To say we want lots of cars that only exist in Japan would be a gross understatement. The Japanese domestic market has the cream of the crop when it comes to cars from its nation’s automakers: From world-renowned icons to quirky vehicles you didn’t even know existed, we yearn for them all.
This kei car falls into the latter camp. The Suzuki Cara is a mid-engined microcar with gullwing doors and a manual transmission. It was briefly produced from 1993 to 1994 with only 533 units ever made. It has a more famous twin in the Mazda Autozam AZ-1, but that kei sports car had eight times as many units produced, making the Suzuki a rarer find.
This particular unit emerged on US-based auction marketplace Bring A Trailer. It’s in great condition with only 32,176km on the odometer, and as of writing, it’s bidding for $15,000 (P921,502).
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Under the boot is a 657cc turbocharged in-line-three gasoline engine delivering a whopping 64hp and 85Nm of torque to the rear wheels via a five-speed manual transmission. Power figures aside, the Cara only weighs 720kg; combine that with the stick shift, and this tiny car should be heaps of fun around the twisties.
The main highlight of the Cara is its gullwing doors. Normally reserved for luxury sports cars like the Mercedes-Benz 300SL or the DMC DeLorean, the vertical-opening doors don’t just give the Cara a supercar-like appearance—they were also added on purpose to account for the car’s high side sills for chassis rigidity.
Other nice features in this car include the black and red bucket seats, the classic three-spoke steering wheel, and the tactile buttons and switches. The exterior also has some cool touches, including the side vents (that remind us a bit of a Ferrari Testarossa, especially in this red color), the 13-inch ‘banana-style’ wheels, and the round headlights and taillights.
This 1993 Suzuki Cara was imported to the US last year and is currently being sold in California. If you want to check out the full listing on Bring A Trailer, click on these blue words. What do you think of the Suzuki Cara? Do you know if any of these exist here in the Philippines?
More photos of the 1993 Suzuki Cara on Bring A Trailer:
