At $10,000, Is This 1986 Suzuki Samurai A Cute Ute You’d Flip Over?
Today’s Nice Price or No Dice Samurai represents a model that is perhaps best known for getting Consumer Reports staffers to all clutch their pearls over its unique handling characteristics. Let’s see if this one’s price has a similar effect on us.
As many of you have averred — often and loudly — buying someone else’s project is generally considered a no-no. There may be a loophole in that edict should the project be incomplete, depending on how much work remains to be done. Then it can become more your project than someone else’s.
Yesterday’s 1937 SS Jaguar 100 kit car was being sold in an incomplete state, a situation that, according to the ad, is driven by the current owner’s health. At $4,200, that “some assembly required” status made it a ton cheaper than what a completed car might warrant, but according to 68 percent of you, that wasn’t enough of an incentive, dunning the Jag to a No Dice loss.
Hey, isn’t this 1986 Suzuki Samurai just as twee as it can be? I mean, don’t you just want to give it a big hug or maybe flip it over and rub its belly? Flipping and Samurais have long gone together like ticks on a turkey, to the point where Consumer Reports magazine got into a bit of a pickle after deeming the tiny sport utility to be sufficiently prone to rollovers in fast-turning maneuvers which led to Suzuki suing the publication’s parent, Consumer’s Union for defamation.
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So, can the Samurai fall over? Maybe. Probably. But then, so can many small but tall 4x4s given the right conditions. That doesn’t make the little Suzukis any less fun, and considering the market for them, a ton of people seem to agree.
This one comes in Turquoise Metallic over a gray and white interior and sporting a bright white top. Per the ad, it has only been flying those colors for a mere 67,600 miles. That ad, by the way, is annoyingly light on details, offering only the model name and year in the space for description. Along with the mileage, the right rail does handily list the condition as “excellent,” the title as “clean” and the transmission as “manual.”
Power here is made by 1.3 liter SOHC four. In this model year that was good for 64 horsepower making the presence of that five-speed stick an advantage. Those meager ponies get fed to both front and rear live axles part-time through a two-speed transfer case. Leaf springs at both ends and the Samurai’s short 79-inch wheelbase provide a ride that will test your dentist’s skill at securing your fillings.
Despite the seeming lack of poop, the Samurai can actually get out of its own way and is really pretty adept off-road as well. This one looks like it would be fun for weekend trips to the beach or putting around town when the weather is nice.
To do that, somebody’s going to have to come up with the $10,000, asked by the seller for its purchase. Do you think that seems like a fair deal? Or, is that financial seppuku?
You decide!
Phoenix, Arizona, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Paul Myers for the hookup!
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