1991 Suzuki Samurai. A pocket-sized tank.

The last time we featured a samurai it was build in the least samurai way possible. It was built for speed which is something this platform is known not to do. Today I am happy to show you how a Samurai in Cyprus is usually built.

A strictly off-road affair.

Since their creation back in the late 80s Samurais has been stable in the off-road community. With a good reason behind it, it is the bulletproof idea of the original jeep in an affordable trusty Japanese package. A short wheeled based box with enough power to propel it over any terrain. But 80s technology can only take you so far, so the inevitable modifications come to play.

Starting with the suspension an over the axle spring conversion took place to increase ground clearance with custom shackles to accommodate the leaf springs out of a jeep Cherokee.

RANCHO shocks and springs are used all around and they provide a somewhat stable ride considering the total 5 inches of lift that this samurai has.

15×10 inch alloy wheels are wrapped around in all-terrain 31×10 tyres. giving the samurai plenty of grip to conquer any terrain.

Still, Suzuki powered!

All vehicles can benefit from more power unless we talking about a reliant robin in that case it’s a no. Terrible jokes aside the Samurai benefits from a 1.3L engine swap (G13BB) out of a Suzuki swift. Considering the factory unit was a 1.3L 8-valve carby engine producing a behemoth 60 hp at the crank, the slightly more modern 16-valve EFI engine producing almost 80hp makes this thing a tad more bearable on the highway, and a lot more capable off-road.

The Samurai also benefits from an airlock system in both differentials while the clutch has been upgraded to a performance unit.

Styling update

What initially drew me to this car for a close look was the fact that it was entirely coated in Line-x which is fitting for this type of vehicle and certainly give the car heaps of character. Plastic flares borrowed from a Jeep, cover the 10-inch wheels while making the Suzuki slightly more aggressive-looking.

Custom front and rear steel bumpers were made mainly for added ground clearance. Lastly Led headlights and extra piaa spotlights make sure that fun can take place during the night as well.

Bringing the samurai up to standards.

If you ever been in this kind of vehicle before you know that they feel sketchy -regarding safety features, so the addition of a roll cage has been deemed a wise decision.

Despite the harsh ride and incredibly slow acceleration, I wouldn’t mind having one of these JDM- bricks in my driveway for the occasional off-road excursion.