Oh, Jimny, we loved you lots: tribute to Suzuki’s proper off-the-road vehicle

Well, I hope he’s right, and when the lights go on the fir tree at the front of the garden all I want is praise. It’s going to be a difficult enough job getting them to the top of the 14ft tree, which was a mere foot or so when we planted it out 11 years ago. But I am on a bit of a roll at the moment so feeling quite confident.

This is because, at last, I brought back a car the other day that absolutely delighted my wife. She was in ecstasy. It was just what she wanted. A car with height, great looks and a real feeling of difference and fun. It would give her the authority that her Hyundai i10 lacked. No longer would she be bullied on the way to Phoenix Park.

Of course, it helped that when we were driving it everybody gave it the thumbs up and even Andy, the builder down the lane, told her it suited her perfectly. The Suzuki Jimny has been around for yonks — first appearing in 1970 — and there have been only four generations of it, with the last being launched in 2018.

However, because of its high CO2 emissions and tighter EU standards it has been withdrawn as a four-seat passenger vehicle and only marketed as a commercial number, with a fixed metal grill separating the two front seats from the back. But that didn’t faze us or, quite quickly, the dogs.

A few blankets in the back and clipping their harnesses onto the grill and they seemed as happy as Larry, or rather Ziggy and Dooey, even if giving them treats was a bit like prison visiting.

The Jimny, which is small and square with the aerodynamics of a garden shed, hasn’t really changed much over the last 51 years; around three million have been sold worldwide. It is built on a ladder chassis, which means that the cabin is separate from the frame.

There are solid beam axles, coil-spring suspension and a ball-steering mechanism, which enable off-road ability more than road driving. There’s a lever between handbrake and gear shift to move you between four-wheel drive, a very low version of that and 2WD.

It’s a tight, utilitarian cabin with a number of things rather out of place. It was all a bit old-fashioned — there was even a CD player but no courtesy mirror in the small sun shades.

A few useful driving assistance features are installed but there’s no rear camera or parking warning system. The Jimny — which reminds me of Ziggy, a Jack Russell who believes he is a bigger, more rugged dog — probably feels such things are too namby-pamby for it. Yet when you look at the overall shape and lack of cabin refinement you can see why the Jimny only rates a poor three stars in the EuroNCAP results.

I was always a bit wary of the car in its very early versions after a tragic roundabout accident involving the son of a great colleague and his girlfriend. But my sister had one for many years in which she regularly safely powered between Leeds, in northern England, and the Scottish Highlands. Crosswinds on the M50 did worry me a bit.

While there is no doubting the Jimny’s appeal, in its present iteration its use is limited. However if I had the money and space it would be great to have one as a spare car when the snow or mud needs to be tackled. Less practically it would also give my wife a massive boost when she parked outside the coffee shop.

Because of the commercial rate VRT, the Jimny All-Grip 1.5 petrol is now well-priced at €21,365 on the road including single tone metallic paint. Yearly tax is €413 and economy from the well-trusted 1.5 Suzuki engine is pretty poor with even the company not claiming anything better than 7.7l/100km.

There’s a full sized spare on the back door and you could pack a fair bit into the square, flat floor, luggage area. The on-road experience is choppy, noisy and a bit unrefined but we quite quickly got used to it.

However this is an authentic off-the-road vehicle which could be very useful on the farm or in remote rural locations and could make a good long-range investment. I’d have loved one at my parents house in the very far north of Scotland.

While it is available in only very limited numbers, there’s no doubt the uncomplicated Jimny was one of the most likeable cars I have tested in quite a while. Seeing how my wife’s face lit a treat in itself... and if I wasn’t allowed to watch all the rugby match against Argentina before taking the dogs out for their afternoon walk I nearly did. Progress indeed.

We’ll miss the Jimny but at the end of the day we live in Phibsborough, Dublin, not in the Wicklow mountains. It’s not for us but I’ll smile every time I see one.

♦ Just half a year after its launch in the German market, Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 has been named the country’s 2022 Car of the Year (GCOTY). In the final round of the notable award, the fully-electric midsize CUV prevailed over the competition, such as the Audi E-Tron GT and the Porsche 911 GT3.

At the GCOTY awards, the top car model launches of the year compete against one another in five categories: compact, premium, luxury, new energy, and performance.

An internationally networked jury of 20 automotive journalists evaluates each product. As the class winner in the new energy category, Ioniq 5 then won the final round.

♦ Sometimes, despite an interesting life, I feel I haven’t tested myself enough. With a strong Scottish heritage I was in awe of Robert Porter, who wrote about bagpipes in a recent edition of The Spectator. He ends his article: “My ultimate piping experience was when I bungee-jumped off the Victoria Falls bridge in Zimbabwe with my pipes strapped round me as I played Scotland the Brave and plummeted into the dense spray from the river below. It was good for my mental health, less so for the reeds.” Yup, I am off to walk down the Royal Canal with the dogs.