1986 Suzuki Samurai

JX SUV

1.3L

Manual

JS4JC51V9G4106742

Clear

Gasoline

Those of you who follow my auctions know that I'm a physical therapist here in the Tucson area and because I deal with so many retirees and elderly folks I am able to find many low mile, one owner and unmolested cars. Over the past 7 years I have probably found and sold 8-10 of these little Samurais because so many of these elderly folks liked to use them as tow vehicles behind their RVs. Every one of the them that I have sold have gone to the east coast and I'm guessing this one will do the same. This Samurai does not fall into the catagory of one owner and it is not as clean as the ones I usually find and sell here on eBay but it is still a very good buy on a rare "Tin Top" model that is in good condition. This Samurai I believe is a two owner Samurai. I believe I purchased it from the second owner who owned it since 1998. It has always been kept here in Tucson or southern Arizona since new so it is completely rust-free, body and chasis. The second owner kept it here in Arizona for her daily driver while staying here but also had a home in Washington State where she stayed most of the year, coming to Arizona only during the winter months. The Samurai was parked literally in a barn during the time she lived in Washington State. She had gone through a divorce and had not come down to Arizona for several years and the Samurai just sat in the barn during that time. Her ex-husband had done much of the work on the Samurai and since they were no longer together it didn't get driven. She decided to sell her Tucson home since she was not coming down here anymore and she advertised the Samurai locally and I was fortunate enough to see her sign and I came and looked at the Samurai. It was, of course, very dusty from sitting so long and the tires were beginning to show some dry rotting even though they had plenty of tread still on them. The rear seat was folded forward and the cargo area was piled full of boxes. When I asked what were in the boxes she told me they were parts her ex-husband had collected over the years for the Samurai. She recalled how a friend of theirs who also had a Samurai had wrecked their Samurai and so her ex-husband had harvested a bunch of parts from the wrecked one just in case he would ever need parts for their Samurai and all of these parts had been packed into the Samurai which had been sitting in the barn for who knows how long. I didn't have the time to look through all the parts and it was getting dark so I made her an offer on the whole package with Samurai and all the parts included. She accepted my offer and I trailered it home. I changed the oil and drained the fuel which looked surprisingly good. I put a new battery in it and it fired up immediately. I drove it around for about 25 miles and it ran surprisingly good after it warmed up. It pulled fairly steep grade at 65 mph even with all the parts still in the cargo area. Now, I have had many of these little rigs and anyone who knows about them knows that some of them top out at about 55 mph and fall on their face on any incline. Some of them will perform a little better and do 65-70 mph tops. I haven't figured out why some do better than others, but this one seemed to really run well. It has some vibration at high speed likely due, at least in part, to the very old tires. But overall, it seemed to run well with no overheating or major issues. So I got it back home after the test drive and decided to check the 4WD components. That's when I noticed the yellow card that provides instruction for the transfer case was not the usual stock card but was from Petroworks. This Samurai had the Petroworks GRS transfer case installed in it. To be very honest with you, I am a purist and like all my vehicles to be bone stock so I had no clue what this transfer case was until I looked it up on the internet later that night. Apparently, it is a nice upgrade. This made me wonder what other surprises I would find in this little truck so I began to pull out all the parts and see what was in there. Here is what I found all neatly boxed and organized: 1 stock transfer case: I'm guessing it is the one that originally came in the Samurai. 1 very nice rear bumper complete with the plastic ends and running lights. 1 oem front grill 1 oem front sway bar. 1 stock transmission that appears complete. 1 brand new in the box Mikuni carburetor that has never been used. 1 stock intake manifold. I'm guessing this guy had plans on modifying this intake to accept his new Mikuni carb but I don't know for sure. Ton's of misc. parts like extra distributor, wires, vacuum lines, coil, oil filters, air filters, air cleaner housing, timing belt cover with seal, oem driveshaft in package, leaf springs, etc, etc. (see pics) The first thing I thought of as I went through all these parts is, "how in the heck did they get all these parts in this little Samurai and how could it possibly run so well with all this weight in the back". As I removed all the parts I could begin to see the stock carpet, side panels and rear seat and I could see that it was in very good condition. The front seats had covers on them and I pulled them back to find very nice front seats as well although they had been recovered at some point and didn't match the stock material which the back seat was. There was a custom dash cover on the dash and I removed the cover to find a perfect dash. I checked all lights and gauges and everything worked well. I set the clock and it keeps perfect time. The turn signals and bright lights worked well. I checked the fan and heater and that worked well. Windows all rolled up and down but with some difficulty and will need greasing. All doors open and close perfectly and lock with the factory key. Headliner was missing but visors are in very good condition. I opened the glove box and found the factory owner's manual in the original plastic bag. I popped the hood to find a fairly clean, stock and unmolested engine compartment. Original jack was in place. There was no leaking found after the test drive of any fluids. Inspecting the body next I found a few very minor dents with worst one being on the top driver's edge. I tried to capture all the dents in the pictures, but really they are very minor and don't show up well. It's a really clean body and with the paint being all original there is nothing to hide. The paint is a little oxidized but is in good shape and will buff out well so you will not need to do any body work or paint on this Samurai unless you want to make it into a show rig. The white graphics are not original put were put on by the second owner and were hand painted on. Same with the white on the top. They put the white on the top to keep the heat off the car during the hot arizona summer. They look fine but, again, if you were looking to make it a show rig these would need to come off. It could easily clean up and be a very nice daily driver in my opinion. The only mechanical things that I can see it needs is new tires and carb adjustment as it does not run that great until it is fully warmed up and then it runs fine. Shifts well through all 5 gears, and like all my other Samurais I've owned, 5th gear is noisier than the rest. I've never had that explained to me but it seems to be consistent in all of them. The car takes off strong with no flat spot or hesitation. It tracks straight and does not have the dreaded "death wobble" through the steering wheel. It brakes perfectly with no pull or funny noises in the brake system. The engine is very quiet and does not smoke at all. Other than the tires, I think it would be fine to drive any reasonable distance without worry. The interior is very clean on this Samurai and the factory carpet is in great shape still. I thought about the best way to sell this car with all the parts and I have decided to just keep it all together and sell it as a package deal. This is an excellent foundation for anything you want it to be from a rockcrawler to a stock daily driver. Being that it is the rare Tin Top it will only increase in value. I am pricing this ridiculously low because I got it ridiculously low so, like I always try and do, I will pass the savings on to you east coast Sami enthusiasts who long for a rust-free rig. Most of my auctions end with a buy it now pretty early in the auction so if you are serious and looking for a nice Tin Top then don't hesitate to take action. Check my feedback and the pictures and bid with confidence. If you have any additional questions please feel free to ask. I can store the Samurai in my garage for a reasonable period of time to allow buyers to arrange transportation or come pick it up. I do reserve the right to end the auction early at any time as this may be advertised locally or in other media. There will be a 500 dollar deposit due within 48 hours from the end of the auction with balance due in 7 days. The title is clear and notorized and ready to go. Good luck!!