When people build absolutely bonkers cars, it’s enormously satisfying to see them in real life. Now, we’re all pretty accustomed to builds that start with a $100,000 car and make it even more ridiculous, but honestly, that’s an entirely different mindset when it comes to building. Taking a cheap car and making it absolutely bananas from a performance standpoint with no cares given to creature comforts or safety is what hot rodding used to be about, and the guys behind this street-legal monster known as the Swiftabusa built a street-legal monster than can barely go in a straight line without trying to kill its occupants. The 1989 Suzuki Swift listed here on eBay is powered by a 197 horsepower engine from the high-performance motorcycle known as the Suzuki Hayabusa and the results, as you might expect, are insane.
The Suzuki Swift was a very humble car when it arrived on our shores, and it clearly shares much with its corporate twin, the Geo Metro. Meant to be a fuel-sipping appendage of those with long commutes or a hypermiling obsession, the performance credentials of the model were basically nil. This changed, slightly, when the Suzuki Swift GTI entered the equation, which gave the hot hatch scene in the early 90s some serious competition. Recaro seats, more power, and firmer suspension transformed the Swift GTI into an instant autocross threat seemingly overnight. But those cars are near impossible to find these days, and were certainly not what you’d call fast.
Enter the Swiftabusa: this is essentially a car built for extreme driving events, namely drifting or drag racing, and not much else. Videos of the car being road tested prove that you can drive it on the road, but between the ridiculous power-to-weight ratio and the sequential gearbox, it’s not exactly daily driver friendly. Still, if you want to just laugh out of a combination of fear and amazement every second you’re in a car, this is a ride worth considering. The Suzuki is registered for road use in Florida, which is slightly insane. Other videos show the Suzuki being lifted by a few men of average strength and conditioning as a testament to its light weight, which is certainly helped by stripping nearly every creature comfort and insulating material out of the cabin.
As dangerous as this may seem, it’s actually brilliant if you love the idea of sport bike riding but are worried about the risks that come with being on a high performance bike among legions of terrible drivers. Of course, I don’t know how much safer you are in this thing, but your odds of survival seem slightly better than being exposed on a bike. This is a jagged edged device and certainly not for someone who isn’t capable of handling an extremely high-performance vehicle with virtually no safety features, so hopefully the asking price of $15,900 will limit interest to someone with both skills and restraint. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Mitchell G. for the find.
Ahhh nope, driver admitted brakes are not up to par and the builder never has never attempted this before. 16K to do donuts, why? I like the premise, but this car may kill you. I know some of you think I am crazy and yes I am but have managed not to kill me or anyone else with my need for speed. Things have got to be put together correctly and the steering and brakes are every bit as important as going fast. Best of luck to the new owner.
This car is crazy! My brother had one of these a long time ago. It was the GTI version and it was black. Went to Auto Palace and bought one of those Knight Rider lights, mounted in the front grill. Was a cute little car, but I can’t imagine it with more than twice a horsepower! These little cars are not the most stable vehicles in the world to begin with. I think it’s very similar to the Geo Metro and I drove one of those and above 40 miles an hour it was kind of unsteady. Granted the car I was in was a Geo Metro convertible so it made it even more unsteady, but was fun to drive.
I tried to watch the video, but I must’ve missed the part when the driver said that the brakes weren’t up to par? I don’t think I saw that. But I took pictures during the video and I zoomed in and it looks like the builder upgraded the brakes at least in the front. Up in the front that has drilled and slotted rotors. Not sure if they are bigger than stock, but it could’ve been just the rotors changed even and not the calipers and pads. The rear brakes are disc brakes, but they could be factory.
The basics are there. Just needs someone to tweak it into shape. Reminds me of the Renault R5 Turbo. I really, really want this car.
Just as a note… the Renault, besides being mid-engine, has a pushrod engine that redlines at 6000 rpm. This Suzuki redlines at 11,000. The Suzuki also will weigh quite a bit less… likely around 1700lbs as shown, some 560lbs less then my R5 Turbo which I last weighed at 2260lbs. This Suzuki is hugely appealing to me… it’s just not in any way an R5 Turbo. Just sayin’. In fact, I struggle to think of what this Suzuki does remind me of…. hmm… ???? It is bad ass though.
The builder gets a point for this…
The pics are absolutely awful & the description very vague. What kind of rear axle/final drive setup does this thing have? Still looking at around 8 pounds per HP so while it’s definitely spicy compared to stock, nothing earth-shattering. If it was boosted, that’d be a different story.
Cleetus are you watching this? Looks like another good addition to his stable & fodder for Hoonigan videos.
No numbers on the temp gage even on this thing? Makes you wonder what import vehicle makers are hiding from their US customers. No oil press or voltmeter gages either.
It’s a joke. No temp gauge, no oil pressure, no volt or amp meter. U are not going to do many miles before it needs a serious service or worse. Temperature is very important in a hot day for a high reving engine, it’s an engine killer. It was obvious when the engine stalled twice when accelerating from stop, like it has a very advanced cam, so it needs a very efficient cooling system, not obvious in the photos. No air bags, how on earth it got registered legally? My older daughter used to have a boyfriend with a small Toyota that he fed it with NOX (Nitrous Oxide). The results were similar in noise and power, maybe close to 150HP. She said to me that it was dangerous in the turns. The engine fall apart in a few months although it had a temp gauge.
I always said that Suzuki should have built a Swiftabusa. I would have wanted a more refined vehicle than this one.