A divert with a Jimny

So tell me, am I too old for fun? Hmm, not really the kind of thoughts one should allow at my age. Depression could follow ...

And an occasional divert with a Suzuki Jimny will certainly keep the black cloud away.

That’s what I was doing today. I took the little red beast over to my favourite 4x4 grounds and buzzed it up and down the well-rutted tracks at Rabbit Hill on the Curragh.

The car has a 1.3-litre petrol engine, a very short wheelbase, and full high/low ratio 4WD, with 2WD for normal road use. It has funky upbeat looks, large front lights, and a determined stance like a terrier would use when facing up to something much larger than itself.

Inside there’s plenty of space for the front two people, rather marginal legroom for those in the back (a little struggle in the 3-door machine), and boot space that is somewhat less than space. Never mind, the whole thing is finished very well, and the instrumentation and controls ergonomics excellent.

The clutch is in that happy medium between light and heavy, just perfect, really. Which is just as well, because most of the time this little runner is going to be running on the suburban pavement and parking in front of Dublin’s chicer cafes.

And most of the time it will be in the hands of young people, a significant share of them young women, according to the trends already apparent here since launch. In fact, the fairly conservative figure of 150 expected sales for 1999 have now been bumped up to 250. And every one that can be got in is presold.

It’s a cheerful car. Perky, and because it has a little light petrol mill, it doesn’t seem agricultural. So one doesn’t have to make up a reason for buying it.

And one doesn’t have to justify a high price either, because the little Jimny has a suitably little price (as these things go) of £12,950 and trimmings.

That’s affordable, really.

So, if the owner happens to be among the 10% who might actually put it into low-ratio 4WD for s serious stab at a hill, how’s she going to feel about the performance?

Fairly impressed. Well, very impressed, really. As my companion/photographer was when we expeditioned to Rabbit Hill that afternoon. “It won’t do it,” she said bluntly as we headed up the first steep and rutted incline.

“It will.”

She shook her head. “No.”

She was right. The short wheelbase got us straddling the hump, and really, it hadn’t been a fair test.

“The others, though, will be OK,” I said confidently. (After all, I’d driven this one’s little predecessor years before around here and it performed great. It wouldn’t look at all good if I didn’t make it this time.)

Fortunately, I did. Or the Jimny did. Cleared every obstacle, and drove through every other mountainous rut. Face, and car's reputation, saved.