Car Disgust--Suzuki X-90

Special for today, a Car Disgust twin pack!

When I posted the Yugo GVX Car Disgust a few months ago, a co-worker told me that all the commentary was unnecessary--that simply running the photo would convey all of the horror and derision necessary.

So, it's in that spirit that I present the Suzuki X-90. Gaze at the photos--nothing else needs to be said.

--Chris H.

Comments

[CARLOS on July 30, 2008 at 01:08 PM]

soy propietario de un x90 4x4 1996 lo tengo hace 5 años y no lo voy a vender nunca .es el mejor auto que he tenido y el mas divertido .les cuento que ya tiene 500000 km y el mtor esta como 0km y nunca tube un problema. quiero que sepan que lo maltrato mucho y lo unico que me da son alegrias .es el segundo auto de mi familia y el futuro auto de mi hijo que al dia de hoy tiene 11 años

[Kassy on August 05, 2008 at 09:58 PM]

hello, can anyone help me, i have searched high and low for some seat covers for my x-90 and nobody here in south australia can help me.i've just finished putting in a 12" sub and reupholstering the back plastic panel, all looks sweet then you have these rainbow seats sticking out. yuck"""
heeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllppppppppppppppppppppp

[Rachel on August 09, 2008 at 12:25 PM]

I bought my X-90 just over a month ago, and I love it! OK, so it's not the fastest thing on 4 wheels, but that's not why you buy one. It's cute, it's different and it definitely makes people look at it and think, "Do I like it, love it, or hate it?" Usually those that start with hating it eventually realise just how cute it is, and that it is, as somebody has already pointed out, harmless. They then also appreciate that it's so crazy looking that its main purpose in life is not to be one ofthe greatest cars of all time, but to simply make people smile. I've had mine for just over a month and it still makes me happy just to look at it :)

This is my first car, and I can say that I will never get rid of it, it would feel like getting rid of a new born puppy!!

[Jerry on August 11, 2008 at 12:21 AM]

OK, maybe some of you won't agree, but I think it's totally cool. I'm looking everywhere for one, as a matter of fact. I've talked with a few people who LOVE theirs. Nice blend of good fuel economy and rugged simplicity, you won't see yourself coming the other way, and parts are still easy to find, and fairly cheap. It fits in small parking places, and the top comes off, but you can still put valuables in the trunk. Awesome little beach car!!

However, if you are someone who's shy and doesn't like to talk with people or if you just want to blend in with everyone else, this is NOT the car for you. LOL!! It's kinda like a more modern equivalent to the Nash Metropolitan of the 1954-62 era. Weird and quirky, but damned cute.

[Kenneth J. Rudy on August 20, 2008 at 07:50 PM]

I have a 1996 Suzuki X-90, and yes I love it, I call it my fun car, I tow a little guy teardrop camper, do I get looks ? you bet.
9 out of 10 times when I get gas, people ask me about the set up.
I added a electric trunk release, replased the outside mirrors with electric ones, I am a mechanic.
Entered the X-90 in a car show, won two trophys, yes, still turn heads.

[Mark P. on August 30, 2008 at 06:43 PM]

Original owner here, 1996 4WD stick with 120K. Want T-tops to work on your tan while driving home from work? Check. Want 4X4 to get to the mall during a snow storm? Check. Want the cheapest auto insurance because the insurance company doens't know what it is? Check. Want great fuel economy, while all your coworkesr complain about 5 dollar a gallon diesel and their domestic duelies only get slighty better mileage than a Sherman Tank and they start asking how much you want to sell your X90 for, when just a year ago they were making fun of it? CHECK! The car is designed for a specific purpose with certain amenities. They fit my bill. Cheap to insure, cheap to operate, and fun to drive. If I wanted to go from zero to sixty in five seconds I would have purchased a sports car, and paid that price. How often do I need to get to 60 as fast as possible? Not on the city streets, that is plain stupid and dangerous. And big domestic pickups are designed to haul heavy stuff around. That's what they are designed for and there is nothing wrong with that. I don't blame sports cars and pickups for what they are, so please don't blame the X-90 for not meeting your requirements. Thumbs up to those that mentioned the Willy's resemblence. When asked what exactly my car is, I often make the analogy that's it's pretty much a modern day Willy's jeep but with T tops instead of a drop top. I've had her 13 years now with no major problems, and have not had a car payment in over ten years, and it's still only 25 bucks a week to fill (with premium!) and just over 30 a month to insure. And it's fun to drive. It may not be fast, but I enjoy the tops off at the local Sonic burger while watching the sun set, or driving on the beach with the surf rolling in. If Suzuki made a modern day X-90 with a more powerful and effecient engine, on the fly 4WD, and a bigger trunk, I would buy one. For sure.

[Penny X90 lover until the end!! on October 07, 2008 at 11:27 PM]

Hello, it's me again... I just got rearended on my way to work today and ya know what??? It practically totalled to other guys car and my car will possible need the bumper replaced and that's a maybe. I think I just knocked some bolts loss. Of course there are some scratches and I hope it didn't do much damage underneath, but if you could see the other guys car. I got out and wanted to laugh out loud. People were running up to us to see if we were ok and I looked at them and said yep she takes a licken and keeps on ticken. The other guys airbags deloyed and everything. He was ok of course or I wouldn't be so happy but this car is a beast and I love it!!!

[Elaine on October 08, 2008 at 01:42 PM]

12 months ago, I shelled out £900 and bought 'Pamela' (the name given to her by the former owner, who was a drag queen!). She was just a stop gap to tide me over whilst waiting for my Discovery (he's called Rory!), Pamela is a P registered little red devil with a BIG BUTT and she's ace! She has 4WD/2WD, auto hubs, targa top, fantastic, sprightly 1600cc engine, crap radio, electric windows that just can't keep up with life, and a fab heater which keeps you warm on those days when you simply have to go topless but it's just a tad too cold!

I have had more stares on the motorway, more questions asked when I'm parked, and more quizzical looks with her than I thought possible. Some hate her, most love her.

Yes you need to have true spirit of adventure about you to drive about in one as the handling is crap, bouncing over the potholes in the Yorkshire roads, and the styling (dare I use that word?) is truly wacky, but hey, life is short - have a bit of fun!

I love my little Pamela, and I simply can't sell her unless silly money came along - which apparently it does, so not only does she bring a smile to my face, but she is appreciating in value - not many cars can boast that!

[Ed on November 03, 2008 at 05:33 AM]

Hello everyone, I have recently joined the Samurai world and really love my Sami but I would rather have the x-90 due to changes in my life. I did not need a/c when I got the Sami but now I could really use it. The 1.3 Sami motor has a had time with a/c so that's not really and option. I need the 4x4 so the x-90 would work fine for me. So if you guys hear of someone looking to sell (price within reason) or trade let me know. Needs to be somewhat close to Alabama.

Ed

[MIRO on November 09, 2008 at 11:07 AM]

Looking for X90, any year, must be 5 spd and have AC ( i live in Arizona) 2wd or 4wd

[Ed on November 15, 2008 at 07:17 AM]

I also looking for x90 near Alabama - A/C and 4X4. Will trade 88 Sami - view on http://s292.photobucket.com/albums/mm37/etnemo/

[Randy on November 23, 2008 at 08:31 PM]

Let me preface this post by saying that from a very early age I've been a big musclecar fan. Back in '69 when I was 10 years old and my family was living in Orange County in Southern California I remember a trip with my Dad to the local Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge dealership one evening as he was doing some shopping for our family's next car. As my Dad was looking at other cars and talking with the salesguy, I only remember ONE car. It was the first one I saw on the showroom floor when we walked in the door and was the ONLY one I could see from that point on for whatever amount of time passed while we were there. I'm sure there must have been other cars in there but I never saw them and have no memory of any but "THE ONE". Like it was yesterday I remember a sense of total awe as a young and impressionable 10 year old as I walked around and around that beautifully sculpted gleaming machine thinking "I WANT THIS!" "Dad's GOTTA get this one!". I was enamored with the bold and utterly unsubtle striping on the rear quarter panels and especially captivated by that growling helmeted hot-rod bee on wheels between the words "SUPER BEE" which I was excitedly pointing out to my little 8 year old brother with the words, "Look at THIS, Brian! This bee on this car is BOSS, man!!". Up until then I had been ignorant of the fact that there were different kinds of cars intended for different people, tastes, and purposes. I had thought a car was just a car and that they all went the same speed and only looked different -until I saw that brand new shining brightly colored and boldly striped '70 Dodge Superbee on that showroom floor that night. Two things were VERY clear to me as I walked around that car gawking at it openmouthed and wanting it with every fiber of my heart: one, that that SuperBee car was NOT an ordinary car...and two, that it was a FAST one, if not THE fastest car in the whole entire world (the latter thought the result of my 10 year old level of wonder and awe). That was my first sight of a real American musclecar and it left a deep indelible impression that has colored my way of looking at automobiles ever since. Just two years later I was in junior high school. It's at that age just before we're old enough to own and drive our own car when typical males start catching their first serious cases of CAR LUST FEVER and we inexorably begin to fixate on the then-popular style of car that the high school guys are driving at the time as we enviously watch their girlfriends or younger sisters climb into their cars when they drive up to pick them up after school. Back in my junior high days ('71-'74) when both fuel and musclecars were inexpensive and the latter was way easy to get, many of those guys just a couple years older than me in high school were driving late '60s and early '70s musclecars: Roadrunners, Superbees, 'Cudas, R/T Challengers, SS and RS Camaros, HO Firebirds and Trans Ams, SS Chevelles, GS Buicks, 442 Olds, hopped-up Mustangs, Cougars, and Torinos- a lot of boldly striped, scooped and louvered, brightly colored, deep rumbling, glowering-faced, FAST American muscle. My heart was impressed and imprinted with all of it -an incurable serious case of CAR LUST FEVER for the bold and unsubtle American musclecar. I'm drawn to that glowering front end and powerful stance in a car -muscular haunches -and a rumbling loping idle that is as effective at stating to the competition "I CAN AND I AM" as a slowly strutting male peacock with his spectacular tail feathers on display. Strong and macho has always been the car for me. Unfortunately my Dad didn't even look at that "Boss" '70 Dodge SuperBee and ended up buying a nearly new '69 Ford Ranger pickup with a full overcab camper on it. It was just over 5 years more before I'd finally get to do something about that case of Mopar Musclecar Lust which I caught from that '70 Superbee on that showroom floor that night in 1969 at the Dodge dealership. Just as soon as I turned 16 I went out and got an afterschool job specifically for the purpose of being able to afford to buy my own car. My 1st car at age 16 (1975) was a very clean '71 Plymouth Barracuda- B5 blue with a white vinyl top. I traded it a year later in 1976 for the last year 'Cuda ever made: a then two-year-old '74 'Cuda with the factory high-performance 360ci engine with 4-barrel carb and mildly hot cam (all factory). That one was yellow with a matte-black tail-light panel, matte-black twin power-bulge hood scoops, and black racing stripes running along the entire length of the upper sides of the car. Now with all that having been said so that nobody gets any weird ideas about my manliness after I say what I actually intended to say here...

When I first saw the Suzuki X-90 sometime around 2002 I thought, "Huh?" "What the heck is THAT?!" -and I LIKED it. Liked it to the point of developing a case of that illogical crazy car lust that took control of my mind, telling me over and over "You GOTTA have one of those!". Whatever it was that got into me forced me to go and rent a car one night around midnight here in Tucson Arizona where I live and drive the rest of the night and half the next day all the way to Denver Colorado to purchase a 2WD purple/blue '97 X-90 that I found on a web search. To the jokers making the smurf comments--Look, it's got a rear stabilizer wing on it, a short decklid, and rear wheel drive too, just like a Hemi'cuda! And bulging muscular fenders too! Just because it doesn't have that glowering face and the rumbling cam lope of a Bee, an SS, GS, HO, R/T, or a 'Cuda doesn't mean it deserves to be labeled a smurf car. Granted it is kind of cute, but folks it's an AGGRESSIVE CUTE! It tries hard to be big and bad and I give it credit for that effort! I liked it and happily drove it for about 2 years without any complaints or problems from it -until the night I let my girlfriend at the time borrow it for the first time and she fell asleep at the wheel in the middle of the night on a dark remote portion of I-10 near Bowie AZ. At 65-75 mph she woke up when the left wheels dropped off the pavement of the left-hand lane and onto the gravel shoulder, overcorrected to the right skidding across both lanes and skidding off the right-hand lane sliding sideways up a short dirt hump then rolling a couple of times shattering all the glass and crushing the top of the car down into the passenger seat before flipping thru the air over a barb-wire fence taking out only the top wire, rolling another time and a half on the other side of the fence before coming to rest on its side. My X-90 was TOTALED. And I do mean TOTALED! Had anyone been in that passenger seat they would have been killed. Had the driver's side roof been the side crushed in like the passenger side roof was, she would have died. But she crawled out of the wreck in the dark with only a huge headache, some very sore muscles, and some small cuts on her face from flying glass, limped her way back to the freeway thru the cactus, mesquite, and palo verde trees with only one shoe, walked at least a mile down the road signaling to the very few cars that passed in middle of the night in such a remote area to stop (5 of them passed on by) and finally getting a trucker to stop and call the highway patrol and an ambulance. The girlfriend survived it but I lost my car. I had no insurance other than liability. It was worth about $3,500 before the wreck. I let a salvage yard keep it for the few parts left on it that were any good so I wouldn't have to pay the money owed the towing yard. That's one X-90 lost to me and to the world. A real loss because it was a great little unique car that ran great and looked cute, uh...AGGRESSIVELY cute I mean.

[Jason Carpp on December 01, 2008 at 07:02 AM]

The Suzuki X-90 has to be the UGLIEST vehicle I've ever seen. I'd be embarrassed to be seen driving such an ugly car, let alone riding as a passenger. Even when I first saw the vehicle, I thought it was ugly. It's a lame attempt to replace the top-heavy Suzuki Samurai. I'd rather ride in a Samurai than this.

[Lowgun on January 28, 2009 at 05:45 PM]

I've owned an X90 for almost a decade, and in that time I've jumped it at least 100 times, used up to a 75 shot of nitrous, pulled a 10,000 lb loaded 2wd truck towing a loaded trailer out of a ditch (obviously the truck helped as much as it could), thrown it into many 4 wheel slides on snow, dirt, gravel, & Wisconsin back roads, put it through a LOT of trails just wide enough for a 4 wheeler,cracked a few beers on the trails (not too many) lost a dozen cops, got some head, & so much more,...what im saying is I've had more good times in this car than anything I've ever driven, and I've never broke a single part other than the clutch.

[Stan Warthen on March 08, 2009 at 12:01 PM]

I also think the X90 is kinda cute. My dad bought one last year (dads 87) and, after having new tires and paint put on it, decided he wouldn't be driving anymore and gave it to me. It IS a noisy car but it IS an attention getter and it has plenty of room inside for a big guy like me. (6'3" 250 pounds) I would never want to travel cross country with it but it's great for short trips. All this said, due to the current economy, I have been thinking of selling it. If anyone is truly interested you can call me at 541-662-1205 and ask for Stan (I'm in Oregon)

[owner on March 25, 2009 at 02:47 PM]

I own a gray x90 4x4. and it is GREAT fun! Standard and very easy on gas usage. In fact am looking for a 2nd.

note:
If not for the anti back firing valve continualy needing replaced I would probably still own my yugo!

[Lela on August 31, 2009 at 09:31 AM]

Love, love, love my 96 X90. I have never been thrilled to drive, but my baby has changed my mind. My husband knows that I plan to be buried in mine. Yes, it has the biggest blind spots every, and yes, it's topheavy and you have to get used to driving it, but it's like one of those dogs that are so ugly they're cute.

Never plan on giving mine up.

[i love my red bull x-90 on February 22, 2010 at 05:30 PM]

i have a red bull x-90,it is veryyy rare!my dad got it for me when i was 11 and i still have.i love it soo much..whenever i drive it everyone always asks me what it is and i have to go into detail..it has 2 coolers in the back instead of a trunk.on the title it is considered as a truck,which i dont see why..they only made 6 of these little cars,and most of them are crushed,so i wouldnt be surprised if mine was the only one left.

[X90 Owner on September 23, 2011 at 01:13 AM]

I have owned an x90 since 1997. It has been the most reliable ride and still runs like a champ. I have put it through flooded streets and all sorts of snow drifts. It has even survived a hail storm and a tornado. I have yet to make any major repairs on it besides a new clutch. I will drive my lil truck/car (aka Trar) till it literally falls apart. I LOVE MY X90!!! And constantly have people asking to buy it from me.