Trailblazer
First appeared in 4x4 magazine, november 2018
There’s a lot of Suzuki Jimnys in Britain.There’s a lot of modified ones, too, and even quite a few that have been turned into what Suzuki fans tend to refer to as ‘super-Jimnys.’
This was one of the first of that breed. It was originally built more than a decade ago, at a time when modded Jimnys were still relatively thin on the ground and people were still as likely to think about Samurais and Vitaras when the subject of Suzuki-based off-roading came up.
Seen on its own, it doesn’t look that radical. But if you were to park it next to an everyday Jimny, you’d see the difference immediately – the standard one would just about come up to its door mirrors, and only occupy about two-thirds of the road space.
That’s what happens when you merge G-Wagen axles, a large-capacity Ford petrol engine and 35-inch Simexes with Suzuki’s SJ heir apparent.You end up with a vehicle that has all the visual cues of a Jimny, combined with the off- road presence and ability of a hardcore challenge truck.Which is pretty much exactly what it was designed to be.
The guy who commissioned the build had spent the previous decade or so dabbling in the winching scene and had already changed trucks a couple of times before moving over to Suzuki. Changing trucks was evidently a running theme, though, because in 2009 he put this one up for sale too and it was bought by a chap called Eron Baxter, who at the time was off-roading a modified Mitsubishi L200.
‘I agreed to go along and have a look,’ he told us. ‘That was a mistake, because the minute I set eyes upon the Jimny, I knew I just had to have it!’
The L200 was one of two such vehicles already in Eron’s possession when the Jimny came along.The second was a newer, higher- spec Warrior model, which immediately became a tow truck for his new toy.‘Towing your off-roader to events means you can be more adventurous with the terrain you tackle,’ he said, ‘and you know you’ll still be able to get back home in one piece.’ So long as you can get back to your trailer in one piece, obviously, but there’s a businesslike looking roll cage in place to help with that.
Eron had got into off-roading about five years before buying the Jimny, and obviously its purchase was a bit like firing up the second- stage boosters on the sort of stuff he was able to tackle. His first 4x4 love was a lifted Frontera which he experienced on a weekend out green laning with some friends, and it was this that prompted him to fit bigger tyres and a suspension lift to his Mitsubishi double-cab.
Most people who catch the bug who are happy to build a competent lane truck and leave it at that. But there are those who are forever thirsting for something more extreme than whatever they’ve currently got – and it’s fair to say that Eron fell into the latter category.
‘I’ve given up on green laning,’ he admitted. ‘There isn’t really enough of a challenge in it for me now. I like fun days on really big sites, where I can find plenty to test my vehicles.’
It’s fair to say that finding something to really test this Jimny took some doing. Going back to its build, this was carried out by a chap called Lee Bond, who was one of the most respected 4x4 engineers of the early challenge era.The G-Wagen axles were kind of a trademark of his – and it’s safe to say that with the comparatively light weight of a Suzuki up top, even the shock loadings you get from a set of grippy 35-inch Simexes being spun by a tuned Ford V6 engine weren’t going to do any damage.
You could say that being used as a playday toy was a bit beneath this Jimny’s dignity, when it was conceived with the goal of winning national-level challenge events. But as we all know, many of us to our cost, playdays can get very, very extreme very, very quickly. Which, when you look at it, is how Eron’s off-road career appeared to have gone when this little monster came into his life.
‘Little’ monster, did we say? There, see, it’s still fooling us even now.This truck might have been a Suzuki Jimny – but a decade on, it’s still one of the biggest, and best, there’s ever been.
