Revitalised utilitarian icons must be a bit like buses; only, rather than waiting minutes for one before several arrive in a rash, the gap is decades long.
Already this year Mercedes has launched a painstaking new interpretation of the G-Class for the modern era. Meanwhile, prototypes for an all-new Land Rover Defender have also been seen roaming the Midlands. Jeep, too, has given the first freshened Wrangler for a fair old while, and then there is this: the tiny Jimny, which Suzuki hasn’t really touched for two decades.
You might well wonder why it would. Built to adhere to pocket-size Japanese kei-car regulations, the formula Suzuki concocted for the original ‘Light Jeep 10’ of 1970 was simple but effective. That’s why this fourth-generation car remains usefully small, authentically gifted off-road and enviably inexpensive.
With such a small footprint, it’s a veritable hard-hat on wheels, and you’d expect it to contribute powerfully to global Jimny sales already approaching three million. Especially given the warm reception for an unashamedly retro exterior design, which impertinently echoes that of the far more exclusive G-Class.
