Paging Jason Torchinsky: Suzuki Cab Forward Truck for Sale in California

"James Gallagher" (jgallagher)
01/11/2014 at 23:34 • Filed to: suzuki, truckyeah

The cabover. There's just something about that weird, intensely practical utilitarian design that stirs the Jalop soul. No nonsense, no frills, just a few passenger butts seated directly above a tiny engine, in this case, 1000cc of tiny engine. The cabover, or cab forward, or front control, or goofy hoodless truck design is preferred despite its odd looks because it is so practical. By pushing the passenger compartment forward, designers can eliminate the miles of unnecessary hood and engine bay that hog the wheelbase. Thus, there is more room for whatever you're hauling, because you have a much longer bed. (And, in this case, a Crew Cab. For whatever reason.)

This "Mag International crew cab truck" is said to hail from the fine year 2008 and be "made by Suzuki." I wish there were a little more information, but he seller's identity explains the succinctness of the listing. The truck is for sale at a government liquidation auction, so courtesy of some governmental agency in California, you could be the next owner of this little useful oddity. What is Mag International? Heck if I know, but I'm sure one of you does. This truck looks a lot like the JDM compact trucks that are popular among many of you. How it made it stateside is a mystery to me, and if you could shed any light on the situation, I'd love to know. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and release this truck from the bonds of obscurity. At an opening bid of 25.00 and no apparent reserve (though I find this harder to believe than Alfa's US relaunch), it could be a fun impulse buy.

The truck is said to be in nonrunning condition and missing the keys, but as a 2008 model and a presumably simple and reliable design, it should be easy to repair. It's a risky buy, obviously. It presumably led a hard government life (most likely shuttling diplomats to and from the airport), and who knows what kind of parts market there is for it on this side of the pond. As mentioned, it has a tiny engine burdened with one of the weirdest automatic gearboxes I've ever seen, and very few creature comforts. But it has that seemingly essential Jalopnik quality: this truck is, if nothing else, unusual. It would get plenty of second glances driving down the street. Maybe you could fit a couple of BRAT-style seats in the bed and drive around some babes of whatever gender you prefer. It might spice up the styling.

Well, there it is. A strange little truck with a murky history. There have been some allegations flying around recently in the comments that Jalopnik has "sold out" or only focuses on high-end luxury cars, but I'm confident that that isn't the case. I was also confident that I would be a self-made millionaire by the age of 18. Guess how that worked out. But if there's any group of people who would be interested in this weird little truck, it's you. Enjoy.

James Gallagher is a college student who writes in his spare time. And his work time. He does a lot of writing. He hope you'll recognize him for it and appreciate it. That would make him happy. As previously promised, there is a more substantial story coming. If he would get off his ass and write it. Good day!

DISCUSSION (9)

Aaron James > James Gallagher
01/11/2014 at 23:41

You can get them from http://www.northtexasminitrucks.com/ also. They're not street legal so they must import them as utility/farm vehicles or something.

Scott Keelan > James Gallagher
01/11/2014 at 23:53

We use a similar version of these as our go to utility vehicles at work in Japan. They do look funny but boy are they useful. Very Jalop indeed.

The Transporter > James Gallagher
01/12/2014 at 00:11

I want to love bongo trucks, but all I see now is a potential SVBIED.

Damn you, Iraq.

SpeedSix > James Gallagher
01/12/2014 at 02:35

This in no way is actually a Suzuki. Suzuki is a company renowned for making kei trucks. All kei trucks have a maximum engine capacity of 660cc. This truck is built by Mag International, a Chinese automaker using Chinese engines likely from the 1980s as that was the era from which many foreign automakers sold tooling to the Chinese for engine production. 1000cc engines were never available in Suzukis. This Wikipedia page shows that it may be based on the Hafei Ruiyi truck, or possibly just a rebadged version. Various automakers may have sold tooling to the Chinese to produce said 1000cc engine.

I_AmDeath > SpeedSix
01/12/2014 at 02:38

I don't think this actually needed to be shared on Oppo...

SpeedSix > I_AmDeath
01/12/2014 at 14:21

I was trying to edit it and Kinja shared it to Oppo when I clicked edit. Fail.

I_AmDeath > SpeedSix
01/12/2014 at 22:24

Fair enough,Gotta love being kinja'd...

Jason Torchinsky > James Gallagher
01/30/2014 at 02:58

I can't lie, I'm tempted.

d3v > James Gallagher
02/01/2014 at 07:15

Doesn't seem to be the first one of these to be sold by the government. Here's one from 2012.