Jack White is not a 90s kid in the sense that he was born in 1975. However, he is a 90s kid in the sense that he was a teenager in that decade, and he appreciates the finest fruit of the era. Case in point, the 1991 Suzuki Samurai that the indie rocker has been driving around on Instagram.
White posted a video from behind the wheel of his new acquisition, clearly enjoying himself in the rugged little machine. Reporting that he’s been hunting for just such a vehicle for six long years, he was gifted the bright red off-roader by drummer Patrick Keeler and his manager, Ian Montone. Quite a birthday present, indeed.
The 1991 Suzuki Samurai was beloved for being a simple, capable, compact off-roader. It had a fuel-injected 1.3-liter engine good for 66 horsepower, paired with a proper part-time four-wheel-drive system with low-range. Throw in some chunky tires with big white letters and those boxy good looks, and you can see why Suzuki had a winner with this one.
View this post on Instagram
The color of the Samurai is likely no accident. It’s finished in red, with striking black and white decals down the side. It’s the same color scheme that White obsessively applied to his band, The White Stripes. “It came from peppermint candy,” he told Rolling Stone in a 2005 interview.
Those aren’t the only colors of interest in White’s video, though. You’ll notice he’s driving the Suzuki while wearing black and yellow—a color scheme which he rigorously applied to his record label and his now-defunct upholstery business. As told to Rolling Stone:
After I apprenticed as an upholsterer for a few years, I opened my own shop, Third Man Upholstery. Everything was yellow, black and white. All my power tools were yellow and black. I had a yellow van. I ran my business like a cartoon. I was making out bills in crayon and writing poetry inside people’s furniture. I didn’t care if I made any money. I was so happy to pull up in front of someone’s house wearing a yellow-and-black uniform, with a yellow clipboard.
As far as Samurais go, White got one of the best ones. Electronic fuel injection, which was first available on 1990 models, added a hint of power and better day-to-day reliability. His example also appears to be in great condition, with beautiful paint and gleaming black tires. It’s likely that this example was restored, given its fine presentation.
White actually has some history with enthusiast cars. Notably, he previously purchased a Sebring-Vanguard CitiCar when he founded Third Man Records, hoping his nascent business would be able to use the tiny electric car to make deliveries. This didn’t pan out thanks to the limitations of the tiny two-seater, but it did later play a role as a promotional tool for the business at events. The vehicle was later sold at auction in 2023, for the grand sum of $2,500.
One would imagine it’s pretty cool to be Jack White. Beyond his hit albums, Grammy awards, and successful record label, he also got a kickass classic car for his birthday. That’s winning, any way you look at it.
Image credits: Officialjackwhite via Instagram
My favorite story about Jack is ten years after he moved to Nashville, he showed up at the neighborhood potluck for the first time and apologized for having traveled so much and missing all the others. No one had any idea who he was other than one family’s daughter, and he just hung out and ate and BSed with everyone else.
https://consequence.net/2015/10/jack-white-crashed-his-neighborhood-potluck-and-no-one-recogonized-him/
How can he not have a Starsky and Hutch Torino? That is literally the only white stripe more famous than he is….
Love his music, figured him for more of a Detroit iron guy, maybe a vintage white-striped F250 like in the topshot of Matt’s article today? The Sammie feels like an odd fit, but the livery is on-brand.
A couple years back, he got matching ’75 and ’23 Broncos, to the point he has the new one reupholstered to match the old one.
Car talk aside, if you have the chance, I highly recommend checking out Third Man Records if you find yourself in Nashville. Lots of stuff recorded in the club next door, cool merch, and more vinyl than you can shake a stick at.
The Detroit store does tours of the record pressing facility too.
A good friend had one of these bought new back in the day. He would always say that it was a great off roader, but he hated the highway drive to the woods he would visit. He ended up selling it to someone who bought it to use as a farm vehicle. Seems like a better purpose.
He also had some comment about how they shouldn’t be driven on the road because that’s where all the salt is.
I love how in the video he is just driving along on the road then bombs onto a lawn at speed. No clue where he’s going, but he is certainly having fun with his new vehicle in a way that one should. Hat-tip, Jack.
I fell instantly in love with Samurais when I went 4-wheeling in Aruba and we were stuffing that little beast in places where Wranglers wouldn’t dare to go. Such an unpretentious and capable little machine.
My buddy had one. We put 66HP stickers on front window. He bought 29″ Super Swampers that made it a killer mud bog machine, He was outrunning the big boys and their 44’s.
Please pardon if this was mentioned before, but I heard yesterday (on the radio, of all things) that he recently turned 50 and his wife bought him his first smartphone for his birthday.
Being of a certain age, I dig Samurais, though I never owned one myself. Suzuki is the foreign brand that I’d most like to see come back to the states, if only for the Jimny and Swift.
The Big Three killed Suzuki.
I wonder if Jack collects old tubes of Stripe toothpaste and packs of Fruit Stripe gum?
I saw his post over the weekend and thought “Should I send this to the Autopian or are they on top of it already?”
I’m a fool for wondering. Nice work, folks.
It took me a long time to like Jack White. At first I really disliked him because he basically stole his whole schtick from Dexter Romweber of The Flat Duo Jets*, but he also seemed like an asshole. But, over time he also seemed to genuinely like to do things that align with my interests or principles – he got rich and famous, but didn’t start dating a Kardashian or some shit. Instead he helped save an old theater, created a record label that makes vinyl records, built furniture, and now this.
*he later gave him credit and had a friendship with him.
I watched the documentary “It Might Get Loud” with Jack, The Edge, and Jimmy Page, and Jack was the only interesting one. The Edge comes across as both pretentious and barely alive at the same time. Jimmy Page came across like you would expect of an old “legend” who hasn’t done anything interesting in decades. Jack came across as genuinely curious in the viewpoints of the other two. The documentary itself wasn’t worth it.
Best part of that was watching him make that homemade guitar out of a board with some strings. Hilariously, it sounded great to me, further proving to me that the instrument doesn’t mean a damn thing – it’s the musician playing it.
Yikes! I just went down the rabbit hole on the Flat Duo Jets. I think that I saw them open for The Cramps in 1990 in Cincinnati. I’ve gotta check my old ticket stub stash.
1.6L 8-Valve Engine Swap, 1979-1985 Toyota Pickup/4runner axles, Gear the T-Case or if you have Jack White money maybe go full 5 to 1 Atlas T-Case, and 31 to 33 inch tires on a 4 inch lift.
That would be my perfect Samie.
I love everything about Jack White. He’s just such an unapologetically weird character, but rather than becoming a giant asshole upon making it big he’s done what I think a lot of us would choose to do-kept a pretty low profile and gone absolutely bananas with his hobbies. I personally have always loved his music as well.
I actually am not particularly fond of garage rock or any of the seemingly endless bands that show up every few years trying to sound like it’s the 70s. It’s fucking exhausting and cringy. As a musician I can’t even begin to imagine pigeonholing myself into a singular sound and/or just trying to sound and look like shit that’s already been done.
Jack White has always been an exception because he has one of the rarest and most desirable gifts as musician could ask for-he can say a lot with a little. If 99% of people write a 4 chord blues rock song with a traditional structure it sounds derivative. When Jack White does it it’s captivating, every single time.
I’m not surprised at all that he’s an enthusiast with quirky taste. He’s a quirky human who goes hard in everything he’s interested in. I find that to be easy to respect.
Jack White is the one musician with the biggest gap for me between “Want to like” and “Actually like.”
I think the level of pretentiousness since moving to Nashville and opening his own record label has just pushed it over the edge for me. I wish I knew why. It just seems exhausting (as much for us as for him).
It’s funny because I am the converse of that. On paper, I have no interest in Jack White. The first time I ever heard them, I said to myself “shit how have I never heard this Buzzcocks song before?” But I love his music. I think he is insanely talented and unique. There are other acts where they sound great to me in theory but I just can’t get the music. What it really all comes down to is your musical influences and how that affects you personally. There’s really no right or wrong. It’s just the lens you see it through. I hated Elton John song Philadelphia freedom when I was a kid. Now I absolutely love it. It transports me back to being in the back of my mother‘s 1973 Chevy Caprice station wagon. I always liked what Beck was all about, but I can’t stand his music. I have never liked Lenny Kravitz’s music for a long, long time and now all of a sudden, I love it. It’s weird what affects you and how it affects you. I mean, I guess there’s some stuff out there that we would all consider to be crappy music. And other stuff that we had all considered to be good music. But there’s a whole middle ground that is very personal.
I’ve recently decided that I like Jack White.
Can we get some respect for Meg? Jacks’ drummer and other half for years? Wonder what she drives? Meg, are looking for a good mechanic? I’m available!
TIL that Jack White is 5 days older than I am.
I also thought he was significantly older than me. Glad I’m not the only one that had a “wait a minute. How old is he” moment.
One of the best shows I ever saw was The White Stripes playing at a small club in support of their White Blood Cells album. I was right against the stage and was continually blown away by the energy of the show. The vibe was a blend of the control Nick Cave has on stage with the pure electricity of a Husker Du show.
Again, like with John Cena and his Civic or Christian Bale with his old Tacoma, the coolest people seem to gravitate toward cars with humble origins and little pretense.
Saw him solo at Red Rocks. On solo shows he lights the stage in blue, or at least he did on that tour. It thunderstormed and felt like we were watching history.
Love Jack’s music and apparently his sense in cars. He does seem like a really weird guy but not in a bad way. I always point out Hotel Yorba to people when we drive into Detroit from the suburbs and explain how Jack was a manager there before hitting it big. He really offsets the awfulness that is Kidrock, both in being a decent human and generating quality music.
Sweet Samurai!
It only took two people to find that for him. Not a seven nation army.
Probably didn’t have to go to Wichita to find it, either.
Nor Portland, Oregon!
He’s probably not going to bring it back to Detroit, for fear that the Big 3 will kill his baby.
Surprised that he went for the tin top instead of the soft top, but then again Jack seems like he avoids sunlight.
Jack White just seems like such an interesting person all the way around. I’d love to spend an afternoon just talking to him.
I keep meaning to watch “It Might Get Loud” just for the segment with Jack White nerding out while putting together a guitar.
That movie gave me a much better appreciation for him.