What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word hustler? The pusherman in Curtis Mayfield’s title song for a blaxploitation movie called Super Fly? The porno magazine published by Larry Flynt? If you’re a gearhead, hustler should come to your mind as the salacious name of a boxy Suzuki kei car.
The Suzuki Hustler. It’s real, alright, though its name raises some eyebrows in the English speaking world. It may cause mirth among us, but fret not - this is one of the happiest and most outdoorsy Japanese minicars you can buy these days. Speaking of active lifestyles, the name of the cutesy kei car is actually a nod to the 1969 Suzuki Hustler 250 off-road motorcycle.
Just to make things even funnier, we deem necessary to mention that Daihatsu and Isuzu previously marketed two models as the Naked and Bighorn. Innuendo much, Japan? Okay then, so what’s so special about this 3.39-meter long, 1.47-meter wide and 1.66-meter tall Suzuki Hustler thingy? Large rims and crossover-inspired black plastic trim on the wheel arches isn’t something you usually find on kei cars.
In addition to the unusual visuals for a JDM-spec economy car, look at the adjacent photo gallery. More specifically at Suzuki’s marketing department’s choice of backgrounds for the presentation photographs. Lots of colors, smiles, Mario Brothers outfits, beach and surfboards, Fuji mountain and backpacks, what?
This car is oozing adventure or so it wants to. Priced at 1,078,920 yen ($8,785 at current exchange rates), customers of the 2015 Suzuki Hustler can opt for two or all-wheel drive, a five-speed manual or CVT, and a single motor - a 658 cc three-banger that churns out 52 horsepower (38 kW) at 6,000 rpm and 63 Nm (46 lb-ft) of torque at 4,000 rpm. Considering it costs so little, it’s practical and returns up to 3.12 l/100 km (75.3 US mpg or 90.5 UK mpg), the quaintly named Hustler is an interesting plaything. No pun intended.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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