[SenPai_GTi]

The time was early 90's. Suzuki was doing great with the Suzuki Vitara in all the important markets. It was doing great since Suzuki was being known as the "affordable 4X4 SUV maker". With the launch of the longer-wheelbase 5-door, 1.6-litre model in 1991, it garnered more response from the market. During this time, it had also launched the Cappuccino in the Japanese markets, with the tagline "fulfilling one's dream of owning a stylish and very affordable 2 seater sportscar". True to its tagline, it was a fun, light-weight 2 door roadster which boasted of 50/50 weight distribution, 3cylinder turbocharged 660cc engine providing power to the rear wheels.


The Suzuki Vitara, a 4X4 workhorse.


The Suzuki Cappuccino, fun little sports car.

One day the engineers at Suzuki thought since the Cappuccino was not safe for all markets and 4X4 seems to be the current craze, lets hit our biggest market, the States, with a new concept aimed at the younger generation. In comes the concept of coupe SUV

Introducing the X-90

From the sides it looks like a squished Cappuccino


From the front it looks like a Cappuccino on streoids.


From the rear it looked as if the rear windshield of a hatchback had been accidentally pushed forward.




The interior looked similar to the Vitara of that time. Thankfully it was a plain jane interior.


The T-top roof trying to mimic the legendary Pontiac Firebird.

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Small boot space useless for a 4X4 vehicle (with an even smaller spare wheel).


The 1.6 diesel borrowed from the Vitara.

In the photos, it might look like a chopshop job, but it is an original Suzuki Motor work. Here are some specifications of the vehicle:

• Twin bucket seats, two seater vehicle.
• Standard removable T-top roof panels.
• MacPherson strut and coil spring front suspension with stabilizer bar
• Independent trailing arm/wishbone and coil spring rear suspension.
• Five-spoke aluminum alloy wheels, sticky, low-profile 195/65R15 radials
• 95-horsepower, 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engine with a 5-speed manual transmission and an optional (only for 4X4 intitally, later introduced in 4X2) 4-speed automatic transmission(which is still in use by Maruti) borrowed from Suzuki Vitara.
• Available in 2-wheel (rear drive) and 4-wheel-drive.
• 4-wheel ABS, a rear defogger, power windows and locks, tinted glass, power steering and a tachometer as standard.
• The 4WD model added such extras as cruise control, a security alarm, and a 4-speaker stereo with cassette player. The alarm and cassette unit could be dealer installed in 2WD models.
• Dealers also could install air conditioning and a CD player.
• Available colors were Silver Pearl, Miami Blue, Midnight Black Metallic, Lava Red, and Oregon Green.

The Suzuki X-90 4x4 was produced from April 1996 to May 1997. At a time when the Toyota was launching the Vitara rivalling RAV4, Suzuki decided to launch this. Sales-wise, the car was an ultimate flop. Only 1,300 sold in the Japanese market and barely 7,205 X-90s were imported into the United States – the key export market Suzuki had hoped to crack. With the 5 door Suzuki Vitara onto the market, the Suzuki X-90 4x4 disappeared because the Vitara was cheaper and had more room inside. Eventually when the sales were declining at a serious rate, the Suzuki team came up with a cheezy tagline for the new advertisement, "what are you staring at?". Even with the 25% discount on the ex-showroom price, nobody bought them off the showrooms. In a last frugal attempt to attract sales, they launched Philippe Cousteau special edition, with only cosmetic changes and a sideboard. This was a failed attempt as well, thus putting a nail on the X-90's coffin.

Here is what Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear 1997 had to say:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXFowypfo8s

This car was famously used as Redbull promotional vehicle, before the mini's took over.





These days the car is often modified with larger wheels and lift kits. It is also used at local classic trails.


Here is an enthusiastically built X-90 by Simon Touron.

The X90 was a strange coupe-like thing, designed as a lifestyle buggy and commonly associated with girls about town – but under the skin, it was more of an off-roader than many of the most rugged-looking 4x4s you see today.

‘I want a big truck,’ he admitted, ‘but I also want it to be reliable. In the end, the project’s confines are dictated by the strength of the standard parts that I leave unchanged.’

You can have a fantastic read about his vehicle here. https://www.totaloffroad.co.uk/vehic...eak-or-unique/

Here some offroad capabilities of a modified X-90

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTKU1R-yOrA

Here is a TV commercials for the same:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WLWYdMtOeo

A few years ago, Suzuki unveiled the e-Survivor at the Tokyo Motor show. It is based on the similar concept of X-90.Here is the TBHP thread for the same.Link (Maruti e-Survivor @ Auto Expo 2018)



Overall, it seemed like a fatal market error by Suzuki, with an even more fatal design language and marketing philosophy. But it still was a potential offroader, thanks to the Vitara genes.Today it can be an offroad play toy with cheap parts and accessories. Still if it had been designed a bit more proportionately, it would have received decent sales, similar to that of the three door soft top RAV4, which was ironically better in terms of sales than the X-90, but similar looking when the soft top was opened.