The “tasteful” looking Fronte can even drive itself for 3 hours

We found a Suzuki Fronte 360 that looks different from shiny, polished historic cars. The owner, Mr. Machida, entrusted this car, which had been immobilized by an acquaintance, to us because it was too much for him to handle. The Fronte was not in concour condition. Is there a reason for this?

The Fronte has long been a popular kei-car that symbolizes Suzuki

It was before World War II that Suzuki, which was founded in 1909 as Suzuki Shiki Loom, began researching automobiles as a new business pillar, but it was not until after World War II that the company became a full-fledged automobile manufacturer. First, in 1952, Suzuki developed a 2-stroke 36cc single-cylinder engine for motorcycles and started its business by selling it. After further manufacturing finished motorcycles, in 1955 the company began selling four-wheeled vehicles, a long-held dream. In 1962, Suzuki made a major minor change to the vehicle, which was renamed the “Suzulight Fronte”. Since then, the “Fronte” has been the name of Suzuki’s iconic kei-passenger car for many years.

The second generation Fronte (LC10), which was rear-engine rear-wheel drive, was produced from 1967 to 1970, but the car in the event was a 1969 Suzuki Fronte 360. In the late 1960s, the manufacturers of mini cars were competing with each other for horsepower, and even the Fronte was introduced with a high-tuned sporty model. The most radical of these, the SS/SSS model, was equipped with a 36ps engine that produced 100ps per liter and became the talk of the town, but the car shown here is a Super Deluxe model with a mild 25ps engine, which can be said to be the true form of a kei-car.

The car was originally immobile

In general, most of the cars that participate in historic car events are in good condition and polished up nicely. However, as you can see, the Fronte here is not in the best condition. Although it is not in concour condition, it is often the case that these cars have many stories to tell. We decided to talk to the owner, Mr. Terumi Machida, to find out more.

“Originally, it was in Hokkaido. An acquaintance of my brother’s acquired it, and that was about 40 years ago.”

How did it come to you, Mr. Machida?

“It was kept by the acquaintance for a long time, but it was hardly ever ridden, and eventually it became immobile. He gave it to me saying, ‘I can’t take care of the car by myself anymore, so I want to leave it to you.”

Mr. Machida had always had a hobby of motorcycles and had ridden and tinkered with old Meguros and other vehicles, so his brother’s acquaintance thought he might be able to handle it.

“The car has been immobile for almost 30 years now, so it took a lot of time and effort to get it back on the road. It has been 22 years since it came into my possession. During that time, I have been fixing the problems little by little, and I have smashed all the mechanical problems, so it is in very good shape now.”