Ingo Bludau's Suzuki Samurai
Reader's Ride - Ingo Bludau's Suzuki Samurai
This ain’t no street queen. This Samurai is a true testament to the quality of Suzuki vehicles as well as the resourcefulness of its owner, Ingo Bludau. Bought as a lease return back in 1993 at Brown Brothers Ford, the little Samurai was immediately put to work and has been wheeled relentlessly its whole life.
Powering the old girl is a twin cam, 16-valve, 1.6-litre Suzuki Swift GT engine that rarely see’s anything under 6,000 RPM. 35’s are a lot bigger than they look on a little truck like this. Power is directed through a 4:1 transfer case to Toyota axels both front and rear. ARB air lockers lock front and rear differentials and Bludau has upgraded the Sami with a Toyota disc brake conversion and chromolly driveshaft’s to hold everything together from the fury of the screaming 1.6L. Holding everything up is Old Man Emu rear springs mounted both front and rear and a set of Rancho 9000 shocks as well as a Toyota high-steer arm.
Bludau chose to mount ARB front and rear bumpers with the front unit housing a Warn winch and two Hella 3000 spot lamps for those night romps. He’s also fitted a custom roll cage to deal with his highly skilled ability to put the Sami onto its lid. The whole package runs on 35-inch Interco Super Swamper TSL/SX tires mounted on beadlock rims.
As a lead member of Too Far Off-Road, Bludau and his little yellow Sami has been a regular fixture in the B.C. off-road scene and the rig has been abused relentlessly. As a result, this has required extensive restorations on top of the modifications. Most people would have given up on the Sami after roofing it the first time, however, Bludau has completed two full frame-off restorations. The original truck started off lite blue, was restored in the yellow you see here, and has slowly been reverting itself back to its original blue as doors and window frames and targa frames are replaced with something a little straighter.