Hello and welcome to the sale of this incredible little Suzuki Alto. At 40 years old, I cannot think of many other useable 4 door automatic superminis that would be ULEZ, tax and MOT exempt! It is also incredibly rare and one of just a few cars left in existence in the UK, regardless of condition. I have got particularly nostalgic over this little car's time with me, due to it's local connections. Originally supplied by Craze of Salisbury to a lady who lived in one of the more affluent areas of my home town of Trowbridge, Wiltshire, it spent the first half of it's life with her covering just 32k miles in 20 years, before then changing hands to another local owner who it appears simply stored the vehicle away in their garage unused for another 20 years! The car found me through a local friend of a friend down the pub, as it very often goes, and I could not resist taking it under my wing and commencing a very thorough recommissioning to return it to the road. Since being in my possession it has had work including but not limited to a new battery, full service, new cambelt, carb cleaned, new brake shoes and adjustment, new stainless steel exhaust system, 4 new tyres, all four original steel wheels refurbished and powder coated, a full professional valet including machine polish and of course a new MOT with no advisories. This was of course not only it's first MOT for 20 years, but potentially it's last, now that it is 40 years old and can qualify for exemption should you wish. Thankfully the body shell and underneath was in excellent rust free condition, as was the exterior bodywork with no more than a tiny amount of touch up required. It even retains much of the delivery wax underneath the bonnet which has no doubt helped preserve it. There is one small kink in the passenger side front wing where it has obviously been caught slightly, and I have been advised by my bodyshop that it would be far preferable to live with it as part of the car's story than risk trying to repair the wing and the colour match being out. All the plastic and chrome trims, along with the glass, are all in great condition and obviously benefitted from being garage stored. My favourite part is probably the fabulous tan cloth interior, which is in virtually as new condition. This has certainly been helped by the original owner insisting on using a variety of blankets, carpet mats and cuttings, to protect the carpets, seats and parcel shelf, all of which are still present and endearingly preserved with the car. It also retains the original dealer number plates, window sticker and tax disc holder. It is fuss free with no central locking, electric windows or any other similar frills to go wrong, although it does have the original working radio and I have just retro fitted rear seat belts using the original unused anchor points and some universal inertia belts in a pleasingly appropriate colour match. The 800cc 3 cylinder engine fires up from cold with a little help from the manual choke, and settles to a steady idle. As the car weighs so little, it proves to be nowhere near as sluggish as you may imagine, with performance verging on 'nippy'! The 2 speed (yes, 2!) speed automatic gearbox works perfectly, and makes city driving a doddle. It is not fitted with power steering, but with such narrow tyres the steering genuinely isn't heavy. The ride quality is on par with any of it's competitors of the time, and will zip around towns, country roads or sit on the motorway should you wish it to. Interestingly I cannot imagine if you wished for a small 4 door automatic in 1984 you would have had much choice, considering the 4 door Metro or Fiesta did not follow on for some years. I specifically lavished the time and effort on this car to attend the 'Festival of the unexceptional', which if you are not familiar is a highly regarded show for mundane yet rare cars of days gone by. The car was hand picked by the judges to be amongst the top 50 cars out of over 1000, earning it pride of place on the concours lawn and a special mention by the judges on the day, along with swarms of admirers who wanted to chat and take photos of the car. It really does turn heads, raise smiles and brings much positive attention and admiration! To sum up this is probably the best example left of an extremely rare yet very practical classic. It would equally suit being enjoyed as a city commuter, or sat in a Japenese or retro car collection. Regardless, I have gone as far as I can with it, it can make way for my next project and I look forward to handing over to the next lucky custodian who will no doubt enjoy it as much as I have.
**About us **We are an established independent classic car agency located in the beautiful village of Whitley, Wiltshire and within easy reach of Melksham, Chippenham, Trowbridge, Bradford on Avon, Warminster, Frome, Bath / North East Somerset and surrounding areas. We are just 15 minutes from Junction 17 of the M4, providing an easy link no matter what your location. We cover the whole of the UK and Ireland, and have handled export enquiries from all over the world.
We specialise in the sale, sourcing and transport of modern retro styled cars, classic cars, roadsters, American and collectable vehicles. We inevitably also carry stock of every day cars but only those up to our exacting standards as we only buy on condition and provenance.
We pride ourselves in being interested and knowledgable in a diverse array of vehicles from all eras, which helps us successfully handle many vehicles that other dealers and auction houses would simply not be interested in or would unfairly want to list with no reserve.
We actively purchase cars to sell, although our 'sale or return' consignment options are very popular for owners who wish to entrust their cars to us to sell on their behalf for maximum return.
Only about half of the vehicles that we handle are listed for retail sale on our website. We are also very active buying and selling all types of vehicle within the motor trade. Please let us know if you are looking for something specific, as we may be able to source it for you.
As well as being car dealers, we are first and foremost car enthusiasts, and our enthusiasm and experience are proudly reflected in the preparation and presentation of our vehicles.
We enjoy building our reputation not only for the quality of our vehicles but also our customer service. We believe in building lasting relationships and have many happy customers and vendors that return again and again. Please have a browse of our growing list of testimonials!
We are also members of the Trading Standards 'Buy With Confidence' scheme, meaning we have been vetted and approved for our quality and best practice, so you can be sure you will receive fairness, honesty and integrity.
Our facilities include a welcoming and relaxed viewing location, collection & delivery, fully insured test drives and trade plates. We are also very happy to take your old car (or anything in fact) in part exchange. Just contact us with the details and we can give you a price to change, up or down.
Buying or selling any vehicle can often be hard work, but it doesn't need to be. We aim to make your experience easy and pleasurable, they way it should be!
Please have a good look around our website to find out more about us, our customers, our services and our cars.