Rare Rides: A Red (Mostly) Suzuki Crapwagon Collection, in Geo Form
This is actually the first time in our Rare Rides series where Rides applies directly to a single story. That’s because this is more of a rare collection of cars from someone who is dedicated to a singular passion. A passion which only comes in one color, and which bears mostly misleading badging.
You don’t want to miss what you’re about to see.
That’s because listed on the Richmond, Virginia Craigslist is the following set of stunners.
That’s right, a collection of three Suzuki models and one Isuzu where three are badged as Geos and all of them are the same color of Cheap Cheerful Rojo. Let’s proceed from left to right, and see what we’re dealing with here.
- 1991 Geo Storm Gsi, 280,000 miles, 5-speed
- 1993 Geo Metro, 30,000 miles, 5-speed
- 1996 Geo Tracker Lsi, 120,000 miles, 5-speed, 4WD
- 1996 Suzuki X-90, 70,000 miles, 5-speed, 2WD
There’s something to recommend three of these to the right sort of customer. The Storm, which was actually a rebadged Isuzu Gemini, has a suspension tuned by Lotus. The Metro is very low miles, manual, and a convertible. The X-90 is actually my favorite automotive flop, and it boasts low miles and a manual (unfortunately, it’s a two-wheel-drive example). The Tracker I left for last because it’s not special, and the black hood is ugly.
Our seller has assigned “worth at least” pricing to each model, for a grand total of $19,000. Since each one is “worth at least” that much, we’re really talking about $23,000-plus worth of metal here. So, I guess it’s good he’s willing to let his prized collection go for the pitifully small sum of $12,000.
Even at that 47-percent discount, he’s still asking too much. What would you pay for this Suzuki Red Rides Redux?
[Images: Craigslist]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
More by Corey Lewis
Comments
Join the conversation
This is a buy just for the lulz. Jay Leno where are you?
Little known fact as told to me by a U.S. Suzuki executive several years ago: the X-90 was intended to be a competitor for the Honda CRX.