You and your Suzuki by Paul Guinness

Cracking the code of the Samurai

Back in the early Nineties, tired of scraping the exhaust of my Golf on unmade roads, or revving frantically as the wheels spun helplessly in a muddy track, I decided to opt for something more robust.

A nearly-new Samurai SJ410 seemed just the thing. With its agricultural suspension and the aerodynamics of a fridge-freezer, it makes long motorway runs hard going, but as a rough-terrain vehicle and urban runabout, it is still going strong a decade later, and the fuel consumption is surprisingly modest for a 4x4. Guinness's book can help you to understand their appeal. It gives the history and specifications of every Suzuki 4x4, from the introduction of its basic workhorse, the LJ, in the late Seventies, to the five-door Grand Vitaras of today. And if you find these sleek vehicles more redolent of the school run than the great outdoors, the SJ is still being produced in Spain. Whichever model appeals to you, this book is packed with technical information, advice on modifications from snorkels to suspension lifts, and details of specialist suppliers and owners' clubs.