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Suzuki shows weird, wonderful trio of concepts in Tokyo

Suzuki brought a whole mess of intriguing little runabouts to the Tokyo Motor Show this year. And though the Japanese automaker no longer participates (at least with its four-wheel automobiles) in the North American market, we didn't want to miss the opportunity to check out its latest oddities, and capture them for your Nipponophilic amusement. The one that caught our attention the most on the Suzuki stand this year is the Mighty Deck. The little yellow minicar features a canvas roof, an open rear cargo bed, and a genuinely delighted look on its face. Though it strikes us as about as useful as an umbrella in a snow storm, we really dig the stylistic combination of new materials and old, the rugged with the approachable, and of course the tiny size that could only come from the densely packed island nation. We're not exactly longing for the return of the Suzuki X90, but we'd love a new version to look like this Mighty Deck. Joining the Mighty Deck is the equally unusual Air Triser, a concept that aims to put the "mini" back in minivan. Though clearly designed for the crowded streets of Tokyo, the Air Triser manages to squeeze three rows of seats into its compact footprint. Maximizing ingress, egress, and interior volume, the engine (surely displacing about as much as a bottle of bubble tea) is pushed all the way into the front, with pillarless side portals consisting of opposing sliding doors. Its shoulders may be high, but the interior appears light and airy, with four individual buckets floating atop the flat wood floor ahead of a rear bench, all uninterrupted by consoles or excessive clutter. Though clearly much smaller than what we'd call a minivan on our side of the Pacific, designs like these make us wonder if we really need our family haulers as big as they are. Though there were plenty of other production JDM curiosities on the Suzuki stand, the last concept that caught out eye is the Ignis Trail. The ruggedized soft-road hatchback combines rounded styling with beefed-up wheel arches packed with (relatively) large rolling stock, rack rails on a black roof, and anodized red accents inside and out to offset the white and black color scheme. Scope out the trio in our gallery of live images from the Tokyo Motor Show.

Suzuki Jimny displays Samurai spirit in Japanese snowstorm

Say what you will about its smallest SUVs, but you have to hand it to Suzuki: the likes of the Samurai, Sidekick and Vitara were doing the little-sport-ute-that-could thing long before most of the rest of the industry caught on. And the formula remains relevant enough that Suzuki is still selling the same basic Samurai overseas as the Jimny.
That could be why the Samurai still has something of a cult following. Well, that and the name - which, as it turns out, may not have been such a stretch after all. A Samurai warrior, after all, was just one man - but like any other knight, he was worth more than his headcount on the battlefield. Or in this case, a Japanese snowstorm. Just watch the half-minute video below to see what we mean.

Suzuki Jimny transforms into an adorable tiny Ford Bronco

The Suzuki Jimny may be impossibly cute as-is, but there's also something about the baby SUV that begs to be dressed up to look like other vehicles. Suzuki has decked out the Jimny in Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen kit, a theme the aftermarket did one better, creating a mini G63 AMG. Now, Japanese tuner Dream Automotive Design and Development (DAMD) has unveiled a body kit that gives the diminutive off-roader the appearance of a vintage Ford Bronco – called, cheekily enough, the DAMD Dronco. The retro baby-blue exterior is set off by a white roof, white steel bumpers, and white steel wheels. A new headlights-and-grille unit gives the Jimny a Ford family face, and a roof ladder at the rear completes the picture. The Dronco joins the company's other Jimny efforts, the vintage Land Rover Defender-inspired Little D and the baby G-Wagen Little G. We can't wait to see what the chameleon-like SUV turns up as next. Related Video: