Suzuki is sometimes thought of as a minor player in the automotive world – the four-wheeled automotive world, that is, as they are a major motorbike maker. And maybe they are in a sense, being focused on smaller cars than most other Japanese automakers. This does not mean that there haven’t been some interesting ones. The Fronte Coupé, for instance, should be on your fantasy garage shortlist. Let me tell you why.
All was well and teeny-tiny in the kei world of mid-‘60s Japan when a company that refused to follow the rules came barging in. That company was Honda, and their N360, launched in 1967, upset the status quo and forced everyone to up their game. Honda looked at the kei car class and figured there was no reason why they couldn’t make something exciting, good-looking and competent when the majority of the competition was building outdated and underpowered tin cans. Think Subaru 360, think Mitsubishi Minica – and think gen 1 Suzuki Fronte, too.
Honda had another ace up their sleeve: they invented the kei coupé when they launched the Z360 in 1970. Naturally, the competition knew this was coming, but Honda were still first on the scene. For their part, Suzuki saw what was coming and were working feverishly since early 1969 to make sure Honda would not be alone for long.
The Suzuki Coupé would be based on the 3rd generation Fronte, launched in 1970. Back in those days, there were a lot of technological differences from one kei maker to the next (the opposite of today, in a way), so whereas Honda went for an air-cooled four-stroke twin and FWD, Suzuki were working with a water-cooled two-stroke triple in the rear.
But the key feature was less the drivetrain than the racier styling. The Honda Z was a radical design, so Suzuki needed something equally strong to make their mark. Perhaps doubting in their in-house capabilities, they contacted Italdesign’s Giorgetto Giugiaro.
It so happened that, while at Ghia in the late ‘60s, Giugiaro had authored the Rowan Electric car, another project that Alejandro de Tomaso had bought into and tried to get off the ground. Only a handful of these EVs were made, but the general style of the car had caught the eye of many in the automotive biz. And it was a little smaller than kei sized, so Giugiaro started from there.
This is what Giugiaro delivered. It was clean, modern and spacious. It was also completely not what Suzuki wanted. They took it anyway and set their in-house design team, headed by Yasuhiro Naito, to redesign the whole thing into a sporty-looking two-seater coupé, not a high-waisted two-door saloon.
It took a little work to get the greenhouse into shape, but the aspect that took the longest time to settle was the front end. In these early sketches, the overall shape is still pretty much one-box, with a steeply sloped front trunk lid morphing straight into the windshield. The finished product kept the raked windshield, but the nose given more prominence – probably for the better in terms of cargo space, and certainly improving the looks.
For such a small design though, the Fronte Coupé is crammed full of cool touches. The simplicity of the engine air intake is commendable, but also counterbalanced by the three Mustang-like cabin vents.
Same with the fresh air vent up front. Quite mesmerizing. It didn’t have to be so intricately crafted, but it was.
And again with the mandated fender mirrors. Those were so very stylish items – nothing of the kind had ever been attempted on a kei car before Suzuki came along. And almost as soon as the Coupé came out in September 1971, there would be a host of copycats.
Initially, the Coupé was only offered in two trim levels. The base model was the GE, the deluxe option was the GX and that was that. Most unusual for a Japanese carmaker – just compare the number of Fronte saloon declensions that were on offer at the same time.
The base model had painted bumpers and lacked bright trim on the windows, as well as a few nicknacks on the dash, but nothing really substantial compared to the GX. The range would grow in future years, of course. Early cars were also strict two-seaters; a back seat was only added as an option on the GX in early 1972. Our feature car has one, but it may have been added later – the owner assured me it was a ’71 model.
The 356cc two-stroke triple, mated to a 4-speed manual, is set quite deep in the tail in an effort to keep the centre of gravity lower. It produces all of 37hp (gross), which doesn’t sound like much, but we should bear in mind that the car itself weighs less than 500kg.
The engine is water-cooled, with the radiator situated in the nose – that grille is no dummy. The suspension is bang up to date for 1971, with double wishbones and coils in the front and a semi-trailing arm (also coil-sprung) in the rear.
Suzuki marketed the car as a bona fide baby sports car, with a lot of optional and aftermarket extras (e.g. bucket seats, roll cage, 3-point seat belts, leather-wrapped steering wheel and the like) available for folks who wanted to take their Fronte to the track. This was a first for the kei car class, and it was instrumental in changing Suzuki’s image in the four-wheeler scene.
The cherry on top has to be the interior. Not even contemporary Ferraris have such an impressive alignment of dials on their dashes. Granted, it’s probably easier to monitor all this when one only has 37 ponies spinning the back wheels…
If the proof of a design’s success can be measured by its longevity, then the Fronte Coupé was a real hit. There was a hiatus caused by the rather unexpected revision of the kei class rules, enacted in 1976. In June of that year, the Fronte Coupé went out of production, but was revived with only minor changes in late 1977 as the 550cc Cervo, which carried on until mid-1982. Pretty impressive run – the Honda Z, let we forget, never made it to its fourth birthday.
I have the great pleasure of being able to admire this particular car regularly, as it is a frequent visitor to the Jingu Gaien on Sundays. Its owner is justly proud of his Fronte Coupé and can often be seen polishing this or tending to that on the gingko-lined avenue, before getting inside and speeding off in an inimitable motorbike-like racket and traces of blue smoke. It’s a joy to behold and, if nothing else, has made taking photos for this post a lot easier.
But in doing the research for said post, what struck me is that this car is often credited to Giugiaro in non-Japanese sources, when the reality is that his involvement was a lot less direct than that. It makes me wonder how many other allegedly Italian-designed cars, be they Japanese or otherwise, are actually only tangentially so. Whatever the case may be, as far as this Fronte is concerned, the Euro-Asian fusion was certainly a recipe for success.
It’s interesting to note that Alfa-Sud has a distant cousin residing in Japan
Outstanding biography, on a new car for me. Blackout trim and crisp styling, would have me pegging this was roughly a 1976/1977 model, of an earlier introduced design. The hood fresh air vent, looks particularly clean and modern.
I like Giugiaro’s original concept. With a lower beltline, it would have represented leading edge late ’70s commuter car design. In the vein of the original Ford Fiesta. Note the Ford Aerostar-like nose.
Giugiaro has always been interested by optimizing the internal space, from well before the Megagamma concept. Indeed his proposal had rear places, as visible in the picture, and a very big headroom for those times.
What a great small car. Never heard of it.
No you are hitting my soft spot. I have one of the ultimate Fronte Coupe/Cervo derivatives in a 1981 SC100 GX. Not as much a bottle rocket as its forbear, the “Whizzkid”, as it was dubbed by its English importer, is, nevertheless, more evolved for something close to everyday driving. It was a bold step for Suzuki, out of the Kei formula, by virtue of a 4th cylinder (the same engine used in early Jimnys, I believe), continuation of the Cervo’s use of 12″ wheels and slightly larger dimensions. Developed to increase the company’s toehold in Europe and exported to a few other non-Asian countries, it boasts a 970cc 4-stroke with 48 HP pushing just under 1500 lbs. And my example, originally imported into the Netherlands, has the luxury of rare, left hand drive. In practice, it’s the first vintage minicar I have owned that is not only very comfortable, but has the performance to run with the big boys on the average two-lane highway. A 2+2 with a glass hatch, the SC may not be nearly as pretty as my ’65 FIAT 500, but it is spacious, nimble and doesn’t get in the way of the potential tailgater in his 3-ton RAM pickup.
Lucky You! Delightful little cars they are. I drove one in the ’80s, as a fun car on the side. Most impressive roadholding! It felt really fast. Not so great: changing the sparkplugs trough a narrow hatch behind the backseat …
They sold really well in the Netherlands, though they were not cheap.
Have fun with it!
Thanks! I am moving to rural Massachusetts at year’s end. Great roads for bombing around, and tons of oldtimer cars on the road.
Actually, this car isn’t even mentioned in most Italian sources about Giugiaro and Italdesign, for example in wikipedia: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgetto_Giugiaro
Same happens for example for the 80s Isuzu Gemini, which he allegedly personally disclaimed as he didn’t like the final results after modifications done by the manufacturer. I have no sources, but possibly the same could have happened in this case.
International wikipedia cites both the Cervo (but not the Fronte, even if they appear to be the same car) and the Gemini, but not the first generation Nissan Micra: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgetto_Giugiaro
Anyway it has to be said that almost no one in Italy knows the Fronte/Cervo.
If the Fronte isn’t known in Italy, and is not mentioned in Wiki posts about Giugiaro, that’s because he didn’t design it, and because it never appeared there. But his ideas were critical to its existence. Suzuki asked Italdesign to prototype a city car, so Giugiaro developed his ideas for the Rowan Electric from two years before. They paid for a “research prototype”, which is what GFG Style, Giorgetto and Fabrizio’s current design firm calls collaborations with auto companies. But Suzuki decided to apply details of the Microutilitaria to a sport coupe instead of a city car. I like those two color renderings; they say “rear engine” in an honest way, but the Fronte Coupe, as it eventuated, is extremely winning as well. Not going cab-forward preserves that classic GT look. There is something about shrinking a design brief to its minimum possible size that touches an enthusiast’s soul. I owned a Goggomobil TS250, and it was a perfect mini-Alfa coupe.
The Fronte Coupe and its derivative, Cervo would not be known in Italy because of zero market presence there, and extreme rarity worldwide. Giorgetto didn’t design them, but Suzuki started with his novel ideas when creating a legendary niche car. Kudos to all.
This face looks very modern for 1971. It could have adorned the front of a late ’70s or early ’80s Renault or Peugeot, and looked current.
A clip of it:
That is absolutely one of the most ferocious yet melodious-sounding exhaust notes that I have ever heard!
What lovely little car. I don’t think I’ve seen a photo of an early one before. It has to have some of the shortest overhangs of any cars ever made.
Love it! I remember seeing magazine pictures of this at the time, and being amused by the rear engine when everyone else was going FWD. It seemed old-fashioned then, but the engine is so small physically, and look what they did with it! Doesn’t matter that the engine is in the rear. If that tiny triple was canted over a bit more, they could almost have put a luggage floor over it like the VW1500s, and gone for a full hatch. Would I have one in my dream garage? Most certainly.
These likely would have been beasts in deeper snow here in Canada. Like the VW Beetle.
And as with virtually all Japanese products of the early ’70s, they would have prematurely rusted to bits, in winter’s road salt.
An interesting tale. I wasn’t aware of the Italian’s involvement, but like Daniel M, I like the Guigiaro original, and indeed, I prefer it. It is notoriously hard to style a really small car, for the (perhaps obvious) reasons of, well, size. Where does one put one’s long scoopy strake on a thing that ends practically as soon as it began, and so on.
Perhaps Guigiaro did disown the manufactured result, as Rocky above suggests. It’s not an ugly car, but the Japanese could not resist the urge to gargoyle a nice design. What our Prof T sees as “Mustang strakes” I see as unnecessary gaudification. Such overcookery is just not present on the Guigiaro concept, and all for the better.
Still, we now live in an era when far too much isn’t nearly enough when it comes to the everything-including-plumbing-for-the-kitchen-sin-school of design that predominates in cars, so I am not relevant. Actually, I never have been, but that is another issue entirely.
It appears the transmission/gear box is towards the front and below the crankcase. The plane of the center of the differential is between the left most cylinder and the middle cylinder. Did it have swing axles? Tiny rear seats were added to save registration costs.
Wheelbase 2,010 mm (79.1 in)
Length 2,995 mm (117.9 in)
Width 1,295 mm (51.0 in)
Height 1,195 mm (47.0 in)
Curb weight 500 kg (1,102 lb)
A diehard restores his Fronte! Part 1, 2 minutes
One of those frames in that video betray an upper control arm, hinting on independent suspension, using modern double-jointed axles and likely a leaf spring pack doubling as the lower control arms. An easy way to tell if a vehicle uses swing axles is when it appears to have noticeable positive camber, while sitting unloaded