After the Honda Vezel we showed you yesterday, we continue our journey deeper into Japan's weird and wonderful automotive market with this, the Suzuki Hustler. Made by a company best known for making motorcycles, this is a car that supposedly combines the characteristics of a car and a sport utility vehicle.
It went on sale across the country less than a month ago and stickers anywhere between ¥1.05 million to ¥1.58 million ($10,360 and $15,680), which makes it quite cheap by Japanese standards. While there's barely room for a family of hobbits in this 3.5-meter car, it does get good economy, about 3.3 l/100km.
Suzuki has a lot of these kei cars, all powered by 660cc engines. In fact, their Wagon R is the best selling model in its segment. But the Hustler is special because it's got a unique style. It's sort of like a Fiat 500 in the way it brings bright from the bodywork to the interior.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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