Happy Friday, Autopians! We’re finshing out our week of international exploration with a trip to a beautiful island with very few cool cars: Jamaica. It’s definitely a place you can find a shitbox, but I decided to go just a little bit upmarket and show you two cars that aren’t beat-up.
Yesterday’s choices came from Spain, and it was absolutely no contest: the SEAT 1430 took an easy win. I’m absolutely certain that the Chrysler 150 is vastly superior to the cars Chrysler was selling here in the US in 1978 (looking at you, Dodge Aspen), but up against a cool RWD Fiat-based sports sedan, it didn’t have a chance.
Obviously, that’s my choice too. I have a thing for that boxy ’70s European sedan style, and that one just sits right. From some of the comments, it sounds like I may have overstated this one’s spec; it might have less of an engine than I thought it did. But I don’t care. Horsepower is overrated; looking cool and having fun is way more important than going fast.
By virtue of being married to an avid and accomplished SCUBA diver, I have visited more tropical islands than I would have ever imagined. I’ve been to Jamaica, Barbados, Aruba, Curacao, Tahiti, Moorea, and most recently the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. All beautiful places, all rather expensive to visit, and all places where cars are typically seen as tools for transportation, and not much more. There are cool twisty little roads aplenty, it’s true, but there’s also an awful lot of traffic. Opportunities for fun driving are few and far between.
So with that in mind, let’s take a look at a couple of basic, utilitarian cars for sale in Jamaica, in better-than-average condition, and see which one you’d rather get around in.
2017 Suzuki Swift – $1,550,000 Jamaican, about $9,850 US
Engine/drivetrain: 1.2-liter DOHC inline 4, CVT automatic, FWD
Location: Kingston, Jamaica
Odometer reading: 80,000 kilometers
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Suzuki’s departure from the US auto market in 2012 was a blow to those of us who like our cars cheap and cheerful. Cars like the Swift, the Aerio, the SX4, and the Esteem were never at the top of any sales lists, but they were all good, honest cars. And we could use a few more of those. Meanwhile, we watch as the rest of the world gets a new Jimny, and new generations of the Swift charm drivers around the world. This little Swift has been plying the streets of Kingston for nearly ten years and eighty thousand kilometers now, providing its owner with reliable transportation. It’s not exciting, but it’s noble.
This generation of Swift is powered by a 1.25-liter inline four, available with either a five-speed manual or a CVT automatic. A decade or two ago, this car probably would have had a manual, but automatics are taking over the market everywhere. I am not surprised at all that this car has the CVT. The ad says “woman driven,” which I guess is supposed to mean it has been driven gently, but if the drivers in Kingston are anything like the drivers in Montego Bay, it doesn’t matter; everybody’s crazy.
The photos in this ad aren’t great, but it looks like this car is in reasonably good shape. None of the photos show the driver’s seat, which makes me wonder what they’re hiding. It has power windows and locks, and the all-important air conditioning. Trust me; in the tropics, you want it.
Outside, the seller says it has a few scratches, but all I see is a little ding in the right rear door. It actually looks really good. It has aftermarket wheels, but they’re not gaudy or offensive. It also has deeply tinted windows, but if ever there was a place where you’d want to keep the sun out of your car, it’s the Caribbean.
2020 Toyota Probox – $1,950,000 Jamaican, about $12,400 US
Engine/drivetrain: 1.3-liter DOHC inline 4, CVT automatic, FWD
Location: Saint Elizabeth, Jamaica
Odometer reading: unknown
Operational status: Runs and drives well
We’ve been to Jamaica twice now, once in 2006 and again in 2016, and back then, the most common taxicabs around were Toyota Hiace vans and Corolla station wagons, and almost always white. But now, from what I’ve heard, this vehicle has taken over the taxicab role. The Toyota Probox is a simple, utilitarian vehicle based on the same platform as the Yaris. The ad says this one has just been imported to Jamaica, from where is anyone’s guess. The ad also doesn’t list an odometer reading; any bets on how many kilometers are on it?
A utilitarian car like this doesn’t need a lot of performance, just enough to get around. The Probox is powered by either a 1.3 or a 1.5 liter engine; this one has the 1.3. A CVT is your only transmission option either way. It’s efficient and easy to drive, and that’s what matters in a car like this. The ad doesn’t actually say how well it runs, but it’s a six-year-old Toyota. We know how well it runs.
The interior is as simple and no-nonsense as the rest of it, and once again, I find myself wishing we could have something like this in America. I intensely dislike the interiors of most modern cars, with their touchscreens and gimmicks. This one has a steering wheel, a shift lever, and a speedometer, and that’s about it. The HVAC controls look straightforward, as does the stereo. Who needs anything more?
Outside, it’s, well, a box. What did you expect? It’s simple and effective. And it has steelies! I really like this thing. It’s not pretending to be anything but a tool, and it looks like a really great one.
I don’t mean to imply that there is no car culture in Jamaica; there certainly is. But nearly all of the cars you actually see on the roads look like these. And that’s fine, even for a die-hard gearhead like me. Put me in a lounge chair on the beach, give me a rum punch, and I don’t care about cars, at least for a while. Of course, being a car guy, I can’t help noticing the taxi that gets me there, or the other cars on the road. Your task for today is to decide which one of these would catch your eye more.
That’s it for Shitboxes Without Borders for now. Next week, we’ll be back in the US, looking at all-American cars for the run-up to the July 4th weekend. I haven’t decided yet what exactly we’ll be looking at, but it’ll be fun stuff. See you then!
If I’m zipping around an island on vacation, I want a small, nimble car. Suzuki it is!
Probox for me. I like the boxy style that will carry a lot of my stuff. It would work even better than the Toyota Raize we rented in the Caymans. Just pile your stuff in and go!
The Toyota Probox would compliment the Ford Probe in my driveway quite nicely.
Big Probox fan – strangely first came across them in Myanmar where ex-Japan markets ones are a very comfortable and rugged taxi of choice. This one’s also ex-JDM – it’s a commercial version from the weight rating on the boot lid and the SBT sticker’s from one of the big car exporters.
Probox for me! If it’s good enough for Noriyaro, it’s good enough for me.
I’d actually VIP this thing out, as it would be completely unexpected. It’s already slow and utilitarian, might as well look super cool while doing so.
Swift, because they’re supposedly actually fairly decent for an economy car, despite the CVT (which apparently has a better reputation than most, probably because the car is decently light). Also easier parking and better on fuel.
Tough call, but I went with the Toyota out of novelty of not having anything quite like it stateside.
They’re both defective. Should have been recalled. The steering wheels are on the wrong side 🙂
Based on the unknowns on the Toyota, I’d swiftly pick the Suzuki.
They should be on the outside?
Box up the Probox and I’ll Swiftly meet you at the register
The Probox is neat, but I’ll go with the cheaper and better known history-wise Swift. The dealership selling the Probox really needs to do a better job with that ad. Mileage not even listed? Come on now.
The Probox is absolutely something I shouldn’t want over a Swift. CVT, bottom spec work van. But it has this weirdly JDM cargo vehicle charm that I just can’t hate. I don’t even know if they sell these in Japan. I want it to stick bicycles in the back and do other truck/van things. The Box be Pro. The Box be my choice.
YEs, they absolutely sell the Probox in Japan, it’s become a darling of the Drift Crowd as a support vehicle for track days/parts hauler as they are cheap to buy and operate.
Huge, huge fan of the Probox and its sibling, the Succeed. Apparently these cars are often lumped together as the Pro-Succ
Pro-Succ…
Uh, phrasing?
You’re either Pro-Succ or Anti-Succ. And I know which side of the fence I’m on.
I’m going Suzuki as a former SX4 owner. I miss the brand badly. But you did make it difficult with the Probox.
I also went to Jamaica back in 2016, and I was mesmerized by all the weird economy cars and people movers they have, most notably all of the vans. Oh the vans. My wife was well aware I was very weird by this time, but my reaction to the cars of Jamaica had to have her wondering what she signed up for.
We already have plenty of Swifts here. The Toyota van is much more interesting
You had me at ProbeOx.
If the Swift was manual, I’d take it in a heartbeat, but a CVT sucks all the life out of a potentially fun little car like that. I chose the Probox because it hits the perfect combo of both weird and boring.
I chose the white thing that looks like a mini-suburban because it had better wheels.
both of these seem really overpriced for what they are, but I guess that’s going to happen in a place with limited choice – went with the Swift only because it costs less.
The probox I guess, but man I could not be less enthused about either of these blobmobiles.
Edit: actually, no. Jamaica is tiny, like half the size of Lake Michigan. I’ll take a boat and an e-bike if I need to get around.
You may be underestimating the size of Lake Michigan… it’s a nearly 6 hour drive from one end of Jamaica to the other. If you only intend to stay downtown in your coastal town you’ll be fine though.
That’s fair. It’s about a fifth of the area of lake Michigan. I saw that Jamaica was half the length and half the width and my coffee-deficient brain decided it was half the size.
I still think a $10,000 speedboat would be a more interesting way to get around. Less traffic and no speed limits, either.
Now that I can agree with! Cigarette-boat style ideally. Just feels right…
Voted for the Toyota, simply for the utility. But in reality, it’s a neither day.
I picked the Swift strictly based on my fondness for past Suzuki products. I don’t know anything about either, so that seemed like as good a reason as any.
I read the whole article just in case, but no, I’m going to be Swift about it.
That Swift is Taylor made for you…
COTD contender
I once told a colleague, who is a Taylor Swift fan, that she had the wrong car (a Seat Ibiza).
She wasn’t amused.
I picked the Suzuki because the Probox is just a blank space.
Yeah, it was a bad comment. Shake it off.