Anyone else appreciate the Zen of Suzuki vehicles?
My '88 Samurai is the second Suzuki I've owned, the first being a "Chevrolet" Sprint I bought new in 1985. That one had 3 cylinders and a whopping 48 horsepower, and after 218,000 miles in 2000 I was still getting 55 MPG. My father-in-law still drives it! He rebuilt the motor at 250,000 miles.
Here's the Zen part: Suzuki engineers with these vehicles were phenomenally successful at focusing on and achieving one goal--the most economical vehicle possible. When you work on Suzukis, you quickly see that every part and system of the vehicle--without exception--was engineered with this goal in mind. From the carburetors to the axle design to materials choices, no compromise was made to economy. And yet the vehicles are reliable and durable when taken proper care of, and they're among the cheapest available. It takes incredible leadership and discipline to pull that off!
Granted, mistakes were made. The Spring/Geo Metro early seats were a safety nightmare. The Samurai bumpers are a joke. But it's all part of the Zen.
Any idiot engineer can make a 200 MPH car if he has an unlimited budget and can charge an unlimited price. It takes a skillful craftsman to make a car that gets 55 MPG and cost $5500 in 1985 dollars.
By comparison, the Jeep CJ-7 I just sold was made by high school drop-outs. It was too heavy and atrociously expensive to drive. And my Sammi gets everywhere the CJ did.
Anyone care to share examples of appreciating the Suzuki philosophy? (horror stories need not apply). NOTE: I wouldn't include the recent Korean-made pseudo-Suzukis in this!
-=- RocDoc in Idaho -=-
