Suzuki Swift – Driven To Write

How Many Melodies there are to Forget.

Oh, dear. It’s another Suzuki article.

Suzuki Ignis Mk2. All images: the author

How can I introduce this cheeky, useful, honest and endearing car without alienating readers who prefer uncouth, useless, dishonest and off-putting cars? This time it’s the Mk2 Ignis, which I considered to be quite horrible when I first happened to see one many years ago, but which I now consider quite attractive. What changed? Obviously my own opinions and values shifted and I came to see the inherent worth of a car that made credible efforts to Continue reading “How Many Melodies there are to Forget.”

Stayin’ Alive (Part 2)

Exiles off main street – a conclusion.

Austin Yema. Image: Cartype.com/ Autohome.com

Returning to our brief review of the automotive afterlife, we pop across the channel to arrive in the United Kingdom. Bidding here is opened by the Austin Maestro (1982-1994) which ended its days in China as the Yema SQJ6450 in 2010, resulting in sixteen years of continued production in exile. Yema also sold the F12 until 2014 which did use the old Maestro/Montego platform but with a totally different body and interior. Continue reading “Stayin’ Alive (Part 2)”

Rear Entrance, Door Furniture, Re-Evaluation No. 13 (or Should We Call It Mind The Doors?)

Hidden door handles – see what you did there…

The Alfa Romeo 156: when I clapped eyes on that car, well, it really was love at first sight. Those looks, that stance, look at the wheels! The aura surrounding the badge, the singular, front door handle… hang on. Where is the rear door handle? This a four door saloon..

Rewind to the car’s Frankfurt Motor Show introduction, to the world and everyone who was anyone waxing lyrical concerning that hidden rear door handle. This, momentarily, having already eulogised over those svelte, Italian lines. Those lines and looks have faded, and while no longer wowed when one is (increasingly rarely) seen out and about, I can still appreciate the lines. Too quickly do my eyes Continue reading “Rear Entrance, Door Furniture, Re-Evaluation No. 13 (or Should We Call It Mind The Doors?)”

Are There Sunrays To Warm This Frozen Plot And Raise The Dead Beneath?

We have a thing for rarities here. How about this?

The lighting conditions could only be called tricky: indoors and with huge glazed surfaces on two sides. This meant my Canon Ixus faced a challenge. The same camera also did the duty for the recent Audi 100 article, my iPhone now being little more than a micro-tablet for domestic netsurfing.

So, the question is, do you Continue reading “Are There Sunrays To Warm This Frozen Plot And Raise The Dead Beneath?”

IAA 2017: Pillar of Style

Augmented by colourful accents and/or a girth suggesting they’d last a thousand years – this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show showed that creativity rests on the D-pillar

For once, I shall let the pictures do the talking. Continue reading “IAA 2017: Pillar of Style”

A medley for Sunday

Across the road from the bus-stop, there stood this VW Passat:

A dark photo of a dark car. Source: reality

Around the C-pillar I saw a lot of what in the olden days we’d call BMW style. I reflect a lot on how BMW once did some of the work involved in epitomising German design, but it’s been a long time since this : Continue reading “A medley for Sunday”

Say Hi To The Sailing Moon

As regular readers will know, DTW is quietly supportive of Suzuki. But friends also need to be politely critical sometimes.

Part of me likes the 2017 Baleno for its unpretentious grasp of the vernacular. The car has no clear trope to express. Then it has a few bright bits here and there and nods towards the Swift. I’ll have to consult Wikipedia or Suzuki for dimensions. Yet I want to Continue reading “Say Hi To The Sailing Moon”

As Promised

This diagram is a timeline of the Suzuki Cultus, Ignis and Swift.

The period of confusion is 2000 to 2008 when the Ignis appeared and was sold as the Swift, in Japan, replacing the Cultus. Suzuki produced two generations of Ignis: 2000 to 2004 and 2003 to 2008. In Europe the Swift appeared in 1988, the same as the car known in Japan as the Cultus. I don’t think we got the first generation. In Europe the Ignis and Swift overlapped from 2004 to 2008. Continue reading “As Promised”