Ever since its arrival globally in 2018, the fourth-generation Suzuki Jimny has been a popular offering, especially the three-door model. Its simple construction has also made it extremely compliant with tuners and custom shops, allowing owners to bring their personal touch with each vehicle. While we’ve seen G-Wagen and Defender-inspired Jimnys in the past, a custom chop-shop from Japan has now reimagined the Suzuki Jimny as iconic yesteryear cars from Renault and Lancia.
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Popular Japanese tuner DAMD is known for his conversions of the Jimny into the Land Rover Defender and Mercedes G-Class. The custom house is now looking to build the Jimny as retro offerings based on the Lancia Delta Integrale and Renault 5 Turbo. Both machines were extremely popular in Europe in the 1980s and DAMD brings its spin to the little off-roader with its custom bodykit. The final versions will be showcased at Tokyo Auto Salon 2024 next month.
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DAMD commissioned the builds under the “European Masterpiece” theme, paying homage to the hot hatches of the ‘80s. The Lancia-themed Jimny gets the same boxy silhouette but the styling cues include new quad-round headlamps, a chrome grille and a custom bumper that brings it as close as possible to the Delta Integrale. The build goes on to mimic the boxy body kit of the hot hatch with wide fender extensions. At the rear, the custom Jimny gets Delta’s signature wing for “extra” downforce, fender-mounted vents and a body-coloured bumper.
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The process is similar to the Renault 5 Turbo which serves as the inspiration for the second build. Losing its multi-slat grille, the Jimny gets new R5-inspired headlamps and grille, a blue exterior colour scheme, black bumpers, faux side intakes and a roof spoiler.
Both custom builds see a new set of alloy wheels developed in collaboration with OZ Racing. The wheels are available in either ‘race white’ with red lettering or ‘dark graphite’ with white lettering and can be purchased separately. DAMD has not made any mechanical changes to the builds and the Jimny continues with the same ladder-on-frame construction and powertrain.
