1986 Suzuki Samurai 34,000 Original Miles on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 1990 Suzuki Sidekick Convertible

When General Motors decided to create the Geo brand in 1989, for vehicles designed and/or built by Isuzu, Toyota, and Suzuki (strangely, the Daewoo-built LeMans kept its Pontiac badges even as the Corolla-based Chevy Nova became the Geo Prizm), the only Geo truck was the Tracker. The Tracker (later a Chevrolet) was really a Suzuki Escudo aka Vitara, and Suzuki decided to sell these trucks in North America with Sidekick badges. Here's one of those early Sidekicks, photographed in a Denver self-service yard with period-correct aftermarket wheels. The first-generation Tracker and Sidekick were sold here for the 1989 through 1998 model years, after which the Tracker name lived on for a few more years on the second-generation truck and Suzuki ditched the Sidekick name in favor of Vitara and Grand Vitara. Suzuki kept selling Grand Vitaras here until the very end (which came in 2013). This is the first Sidekick I've documented in the Junkyard Gems series, because they never sold as well as their Tracker siblings and have become quite rare. Power came from this 1.6-liter G16 engine, a bored-and-stroked version of the engines used in such machines as the Suzuki Samurai and (four-cylinder) Geo Metro. Carburetors were nearly extinct on new vehicles in the United States by 1990, but you could still buy a few throwbacks that didn't have EFI. Might as well brag a bit with a badge like this one! You could get the '90 Sidekick with a five-speed manual or a three-speed automatic, with your choice of rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. This one has the five-speed and 4WD. American Sidekick shoppers had their choice of a two-door hardtop or convertible version; this one is the convertible. It's equipped with exquisitely 1990s spoked wheels, complete with the stretched narrow-tire treatment. The brightly-painted interior trim pieces suggest more of a mid-2000s influence. Just over 150,000 total miles on the odometer. Leaf springs? No, the Sidekick got modern coils. In the Sidekick's homeland, the TV commercials went for a North African look. Related video:

Junkyard Gem: 1996 Suzuki Swift SLOKYO DRIFT Edition

General Motors sold plenty of rebadged Suzukis over the decades in the United States, starting with the Chevy Sprint in 1985 and continuing with various Geo- and Chevrolet-badged machines into our current century. The one we remember best remains the fuel-sipping Metro, successor to the Sprint and available here through the 2001 model year. The Sprint and Metro were based on the Japanese-market Cultus, and Suzuki put its own badges on this car in the United States for the 1989 through 2001 model years. That was the Suzuki Swift, a car we know best today for its factory-hot-rod version, the Swift GT. Normally, I wouldn't bother to document an ordinary Canadian-built Swift found in a boneyard, but today's Colorado-found Junkyard Gem boasts some interesting custom touches that make it worth our attention. Get ready for… SLOKYO DRIFT! While countless American owners of Integras and Lancers and 240SXs went nuts with JDM-influenced car decor following the release of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift in 2006, drivers of the tiny and miserably underpowered Metro/Swift econo-commuters felt left out of the party. The owner of this car knew what to do, though: buy some stick-on mailbox letters and slap them on this Swift's hatch. Junkyard-acquired badges adorn every surface of the SLOKYO DRIFT Swift, because why not? It turns out that many Reddit regulars in Colorado spied this car on the street, and so you'll find many references to it on that site. Since any 24-year-old econobox with a manual transmission and a salvage title will be nearly impossible to sell, we can assume this car spent its last few years just one broken part away from The Crusher. Once it needed an expensive repair, it wasn't worth fixing. The original owner's manual and documentation remained in this Swift until the end. It appears that Colorado TV-advertising legend Dealin' Doug moved this iron off his Cherry Creek Dodge lot when it had a mere 5,920 miles on the clock, based on this "Phoney Monroney" I found in the glovebox. 168,925 hard miles later, here it is. At some point, it got totaled, put back together, and stamped with this REBUILT FROM SALVAGE lettering on the door jamb. We think of the Metro/Swift as a three-cylinder car, but many of the later versions got this 1.3-liter "big-block" four-banger under the hood. That's 70 raging horsepower right here. The 5-speed made it more efficient and fun to drive, but killed whatever resale value it may have had.

Suzuki reopens India plant post-riot with police outnumbering workers

Suzuki's plant in Manesar, India builds cars for Australia, specifically its Alto small car. Or at least they were building cars before violent worker riots forced the factory to close. The plant has been idled for five weeks as a result of worker violence that led to the death of one manager and 95 injuries. The riot was spurred over a labor dispute - specifically, a gulf in salaries between temporary workers and their salaried counterparts who earn triple the contract workers' wages.
According to reports, on Tuesday, the factory re-opened with more than 1,200 police officers stationed around the plant. The staff of actual workers at the plant numbers just 75 currently, meaning the police force greatly outnumbers Suzuki employees.
The number of employees will eventually grow to 300, and the officers will run in shifts of 100 at a time, but the initial disparity of workers to police is meant as a show of force to the more than 500 permanent and 500 temporary workers who were found to be involved in a July 18 riot.