Overdrive TV

It’s difficult to explain how much I love the Suzuki Jimny. And it’s not my fault, I am after all, an impartial motoring journalist. But quite accidentally, or maybe on purpose, Suzuki have built a car that is incredibly endearing. Not liking the Jimny would be like not liking a Jack Russel puppy. Or a four year old girl with blonde curls. Or a that little girl’s little hamster, Smartie.

It is, for all intents and purposes, a niche car. There is no boot to speak of, but you can remove the backseats which helps. It is very narrow, and quite cramped if you’re over 6 foot tall. But I’m not, so it’s perfect.

Rather than squash obstacles, like a Range Rover or Land Rover Prado would, it sort of skips over them. Like a Jack Russel actually. It is monumentally good fun off road.

Ironically though, I can’t think of a better city car. Think of it as a Smart car on stilts. Because of it’s diminutive dimensions it is very easy to park and because of its ride height you can park it anywhere and confidently mount any curb, without risking damage to the vehicle.

The fuel consumption is spot on and you’ve got everything you’d really need for a trip to the shops; an MP3 CD player, aircon, power steering and 4-wheel drive to keep you safe in the wet. Given that Cape Town is currently under water, this is useful. It’s got cult status this car, but I wish it got the attention it deserves. I feel like it’s a young rapper, who knows he’s got talent and just needs a chance to prove himself.

Much like Jack Parow. Which is why, when he rang us up and asked what we thought of the Jimny, we were delighted to reply that we actually had one in the Overdrive Garage. So he came over and we went for a spin.

Jack Parow is not a small chap. He’s over 6 foot and has more presence than most WWE characters. Gavin, Mr Parow and myself hopped in and went to fetch some other musical types named Hunter and Pierre. And I’m pleased to report that with a bit of creative mangineering it is possible to fit five grown men into a Jimny. Look, we couldn’t make it to Durban like that. But it was fun.

Back in the Overdrive Garage, Parow delivered his verdict: maybe.

But don’t listen to him. Well actually you should, because he’s hilarious and his beats are insane. But don’t listen to him about cars. That’s our job.

Oh, and that’s Gavin in his new video by the way. Which we’ve handily linked for you here.

Tags: Driven, jack, jimny, parow, road, suzuki, test

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 13th, 2010 at 12:18 pm and is filed under Driven. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.