Timewarp Suzuki offered to 4x4 fans
A Suzuki off-roader that has spent 28 years of its life in storage and is in near-showroom condition is being offered for sale online. The 1978 LJ80, which has only done 12,000 miles and is completely original, is being advertised for £9,990, and has 12 months MoT and six months tax in a bid to attract interest from followers of the diminutive Japanese 4x4.
Hampshire-based car collector Neil Thomas, who has owned it for the past four years, said: “This is the nearest you will get to buying a brand new LJ80. It is totally rust free and in perfect working order - I've been using it to drive to work and back for the last three weeks!
“Most LJs today have dissolved away or been restored with SJ or car parts. Body panels and mechanical parts are no longer available and genuine 'new old stock' parts are next to impossible to source quickly. This LJ is in its original condition as it left the factory with original bodywork, doors, hood, radio, heater, seats, everything. Nothing has been added or taken away.”
The left-hand-drive car has a full service history and the original owner bought it while he was serving in Dubai in the late 1970s, and brought it back with him to the UK in 1983 and registered it here (hence the Y-registration). It was used for two years before being put into storage, where it remained until being bought by Mr Thomas four years ago.
The LJ was Suzuki’s off-roader offering between 1970 and 1981, when it gave way to the SJ model.