Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Suzuki is a car that was never sold in North America, and emulates a VW bus that’s long been gone here. That makes it perfect, right? Let’s see if this grey market import’s price brings home the Canadian Bacon.
The past is always better than the present, right? I mean, we all reminisce fondly about the days of civility in the body politic, don’t we? Of bygone days when there was at least one untarnished soul who could host the Oscars? We tend to varnish the past with platitudes, but as such, generally gloss over all the bad stuff that happened.
An example of this is last Friday’s 1994 Acura Legend sedan. It presented in great shape and sported a competitive $4,500 asking. In support, many of the comments lauded the car as an example of Acura’s past glories, whatever they were.
Of course, driving an old car like that on the regular might just engender longing for the modernities it is missing. Navigation, bluetooth and side airbags were things that were little known back when Acura was cool. That past/present divide didn’t much divide the vote however, and the Legend came in at a legend-worthy 82 percent Nice Price win.
I’d like to continue with the line of discussion that things were better in the past. Back in the day, Canada was looked upon, and least by the U.S. as something of a younger, simpler sibling.
Today, things are different, and as the availability of this 2003 Suzuki Every VW Bus makes clear, the automotive world in Canada is far more interesting than that here in the States.
Yes, this fantastically weird JDM kei car import is allowed in Canada, but is still forbidden in the U.S.. Ha! Sucks to be us.
Canada’s grey market rules are very similar to those in the U.S., with one major exception. While the U.S. regulations target cars up to 25-years of age for import restrictions, in Canada the rules run out at 15-years.
If these were prison sentences you’d obviously want to do your time in Canada. Since access to cool cars comes 10-years sooner in Canada, you might want to do your forbidden car shopping there too.
This Suzuki Every is cool, of that there is no doubt. First off, there’s that name—Every. Even better, the Every is a derivation of a commercial van called—get ready for this—the Carry.
Not only does this diminutive people carrier carry a cool name, but it’s been all dolled up to look like a VW Type 2 Microbus. This is a fairly common mod in Japan and a few of these little trucklets have made their way off the island nation as their twee transformation makes them just too damn interesting to be constrained.
The change involves a new front clip with huge VW emblem, bug-eyed headlamps and a two-tone paint scheme. Down the side, inserts double the number of apparent windows while side spats cover the tops of the rear wheel arches. It’s acute, reverent and totally funky.
The Every beneath is a RWD commercial chassis with a 92-inch wheelbase rolling on 13-inch wheels. The two-row van features sliding doors on both sides and RHD to give the front passenger something to do. Power, if you can call it that, comes from a 657-cc inline triple good for about 58 horsepower. That mighty mini sits under the front seats and is accessed by flipping both seats backwards. The center console with its four-speed automatic shifter and E-brake remain in place and can impede belt replacements and other maintenance.
A wildly optimistic 120kph (74mph) speedo sits center in the instrument panel, flanked by fuel and temp gauges. Everything else inside looks appreciably tidy with just some wear and tear on the door handles and window winders about which to complain. There’s about 56,000 miles on the clock, and the van comes with new tires ready to pile on some more.
You might want to complain about the price, but then again, this being in Canada I don’t see that happening. Yes, this one’s for you Canucks, but that does n’t mean the rest of us can’t help out.
The importing dealer is asking $9,490 for this Every, which, if we could buy it here, works out to about to just over $7,000 in Yankee Bucks.
You now need to decide two things—if this cute Keijidōsha is worth that sort of scratch, and if so, whether or not you should move to Canada for the opportunity to buy it. Current Canadians need only fill out the top half of the form.
You decide!
AutoTrader Canada out of Vancouver, BC, or go here if the ad disappears, eh.
H/T to AlienDNA for the hookup!
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