And today it would be a Range Rover Evoque?
Vintage Ad: Suzuki Samurai – What Young Urban Women Aspired To In 1988?
– Posted on May 9, 2023
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Curbside Classics Archives
And today it would be a Range Rover Evoque?
Is that the Seinfeld NYC street set on the Paramount backlot?
My mom had one of these. Bought new in 1988. It was a deep green. She called it Godzilla. She wasn’t exactly a “young urban woman”, although I guess she wasn’t exactly old (I think she was 48 in 1988) and, well more suburban than urban…but there was something about that vehicle that truly appealed to her. Part of it was the size. After 16 years of pretty much exclusively driving the fuselage Chrysler wagon, I think getting back into something small really had its appeals to her. And man, was that thing small. Even my dad (who was rather short of inseam) found it “too small” to ride in.
I never understood the charm of it…particularly after the whole rollover thing started with these (which IIRC was not long after 1988). She never rolled Godzilla, and it seems that whole rollover thing may have been over-hyped, but still it was not a vehicle that inspired much confidence. Nevertheless, she loved that thing, and drove it daily for the rest of her life. I believe that I gave it to a charity when closing out her estate in the late 90s.
I do like this ad though. I’m glad that Suzuki managed to get most of the cast of The Breakfast Club/St. Elmo’s Fire to appear in it. 😉
Funny – my mom made a similar vehicle purchase at around the same age. She bought a Mitsubishi Montero in 1986, when she was 44. Similar reason too – after a decade of driving dull family cars, she wanted something else, and she thought the Montero would be fun and youthful.
There was a lot of family drama involved in this purchase too, because Dad insisted she’d be happier with something like a Celica, but she resented his opinion.
She bought the Montero, but unlike your mom, my mother quickly decided she hated her new vehicle. It was bouncy, unstable in turns, got blown around on the highway, etc. (Yes, Dad warned about all of that.) The Montero was a great car for what it was, but that was just a poor choice on her part. She ended up keeping it for only two years.
Yeah and then the cast can put the top down, climb all over the samurai and cruise into glory
I owned two, an ’86 that I had to sell after one year because my insurance went to $4,000 annually (in 1987 dollars) because I had lost my license in 1985 due to points accumulation. For the record, 1985 was my last speeding ticket.
After selling the ’86, I rode an ’87 Suzuki GS550 ES for a year (insurance was only $350/year) until I totaled it in a relatively-low-speed accident involving gravel and a barbed-wire pasture fence (spent ten days in hospital and eight months on crutches).
My car insurance rates had dropped enough by then that I bought a second Samurai, identical to the first one, and kept that one until we were expecting our first child – we traded it on an ’88 Chevy Spectrum, which ended up being a disappointment.
Loved both Samurais, and owners beeped and waved at each other in those first couple years they were sold in the States.
I drove mine “vigorously,” and at the time, thought the rollover thing was far overrated – neither of mine ever felt ‘tippy.’ They were fun drivers.
As to Jeff’s comment above about the small size, I’m in the 95th percentile height-wise, and while they are not roomy by any stretch, I didn’t feel overly cramped. No worse than my ’64 Beetle, at any rate.
Out of the nearly 40 vehicles I’ve owned over the years, the Samurai would be in my ‘top five’ list of cars I’d like to own again (if I could have one brand-new!).
Pic is of my then-new bride in the ’87 on our honeymoon in Saint Augustine, FL. Just celebrated our 35th.
I briefly owned a Tin top (steel top Samurai). I’m 6’3″ and didn’t have much issue driving, I’ve been in plenty of larger cars that were worse.
This one found its way into my life in 2019, when I bought my farm. It basically came with the place, and fortunately the previous owner had the title.
I’ve only fixed the things that needed to be fixed to get it running and (somewhat) weathertight. My intention was to use it in place of an UTV, although we picked up an actual UTV in late 2021. Like Paul’s ‘66 F100 I hesitate to fix it up too much, lest I make it too nice to perform chores. 😀
Suzuki had some ads and photos that are really fun in retrospect – they did a stellar job of appealing to folks who were looking for what later would be called a Lifestyle Vehicle.
Here’s another, from 1987:
Now that ad puts a smile on my face 🙂
So much going on there, it’s like a create your own adventure story.
That one is the color of my mom’s Samauri. Hers had less fancy wheels and no side stripes. And nope, I wouldn’t have tried to ride in the back like that lady. If I recall, as a young guy (who also had a sweater or two like Mr. Submarine Sandwich in the ad) in my 20s, I couldn’t understand why she wanted a car that didn’t have a real back seat…which made doing things like picking me up at the airport or carrying anything substantial pretty much out of the question.
Now, I think maybe that was the whole point for her.
Ah, yes, the Samurai, a big nail in the credibility coffin for Consumer Reports for me. Although it perhaps illustrates more the lack of driver education that it somehow isn’t obvious to people that a tall tippy vehicle might be a little more tippy than the average car.
Hugely appealing, it’s too bad the Jimny wasn’t/isn’t sold over here. Several classmates in high school had them and most memorably my now-in-laws’ had a Samurai as well and I drove it with my now-wife all the way from SF to Orange County shortly after college on US101. I had no problems fitting into it either and we all know my (relevant) measurements. Top-down, wringing every ounce of power out of the little mill, and beep-beep-Hi’ing the whole way. Also a blast around town, the epitome of the slow car fast thing but with excellent visibility since everyone else still had low-ish cars.
A very fun vehicle, clearly in the vein of what a Jeep would be if the Jeep hadn’t ever increased in size since WWII. Ten years from today? That 1988 Sumurai will fetch far more on BringATrailer than any 2023 Evoque will.
I find these very appealing but they always seemed a bit “niche”, even in California, so I’m surprised to read how many CC’ers (or their families) owned one. Very rarely seen anywhere close to stock or even street-legal here anymore; most have been converted into full time off-roaders. The small formfactor didn’t appeal to me but I seriously considered a first-gen 4 door Sidekick, before we bought our Corolla. I really enjoyed the test drive. My wife was not interested.
When I was spending lots of time in the Caribbean, this was the ride of choice on the islands. The one I had lacked a roof, had the seats replaced with something a whole lot more comfortable, had a replaced clutch, and was a delight. I like it better than the CJ5 I had. Good on gas, able to climb the steep roads that were everywhere on many of the mountainous islands, and it fit the islands.
Sold in Hawaii for a year or two before being brought to the mainland. A friend had one on Maui and then moved to California. Had the Suzuki shipped over and still made a tidy profit as he sold it right away.
YouTuber ’80s Life’ profiled his very cool, award-winning ’88 Samurai here:
The Samurai and Vitara/Tracker seemed pretty common in the 80s and 90s before slowly fading into either serious off roaders or beaters. I still see an occasional Samurai, usually lifted on big tires or sporting a tow bar to ride behind a motorhome. My wife still likes them and low key wants one and a local dealer had a JDM high roof hardtop Jimny last year.
I wonder what those young, urban ladies are playing in their cassette player? lol
Or maybe this. haha
Wow! Samantha Fox. One of the “most photographed British women of the 1980s”. Which seems to be quite the claim (ack to wikipedia). I’d forgotten all about her.
1988 was quite the transitional year for popular music.
In and around Los Angeles these were incredibly popular as Ghetto Rides like the blinged out one above .
As mentioned the remaining ones seem to be in outer areas where a small goat like 4X4 is very useful .
Small yes, I’m 6′ with a 32″ inseam and didn’t have any discomfort once I was in it .
-Nate
While I owned a samurai for a while around 1999, I never really thought much of them as everyday transport, mine was bought for trips off-road around New England. I will say a few years after I had mine, I had a female coworker who had one and oddly a 1992 Dodge colt as her daily drivers, both manual. The Colt saw more use as I gathered she had a long commute but the Samurai served as both her nice day-in-summer top-down car and her winter weather car. Interesting little fleet for a women in her 20s in 2004.