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© JAMES TAYLOR
Editor: Land Rover Enthusiast Magazine
Background
Suzuki's SJ410 was the vehicle which really opened up the SWB four-wheel drive market in Britain during the Eighties. It offered a blend of style, fun potential, cheap purchase price and economical running costs which made it irresistible to young buyers, and it quickly became the best-selling 4x4 in Britain. Suzuki gathered the lessons it learned from European experience of the SJ into the hugely successful Vitara, which was produced alongside the SJ after 1989, but the original range remained in demand and is still in production today, although the UK market now has only a much-reduced model range. Since early 1987, all UK-market examples of the Suzuki have been built at the Santana plant in Spain.
Suzuki was a late entrant to the world of four-wheel drives. The company's first models were built at the beginning of the Seventies, and drew on proven micro-car technology to create a miniature 4x4 for markets in South East Asia. The original LJ models were available in the UK between 1979 and 1981, but the SJ410 which reached Britain in 1982 was a version of the completely new model introduced in Japan in 1981.
The UK soon proved to be a very lucrative market for the SJ410, and in due course Suzuki GB was able to influence the actual development of the vehicle. It was the British importer, for example, which adopted the Rhino logo associated with the SJ series, and UK market demands have influenced the vehicle in a number of ways. The mid-Eighties saw the original 1-litre SJ41O supplemented by a 1.3-litre SJ413, and then the transfer of SJ41O production from Japan to Spain; subsequent SJ41Os have been badged as Suzuki Santana models. SJ41 3 production followed suit in 1990, when the bigger-engined models were renamed the Samurai series.
Character summary
The SJ series are unashamedly aimed at the younger buyer. They are intended to offer style and fun at low cost, and in order to do so they offer minimal size, performance and equipment levels. Optional extras can improve the latter, of course, but most SJs have a fairly basic specification.
Like most SWB four-wheel drives, the SJs offer very little luggage accommodation behind the rear seats; in fact space is at a premium throughout. Their ride comfort is poor and their engines are insufficiently powerful to make long-distance travel a comfortable experience. However, they do make for good urban runabouts, and the Soft Top versions offer excellent open-air motoring in the summer.
Hard Top models lack some of the chic appeal of the Soft Tops and are often nowadays found in a semicommercial role rather than as everyday transport.
Performance summary
Neither the SJ410 nor the SJ413 is very quick on the road, although the bigger-engined examples can be less frustrating to drive on long tourneys. The stiff springs and short wheelbase combine to give a very bumpy ride, and high noise levels help to make long-distance driving a tiring experience.
The SJ410 Estate entered the UK market in 1982, two months after the open vehicle's debut; mechanically they were identical.
At the end of the Eighties, there were scares about the SJs' handling, when consumer organisations in Britain and the USA attempted to prove that the vehicle was likely to overturn in certain conditions. Suzuki responded by widening the tracks to make the SJs more stable, but the truth is that even early SJ's are unlikely to give handling problems unless severely provoked - when they are as likely to overturn as any other four-wheel drive treated with a lack of sympathy by its driver.
Off the road, the SJs give very good performance. Neither engine offers very much bottom-end torque, but in these lightweight vehicles the low gearing and large tyres are enough to compensate. The short wheelbase and short front and rear overhangs also make the SJs very agile in demanding conditions
Reliability, weaknesses, spares
Despite their relatively flimsy construction, SJs survive very well. However, examples which have been used extensively off-road sometimes suffer damage underneath, where the mechanical elements are not very well protected. Rust also becomes a problem in older vehicles, affecting the body seams, the bumpers and the area around the door and bonnet hinges. Soft Tops do not always wear well, and their fasteners can fail.
Well-used SJs are also likely to suffer from a collection of squeaks and rattles. Sometimes, these are simply caused by items working loose and can be rectified with a screwdriver or socket spanner.
Spares are readily available from Suzuki dealers, and there is some aftermarket support for the vehicle in the provision of alternative hardtops, bull bars, wheels and other cosmetic addenda.
Resale values
For a long time, the SJ410 was the cheapest four-wheel drive vehicle available on the UK market, and although it has since been undercut by other models it remains a cheap vehicle. However, there is such demand for all variants that even the oldest examples have kept their value surprisingly well.
Soft Top models keep their value much better than Estate variants, and Soft Tops which come with demountable (usually aftermarket) Hard Tops are particularly desirable.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
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