A Reader Has More Nerdy Information About The Asüna Sunrunner Than You Thought You Needed To Know: COTD

I love that every Autopian reader is an expert in something. It doesn’t matter what car we write about; there’s probably someone who knows more about it than we do. That even includes the Asüna Sunrunner and its many names.

The Bishop wrote about Pontiac’s first SUV that technically wasn’t a Pontiac and wasn’t sold in the States. Rebadged Asüna Sunrunner:

Ah! It’s my moment to shine!
So first of all, as the article mentioned, this car was sold with six different names in Canada: Chevrolet Tracker, GMC Tracker, Geo Tracker, Asuna Sunrunner, Pontiac Sunrunner, and Suzuki Sidekick!

My first (two) cars were a 1996 Pontiac Sunrunner (16 valve, 2-door, removable fiberglass roof, 4×4, 5-speed), and a 1997 Suzuki Sidekick (4-door, 4×4, automatic) that I bought for $700 from a zoo, when I was 16! My dad and I spent two long days driving ~4 hours and back to Peterborough, ON, to pick them up, one at a time.
The Pontiac was definitely the one to fix up, and the Suzuki was to be the parts car. According to the seller, the Pontiac only needed a new fuel tank and a camshaft position sensor to get running again. I spent a good bit of time that summer cleaning the cars out, removing the gas tank from the Pontiac, and realizing that the 4-door Suzuki’s gas tank was larger, and wouldn’t fit the Pontiac. At some point, a more mechanical family friend took a look at them, and essentially told me that I’d never get it on the road. I guess the body mounts were rusted out, and the amount of rust repair you’d need to do to get it through an Ontario safety would be prohibitive. I could have, and maybe should have, put some money into a new fuel tank, and gotten it running as a bush buggy at least, but I guess I was discouraged enough that I didn’t want to throw any money at something I wouldn’t be getting on the road. In the end, I sold both the Sunrunner and the Sidekick for the same $700 that I got them for, and moved on from the Trackkickrunner life.

Perhaps ironically, the Pontiac Sunrunner was missing its grille, so I don’t think there were actually any Pontiac badges on it at all! I think there were some stickers, and I believe the steering wheel said Sunrunner, but I guess I was missing the most unique element!

Of course, then a couple years later I bought my ’95 Geo Tracker, and then proceeded to spend good money re-buying rims for my winter tires, and a hardtop, and other parts, that I would have had if I’d held on to the parts cars!

A life goal, that I don’t expect to put any effort into completing, is to have owned all six of those Canadian-market badge versions for this car. I’m already halfway there with Suzuki, Pontiac, and Geo, but the other three are all also pretty rare!

Dang, there’s a thought! I should head down to the local junkyard and pick up Chevrolet, GMC, and Pontiac badges, dig up my Geo and Suzuki ones, and 3D print an Asuna one. Then I can put all six on my grille, and then 3D print a Sunrunner badge to go with my Tracker and Sidekick badges on the door. Make it a Chevrolet/GMC/Pontiac/Geo/Suzuki/Asuna Tracker/Sidekick/Sunrunner!

Redneckvolution:

My biggest quibble I’ve always had with the Asuna brand is that they could have called this thing the Matata, and had the tagline be ‘It Means No Worries, For the Rest of Your Days’.

Ya know… Asuna Matata, y’all.

Jason wrote about how America’s newest space toilet already had its first crisis. StillNotATony:

“Personally, I rarely defecate without simultaneously urinating”

[Random Link]

Cody Pendant:

Who in their right mind would click that link, after that quote?

Mollusk:

(***sheepishly raises hand***)

Risky clicks are the best clicks! Have a great evening, everyone!