The Geo Tracker was a severely underrated runabout. I’ve driven a few of these before and have always adored their underdog spirit, their surprising off-road capability, and their oh-so-cute looks. Is it time for the Geo Tracker to come back? Oh yeah it is.
Thomas wrote about a new graphics package for the Toyota RAV4. TheDrunkenWrench got me really excited:
It is time. All the pieces are there:
-The people crave small, cheap, proper 4x4s
-The CAMI plant needs a model to save it’s production
-Vinyl graphics are backTHE GEO TRACKER MUST RISE FROM THE ASHES.
Matt wrote a Morning Dump that contains an interview with the legendary Bob Lutz, who held back no punches about modern BMW design. Ranwhenparked:
The headline could easily read “Ex-BMW Exec Bob Lutz Has Functioning Eyes, Brain”
Sid Bridge:
BMW Exec: Sir, I thought you should hear what Bob Lutz said.
BMW President: I hope this is worth interrupting my lunch.
BMW Exec: He said our cars are ugly.
BMW President: What does he know?! Now go fetch me some more onion rings to put on top of my Kimchi & Durian sandwich and don’t get any on the shag carpet. Oh, and check and see if my new “Best of Slim Whitman” CD came in. Say, why don’t you drop by this weekend and we’ll catch up on the the absolute best James Bond movies with George Lazenby. And go ahead and put a few bucks on the Dallas Cowboys for me. I think this is gonna be their year.
Jason wrote a Cold Start about the Peel P50, and I love how the advertisement shows what appears to be a woman meeting a guy for a coffee date by driving her car into the shop. UnseenCat:
Taking a P50 into the cafe for a date does make some sense. After all, if the datye starts to go badly, or he turns out to be a creep, she can just slam the door and peel right out …
Have a great evening, everyone!
Top graphic image: GM
I bought my Tracker on a whim many years ago as a cheap, disposable runabout and it quickly became the darling of my fleet. I don’t think I could part with it no matter what!
The tracker is one of the dearest vehicles to my soul. When I was 16 I had a 1996 5 speed 2 door, complete with a set of 30” desert dog recaps, an HMF exhaust pipe from a 4 wheeler that we crudely welded on, and a “La Cucaracha” horn out of a JC Whitney catalog.
I made a LOT of memories in that little shitbox!
The Donut channel on YouTube recently did a pretty good series where they drove and raced 3 budget American cars across the country. A Focus SVT, a Dodge Ram, and a Chevy Tracker. The Chevy Tracker did some gnarly rock climbs, it was pretty decent for a long time through various challenges until the engine finally died.
The Tracker is, like the Willy’s Jeep, one of the forgotten _great_ offroaders, equally capable of shaming 100k customs with a 2 inch lift. It’s just small and has great angles.
Great on the beach too.
In like Cars 17 or whatever the next one is, they should need to figure out where a Geo Metro went. They’ll have to hire a Geo Tracker to follow the tire tracks.
I get what you’re laying down.
Guess that means they’d have to follow its path it to a big city.
I went to get my tires changed, and all of the guys there had Trackers. there were like 6 in the parking lot, some in perfect shape, some in bondo, and a couple with gold rims and such. I asked the tech.. dude whats up with the trackers>?>> He speaks like no English, but looks at me, smiles.. his teeth are ALL gold.. and he says “because Trackers…FUUUUCK”
he was right. dude has it all together.
The problem with a tracker revival is:
GM isn’t going to design it. They’re not capable.
The Jimny is too small for the NA market. It truly is, as much as I love it.
The Escudo/Vitara (what the tracker was) is now a unibody crossover that doesn’t stand out from the myriad of unibody crossovers. I truly am not aware of anything globally that would fit the bill. Maybe something in China or India?
What you really need is for gm to work with Suzuki to stretch the Jimny and then build that at CAMI. That’s the most straightforward path here.
Would the new 4-door Jimny be big enough?
Hmmm, maybe! I had forgotten about that. It’s a foot and a half shorter than a two door Wrangler, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I’m sort of sad that we don’t get the Vitara here anymore, but the last generation we got was also about the last generation that was at least somewhat interesting (longitudinal engine, available 2-speed transfer case, and maybe a partial frame with the unibody?)
We don’t need gm for a Suzuki product. The Jimny is sold in Mexico, so it can suffice for a good chunk of the NA market. Heck, it’s good enough for Australia, so it should be fine here, too, in theory.
We do need GM, though. Or another partnership with an existing NA automaker. Suzuki left in chapter 11 bankruptcy, with a settlement about existing dealer networks and vehicle service support. Suzuki’s not coming back any time soon, except via badge engineering.
I don’t disagree from a logistical standpoint.
If it were up to me Suzuki would have stayed in the U.S./Canada and Subaru and/or Mitsubishi would have left like they did.
Oooh, maybe you just said the answer out loud: Suzuki stretches the 2 door and 4 door Jimny. Mitsubishi brings it into the US as the Shogun (a name apparently used in the UK for the Pajero / Montero).
It’s a win-win for both companies.
I browsed Trackers recently thinking maybe I could get a cheap beater to rip around my property and drive in the snow/salt when my daily is acting up. Nope, all the clapped ones seem to be gone, the ones that are still around seem in decent shape and they are commanding decent money, at least for the 2 door 4wd spec of them.
Yep. They started to rise in price during the pandemic and haven’t come down. They’re out there, though. Just be patient, join some of the facebook groups. You can find a decent runner in the $2k-$3k range if you’re patient.
Easy there–Lazenby and Diana Rigg made a perfectly good Bond movie, a damn sight better than anything Roger Moore could manage.
(I hope my BMW, Mrs. Peel, doesn’t read this article. She has a quick temper, and refuses to acknowledge that her younger sisters are anything but adorable.)
I will not abide all this Roger Moore hate. I agree George Lazenby’s one and done outing is very strong, but The Spy Who Love Me or For Your Eyes Only are strong exemplars of a James Bond movie. I still love Live and Let Die, maybe because TBS mainlined it into my brain for a decade.
Trackers are awesome, we picked one up this summer and its the perfect beach runabout. Lots of fun!!
The Tracker was cute and, strangely, just tough-looking enough that it didn’t drive guys away. I’m sure most were lured to other options by the siren call of horsepower numbers in the triple digits, but aside from Barbie Dream Jeep and Mall Food Court color schemes, there were also plenty of Trackers that just looked like guy rides.
Trivia: I had a last year of GEO Tracker ( next was Chevrolet). My wife had an ML320.
insurance was MORE for the GEO. both were ~ a year old. (A $10k car vs a $40k car)
Thank you, Mercedes! I will always Champion the Best Vehicle Canada has ever produced.
If you’re at a bad date and need to leave quickly, driving the P50 would take too long – just pick the car up and carry it as you’re walking outside.
I’d love a Tracker, but the Tracker I’d want is a 2 door and the one everyone wants is a 2 door and I’d never pay what they cost as a result.
Wranglers and Broncos show that a 2-door convertible off roader is viable. Now hit ’em with a shrink ray.
I suspect Ford will kill the 2-door and the manual within the next 12-24 months. The 2-door Bronco is now only available as Base and Badlands.
Their primary audience just uses them as wildly inefficient minivans so no reason to have anything but 4-doors and automatics.
I kind of want a Samurai tin top but the rollover risk is real. The Tracker is somewhat more surefooted. But if I could import an early-2000s Jimny from Mexico, that’d be pretty sweet. The wider model isn’t so tippy but still has the otherwise tiny, trail-friendly proportions that make the Samurai so appealing.
I would like a 2-door, hard top Tracker that is the length of the 4 door.
I’ve realistically never going to put people in the back but would like more lockable storage.
I do and don’t get the love for Tracker & Co. They had frames, which made them competent off-roaders. But that frame had weight, and to get any poop out of that vehicle, it got just awful MPG for something that small.
Better yet, bring back the RAV4 convertible. And install the current hybrid powertrain. It would be an adorable 4-seat convertible that got good mileage, and if they did the suspension right, it would have decent off-road chops.
to be fair, anemic power output coupled with a 3-speed non lockup transmission is gonna get ANYTHING poor MPGs.
Tossing in a modern powerplant (4cyl or V6, so long as it’s N/A for simplicity) with a decent cogbox (at least 6 speeds in man/auto) and offering a hybrid variant similar to the Mav, would do it wonders.
According to this the Suzuki Jimny gets about 13-17km/L.
https://www.fuelconsumptions.com/suzuki-jimny.html
That translates to 30-40 MPG US.
Now CUT THE ROOF OFF.
But honestly, keep the tin top as an option. The removable top is fun, and makes it a pseudo-pickup, but the ease of break-ins, noise, and constant moisture/window fog has made me wish for a steel roof on occasion
Tin tops are fine for people who like stuff like that.
It’s not what I’m after. Everyone says in the Samurai world “Ohhh, tin tops are so rare!” It’s all I can friggin find in my area that either isn’t clapped out or insanely priced. I could go buy a clean tin top tomorrow for less than 5k and have 3 options within 2 hours of me.
Yeah, I guess my issue is that I’m trying to make it work as my only car, which makes me worry about practicality more. I imagine most owners of these things have it as a spare, fun, car, so for them it absolutely makes sense to go for the most fun option!
I don’t actually regret my convertible one; I probably would regret having a hardtop and missing that part of the experience. Still, I would be happy to see both available as options for a theoretical revival.
I feel like the modern Jeep/Bronco style hard tops are a good enough compromise. They’re pretty robust.
Fair enough
Where is this area overrun with cheap tin-top Samurais?
I won’t abide slander of the Tracker’s fuel economy! My ’95 1.6L 16V, 5-speed, 4WD, gets me a good 29-30 MPG, which is pretty amazing for something that off-road capable and low-tech!
It does seem to drop off a bit above 100 km/h, but I’m seldom on roads that fast.
I’m also sure the automatic variants took a significant toll on economy
We used to call them KickTracks. (a little bit Sidekick, a little bit Tracker.)
Great little rigs. I miss the whole “cute ute” market.
I always heard Trackkick!
The Tracker/Vitara is the Wrangler Done Right 😀
In that vein, I still miss the Geo Storm for being various sport coupes done right.
oh yeah, GM got so jealous that they killed Isuzu over it
I miss my Isuzu Impulse (87 Turbo RS) It had eyebrows.
Oh yeah! Most of the off-road capability (more in some situations with the low weight), plus handy things like fuel economy and reliability!
In Canada, it was also branded as Suzuki Sidekick
And the Asuna/Pontiac Sunrunner!
And the GMC Tracker!
(And the Chevrolet Tracker for more model years)
I doubt your credentials on this.
yeah we got the Sidekick too
It was called Sidekick for the first gen up to 98, then Vitara from 99-on
I don’t know whether to be deeply honored or terrified that my horrible puns are appreciated in these parts…
And I, too long for the days of fun little cars and bold, cheerful graphics. We need to escape the sea of greige that’s put so much of all kinds of design in a death-grip.(Although, somehow I don’t think that bubblegum-pink brutalist-inspired new Jaguars are the answer… but maybe that’s just me.)
Honored or terrified? Here at Conjunction Junction we use the word “and”.
But but but
You could always hedge your bets and be “Honored and/or terrified”.
“(Although, somehow I don’t think that bubblegum-pink brutalist-inspired new Jaguars are the answer… but maybe that’s just me.)”
Username checks out.
LOL… I never even though of that…