Belt up and enjoy this 365-day ride as you cruise past the most momentous motoring events in history. Packed with fascinating facts about races, motorists and the history of the mighty engine, this is a must-visit web site for any car enthusiast.
A chronological day-by-day history of Suzuki.
The Nissan Sunny and Toyota Corolla were unveiled at the 13th Tokyo Motor Show. Other carmakers also presented their new models in the 800-1,000cc engine class, heralding the "Era of Cars for Everyone." Amid the My Car boom, mini-vehicles fitted with under 660cc engines also earned popularity among consumers again. New mini vehicle models such as Honda's N360, the Daihatsu Fellow, and Suzuki Fronte featured significantly improved performance. Notably, the Nissan Prince Royal, the first made-in-Japan limousine used by the emperor and empress, was unveiled at the show. Visitors were surprised at the vehicle's overwhelming body size and engine.
Toyota Corolla (first generation)
Show ArticleSuzuki licensed the Wankel engine. Three years later Suzuki engineers finally developed a single-rotor, water-cooled, 62hp, 497cc engine. Styling of the new machine was put in the hands of Giorgietto Guigiaro, the Italian automotive stylist (e.g. Maserati Spyder, Ferrari GG50) and advocate of the 'wedge' trend in cars. Guigiaro's touch extended only to the cylindrical taillight and special instrument 'binnacle' for the RE5 (a cylindrical case with novel sliding cover, meant to echo the futuristic rotary engine) the rest of the bike looked nearly the same as Suzuki's GT750 'Water Buffalo'. The modest power output of the engine, combined with the 550lb wet weight, meant performance wasn't exciting, with a top speed of 110mph it's no better than the two-stroke T500 series it was meant to displace, and far more complex, heavy, and expensive. Much to Suzuki's chagrin, the release of the RE5 coincided with the Oil Crisis of '73, and customers suddenly became wary of the rotary's reputation for poor fuel economy. This combined with bikers distrust of anything too new, meant sales of the RE5 were far lower than needed to recoup their investment. With millions at stake in the project, Suzuki was determined to carry on production. Blaming Giugiaro's binnacle, in 1975 the styling was more conventional, but sales didn't improve, and by 1976 Suzuki had to swallow their losses, and cease production. Less than 7,000 were actually built.
Show ArticleThe 19th Tokyo Motor Show opened to the public. Use of professional models had been banned a few years before, but now the beauty was brought back, and crowds gathered. The lunar vehicles co-exhibited by GM and Isuzu, and Mitsubishi s replica of a 1917 Model A also attracted much attention. Conspicuous in the Passenger Car Hall were the Skyline GT racing car, the Mitsubishi Colt F-2 engine, the Isuzu R6 Spider, the Mazda Savanna racer, the Suzuki Vickr, and the Toyota Town Spider. Since this show was mainly about safety and environment, the number of exhibits was decreased from 755 at the previous show to 559. The number of visitors also decreased to 1,261,400.
Show ArticleFuture World Superbike champion Colin Edwards received his first motorcycle, a Suzuki JR50, as a Christmas present at the age of 3.
Colin Edwards
Show ArticleThe publishers of Consumer Reports magazine called for a ban on the Suzuki Samurai, a popular sport utility vehicle that the magazine said tended to roll over in sudden turns. American Suzuki Motor Corporation defended the vehicle as safe.
Suzuki Samurai
Show ArticleDaredevil Jacky Vranken of Belgium set a record for the highest speed ever attained on the rear wheel of a motorcycle. At St. Truiden Military Airfield in Belgium, Vranken reached 157.87 mph while performing an extended "wheelie" with his Suzuki GSXR 1100 motorcycle. The year before, Yasuyuki Kudo of Japan had set the record for the longest wheelie when he covered 205.7 miles nonstop on the rear wheel of his Honda TLM 220 R motorcycle at the Japan Automobile Research Institute in Tsukuba, Japan.
Show ArticleThe Frankfurt Motor Show, opened it’s doors, with the simultaneous launch of the 5th generation of VW Golf and Opel Astra. Ford unveiled the first production models based on next year’s new Focus platform – the Mazda 3 and new Volvo S40 sedan. The 2003 Show was also a significant event for BMW, with the debut of the new 5-Series saloon and 6-Series coupe, while the X5 was updated for 2004 and joined by the smaller, all-new X3. Mercedes showed the production version of the SLR McLaren; Jaguar the X-Type Estate and Maserati returned to the luxury saloon fold with the premiere of the new Quattroporte. Leading the concept car debuts from Europe were the Citroen C-Airlounge, Renault Be-Bop, Peugeot 407 Elixir, SEAT Altea, and Saab 9-3 Sporthatch, together with surprises from Lancia with the Fulvia Coupe concept and Skoda with the Roomster. Japanese makers were also strongly featured with concepts such as the Toyota CS&S, Nissan Dunehawk, Mazda Kusabi, Mitsubishi ‘i’, and Suzuki S2.
VW Golf (5th generation)
Show ArticleThe Paris Mondial de l’Automobile (Paris Motor Show) opened its doors to the press and featured a wealth of new concept and production cars. There were a number of major releases from Ford, BMW and Mercedes and, naturally, the French makers Peugeot, Citroën and Renault featured strongly as well. World debuts included the Alfa 147, Aston Martin DBR9, Audi A4, BMW 1 Series, BMW M5, Citroën C4, Ferrari F430, Ford Focus, Hyundai Sonata, Kia Sportage, Mazda 5, Mercedes A-Class, Mitsubishi Colt CZ3, Opel Astra GTC, Peugeot 1007, Porsche Boxster, Renault Mégane Trophy, Škoda Octavia Estate, Suzuki Swift and Toyota Prius GT.
BMW 1-Series
Show ArticleNew exhibitors at the Chicago Auto Show included Chicago's own International Truck, featuring its CXT concept. Also new was a 20,000 sq.ft. exhibit by the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA). More than a dozen excitiy concept vehicles at the '05 show included the Ford SYNus, Jeep Hurricane, Lexus LF-A, Mercury Meta One, Chrysler Firepower, Jaguar Advanced Lightweight Coupe and Suzuki Concept-X.
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General Motors Corporation said it would sell a 17.4% stake in Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp. for $2 billion, scaling down its share in an effort to gain much-needed cash. GM and Suzuki said the partnership between the automakers would continue.
Show ArticleGeneral Motors Corp. said it would sell a 17.4% stake in Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp. for $2 billion, scaling down its share in an effort to gain much-needed cash. GM and Suzuki said the partnership between the automakers would continue.
Show ArticleThe record for driving to the highest altitude by car is 6,688 metres (21,942 ft) was established by Gonzalo Bravo and Eduardo Canales (both Chile) with a 1986 modified Suzuki Samurai on the slopes of the Ojos Del Salado volcano, Atacama, Chile.
Show ArticleThe overall Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) record, also known as 'The Race to the Clouds', an annual automobile and motorcycle hill climb to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado, a distance of 19.99 km, was set by Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima from Japan who clocked a time of 10:01.408 driving the 1000 hp mid-engined Suzuki XL7 Hill Climb Special. He broke the previous record (set in 1994 by Rod Millen) by less than three seconds. The winning time in 1916 was 20:55.40, set by Rea Lentz.
Show ArticleMaruti Udyog was renamed Maruti Suzuki India Limited. It was the first company in India to mass-produce and sell more than a million cars. It is largely credited for having brought in an automobile revolution to India. It is the market leader in India.
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Top 1 Oil Ack Attack reached the blistering speed of 360.913 mph to reclaim the absolute world speed record for motorcycles. Owned by Mike Akatiff and driven by Rocky Robinson, the 20-foot-long Ack Attack was powered by 900 hp 2600cc heavily-modded Suzuki Twin Hayabusa engines. A carbon fibre skin held in a chromoly tube frame linking the wheels, cockpit and powertrain. Mickey Thompson ultra-high-speed tyres—7” in front and 9” in back—provided the traction. Two years earlier, the Ack Attack had broken the 16-year-old record of 322.149 mph with a 342.797 run, but only held onto that one for two days before the BUB Seven stole the show.
Top 1 Oil Ack Attack
Show ArticleUS Automakers begged governments to save them amid a spreading global recession. Cash-strapped General Motors Corp. said it would sell its entire stake in Suzuki Motor Corp. for 22.37 billion yen ($230 million), the automaker's latest move to stay afloat while awaiting a decision on government aid for the industry.
Show ArticleIndia's biggest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India announced it has recalled 100,000 of its best-selling A-Star hatchback cars due to a fuel leakage problem.
Show ArticleIn India, car production was halted at the factory in Manesar after the Japanese-controlled firm Maruti Suzuki accused some workers of sabotaging production and ‘deliberately causing quality problems’.
Show ArticleIndia's top carmaker Maruti Suzuki sacked more than 500 workers after riots on July 18 at a plant near New Delhi left one manager dead. Production was set to partially re-start on August 21 with 200 anti-riot police on rolling shifts inside the factory.
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