None of the three engineers behind Suzuki's first car held a driving licence, so two new graduates joined the team because they did.
Lead trim: SS / SL / SD 359.66 cc two-stroke twin (16 PS) · up to 17 hp
Suzuki Suzulight SFSF · 1955–1959
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- Unclaimednobody has spotted one yet
- 0sets it belongs to
Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Suzuki Suzulight SF yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactNone of the three engineers behind Suzuki's first car held a driving licence, so two new graduates joined the team because they did.
The Suzulight SF, introduced in October 1955, was Suzuki's first car and Japan's second front-wheel-drive car, closely based on the German Lloyd 400 with a transversely mounted air-cooled two-stroke two-cylinder of about 360 cc. It launched as the SS sedan (only 43 built), SL light van and SP pickup (the first bonneted kei truck), with an SD delivery van added in November 1955. The engine grew from 359.66 cc and 16 PS to 360.88 cc and 18 PS in April 1956, when the advanced coil-sprung double-wishbone suspension gave way to leaf springs and the sedan was withdrawn. From January 1958 only the SL light van remained, until the TL replaced it in July 1959.
Collectors Spotted in the Suzuki Suzulight Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Suzuki Suzulight yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
2 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SL light van 360.88 cc two-stroke twin (18 PS) | 1956–1959 | 0.4 L Inline-2 | 17 hp | 23 lb-ft | — | FWD | manual | — |
| SS / SL / SD 359.66 cc two-stroke twin (16 PS) | 1955–1956 | 0.4 L Inline-2 | 16 hp | 23 lb-ft | — | FWD | manual | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
Suzuki's Suzulight TL van beat the Mini to showrooms by a month with the same glassy, space-saving idea, built independently in Japan.
None of the three engineers behind Suzuki's first car held a driving licence, so two new graduates joined the team because they did.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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The boxy, unglamorous Astro quietly posted one of the best real-world safety records in America: IIHS found 2001-2004 models had the fewest driver deaths per million vehicles of any passenger vehicle on US roads.
The third-generation Tourneo Connect, released in Europe in October 2021, is a rebadged fourth-generation Volkswagen Caddy, assembled by Volkswagen in Poland.
Ford beat the 25% "chicken tax" by importing the Transit Connect as a passenger van — rear windows and seats included, then stripped out and recycled once it landed in the US.
Ford spent years in federal court over the second-gen Transit Connect: in June 2019 the US won its appeal, and judges ruled the van was cargo-only — ending Ford's workaround for the 'chicken tax.'
GM sold a rebadged Nissan NV200 as the Chevy City Express for four years, then killed it in 2018, citing weak sales and the fact that its parts weren't even compatible with GM's own parts catalog.
Its name is a pun: "S-Cargo" means "Small Cargo" but sounds just like escargot — French for snail, the shape the whole van was built to resemble.