checked

Famous for

Three points

  1. Bought in

    A failing maker’s prototype, bought after an 8 mm film of it on a steep slope.3

  2. The only true one

    In 1970 the one real four-wheel drive in the kei class, and still built.23

  3. The Video Jimny

    An LJ20 with a colour television and a video recorder, for the 1972 Tokyo Motor Show; none sold.3

Survivors and collecting

Today

No count of surviving first-generation Jimnys has been found, and no auction results either. The LJ20-3, built for about four months, is the one collectors hunt.3 The first Jimny joined the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame’s list of historic heritage cars in November 2020.3 In the photographs on this page are first-generation cars in the Suzuki History Museum at Hamamatsu, the Toyota Automobile Museum, Komatsu’s Motorcar Museum of Japan and Nashville’s Lane Motor Museum, and an LJ20 of 1973 still at work for a mountain hut in Austria in 2023.

Weathered olive green small 4x4 parked on a gravel mountain track beside trees and bushes.
A 1973 LJ20 on a mountain track in Austria in 2023, still supplying a hut.Photo: Schreckgespenst, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

Numbered as in the text

No period road test was read. The history rests on Suzuki’s own Digital Library and on Japanese Wikipedia, which is the only source for several of the stories told here, including the film and the Video Jimny. Sources are given as plain text; the links are on the Credits page.

  1. English Wikipedia, Suzuki Jimny, the first-generation section.
  2. Suzuki Digital Library, Jimny (ジムニー), the maker’s history with specification tables for each model, read in full.
  3. Japanese Wikipedia, Suzuki Jimny (スズキ・ジムニー), the prehistory and the first and second generations, read in full.
  4. Japanese Wikipedia, Hope (company) (ホープ (企業)), read in full.
  5. Japanese Wikipedia, Kei truck (軽トラック), the history and the list of makers.