We’ve gushed over the adorable and tough little 4x4 Suzuki Jimny before here, and I’m not the least bit ashamed to keep that going. For the Tokyo Auto Salon coming in January, Suzuki has prepared two special-edition show Jimnys: the Jimny Survive, and the Jimny Sierra. They’re both a lot of fun, and the little Jimny pickup would be especially great to see make it into production.
The Survive is most like the production Jimny, but with a lot of extra rugged stuff bolted to it. The Survive has extensive underbody skid plates, an external cage/roof rack from the beltline up, like the Jimny’s wearing a helmet, no-skid plating on vulnerable corners, and headlights protected with cages.
Essentially, it’s a bunch of aftermarket parts, so it’s very possible that a determined owner could replicate this concept without too much trouble.
More extensively modified is the Jimny Sierra, which is a pickup-truck variant of the Jimny. The front end has also been extensively redesigned, with a one-opening grille with a honeycomb pattern that feels a lot like an old Toyota Land Cruiser grille.
The sides are also paneled in wood (or perhaps fake wood) which gives it a nice retro touch, and the bed has the old-school lip and fang-like tie-downs that we all know and love. This would be a pretty amazing little truck, even if that bed is a bit short.
Of course, keep in mind that these are still Kei-class cars, with a 660cc engine making all of 64 horsepower—adequate, but also a reminder that these are in no way intended for the American market, which, of course, saddens me.
Sales have been good for the new Jimny, so it’s nice to see that other parts of the world appreciate a good, tough little off-roader. For the rest of us, we’ll just have to keep admiring from a distance, at least for the next 25 years.
The TokyoAuto Salon opens January 11, if you want to see these in person.