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Memphis Mudder: 1972 Suzuki LJ20

Jumpin’ Jimny, this is a nice looking rig. This is a 1972 Suzuki LJ20, better known as a Jimny in other markets. This one is listed on eBay in Elvis country – Memphis, Tennessee – for $11,900 to buy it now, or you can make an offer. Just for the record, $11,900 is equal to 1,488 fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches at the Arcade Restaurant in Memphis. Thank you, thank you very much.

In 1972, Suzuki updated their LJ10 with a new vertical grille and a new, water-cooled engine, among other updates. This one has some sort of a mesh grille which I would remove before it came off of the shipper’s trailer. The seller says that this one is unrestored so it has the normal amount of dings and other little cosmetic issues. I don’t know if I’ve seen the silver/gray graphic treatment that is shown on this one before, that can’t be original and I’m assuming that this one has been repainted at some point. I could be wrong, and even though the seller says that it’s “original and has not been restored”, I don’t know about the paint. But, it looks pretty good for being as old as Elvis’ Hawaii gigs.

The previous model, the LJ10, was the first 4WD Kei car to be in regular production. Cool. The LJ20 was available with left-hand drive and they are about as basic of a vehicle as you can get. This LJ20 has 11,713 miles on it and if you’ve ever driven one of these, you know that it’s most likely not 111,713 miles.

The interior looks pretty good here, but you can see some paint chipping on the dash. I can see a lot of surface rust underneath and on areas on top and I can’t see this price working out for the seller. I guess they have to start somewhere, especially knowing that most tire-kickers lowball their offers when buying vehicles online, or even in person. The LV20V was the “van”, or hardtop, version and it might be the one to look for if you’re going to use it in areas where leaping mountain lions are a problem…

This is Suzuki’s 360 cc two-stroke water-cooled L50 engine that would have had around 28 hp. That’s not a lot of power, to say the least, but this thing only weighs 1,400 pounds. Ok, yeah, I agree, that 28 hp still isn’t a lot of power! It’s enough to power this beast up to 58 mph, though! I say, it’s enough to power this beast up to 58 mph! The seller says that this one “starts and runs very nice.” With the low and high range 4WD and light weight they are fun to drive, just don’t expect to get anywhere in a hurry. But, they will dang near climb a tree if asked to, unlike Elvis in his later years. Have any of you owned a Suzuki LJ10 or LJ20? Make an offer and the seller will say, “This LJ20 has left the building”..

Comments

  1. Avatar Steve R

    Last time it was listed on eBay the seller had it priced at $9,900. It’s a cool car/truck, but it might not even be worth that amount.

    Steve R

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  2. Avatar angliagt

    That thing’s a real Brute!
    I’ll bet those two little Hamsters work
    their little feet off.

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  3. Avatar Steve

    I had a friend in high school that had one of these. It sat in their front yard, I never saw it move or ride in it, they used it for camping. Although I never witnessed it they claimed they had some sort of styrofoam that went under it to allow it to float across rivers and such. As an adult and an engineer it does not sound plausible, but ???? who knows??

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  4. Avatar Darrun

    I owned a 1980 LJ80 in the late 80’s. It was a later version of this. With a 4 cylinder engine and a whopping 40 HP it too was relatively slow, but very off road capable. I challenged it on several trails and was quite impressed with it’s capabilities. Parts availability at the time was nonexistent, so it had to go.
    If only I had set it in the corner of the garage… who would have ever thought on could be worth this kind of asking price.

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  5. HoA Howard A Member

    What a great find. For what it is intended, it looks like a good backwoods off road vehicle. I live in a state forest and some of the back trails, this would be perfect. It’s light duty, for sure, that hitch is for a small fishing boat, at best, and could taken way back to some secluded lake( don’t forget extra gas). I have a friend that had a Samari, which I believe was the next step up, and it wasn’t the best. I think Suzuki tried to combine on road AND off road, and didn’t work well. IDK about this. Today, one can buy a newer ATV side by side for about the same money, and parts are always just 2 towns over. But where’s the fun in that?

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  6. Avatar Metoo

    I knew a guy while in the AF who bought one and, I swear to God, drove it from Minot ND to Tiffen Ohio for leave. Kermit was his name. When he got back he swore he would never do something as stupid as that ever again. I will say though, those things could Damn near climb a telephone pole if you could all 4 wheels on it.

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  7. Avatar Doug

    I had an LJ10 back in the early 80’s – good for 45mph downhill with a tailwind !
    We brought it home in the back of a Chevy 3/4 ton pickup with the tailgate removed – the rear axle center was about an inch inside the bed ! Mine was right hand drive ( which is prevalent in Japan and Down Under ). Unfortunately, after a couple of years, the crankshaft seals gave up and the engine would barely run. A few parts were available through US Suzuki in SoCal, but not enough to do a rebuild. I was considering installing a Honda 500cc V twin shaft drive engine, and coupling the Honda output shaft to the Suzuki 4 speed input shaft, which would have provided a 5 speed into 4 speed into 2 speed transfer case. With the 6.12:1 axle ratios, and 40 forward gears
    ( and 10 reverse ! ) I felt the Honda Turbo clutch would be adequate. I had been searching for a donor bike for a couple of months when a couple of guys saw it in my driveway, and bought it to build a hunting rig. I never saw it again, so I don’t know what they did to power it. With the stock air cooled engine, it sounded like a pissed-off rototiller at 40 mph…. but it would go lots of places
    off road.
    With all the UTV side by sides out there now, I can’t see much use for the LJ10 or LJ20, since they really aren’t going to be safe on most roads due to lack of power and speed, and if you’re going to tow, the newer UTVs do just about everything so much better.

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  8. Avatar Gay Car Nut

    Sweet looking LJ20 Jimny. I’ve never seen anything this vintage, even though I’ve seen pics of them.

    Like 0

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