This Adorable Suzuki Jimny Cosplaying As A Geländewagen Has Stolen Our Hearts

Damd Baby G Traditional Suzuki Jimny Topshot (1)
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Despite its diminutive appearance and license-dodging styling, the car pictured above isn’t a toy car. It’s very real indeed, complete with standard features like an engine, seats, and windows. In fact, it’s a Suzuki Jimny off-roader all dressed up like an old mil-spec Geländewagen, and we’ve been fawning over it all morning. Isn’t it just pinch-me cute?

Japanese tuner DAMD has been having a lot of fun with the little Suzuki Jimny. This pint-sized off-roader is cutesy, utilitarian, and sports a silhouette willing to cosplay as just about anything styled with a ruler. We’ve already seen body kits to make it look like a Ford Bronco, a Land Rover Defender, and Mercedes-AMG G63, but now DAMD is throwing things back with a kit reminiscent of a time before the G-Class was officially called the G-Class.

Officially called the Baby G Traditional, this Jimny wears a ten-piece kit consisting of, well, let’s give Google Translate a whirl on DAMD’s website and see what it comes up with.

Front grill / Bonnet cover / Bonnet winker
front bumper / Koito made halogen square fork lamp
side mold / rear bumper / halogen square tee
Lulump Mud Flap / DD Emblem (Matto Black)

Hmm, that’s somewhat useful. What Google describes as a “Bonnet winker” is a pair of hood-mounted turn signals, the “Koito made halogen square fork lamp” is a pair of fog lamps, and I suspect the “halogen square tee” is the pair of headlight grilles to protect the lights from shrubbery and whatnot. Everything else should be reasonably comprehensible, albeit as reasonably as modern technology will allow.

Damd Baby G Traditional 1

The price for these ten pieces of glory? A cool 340,000 yen before tax, with a 76,000 yen surcharge if you want parts painted. Altogether, you’re looking at 416,000 yen before tax for a painted kit, or about $2,756 at the time of writing. Even though you’ll still need to buy wheels and tires, that’s solid value for making your Jimny look like a piece of Austrian-built military equipment.

Damd Baby G Traditional 2

Of course, nobody will actually mistake the DAMD Baby G Traditional for a G-Wagen because it’s just absolutely adorable. It’s wearing that costume like an almost impossibly small puppy carrying a hilariously oversized stick, to the point where you just want to pat it on the hood and call it a good boy. It has king-sized aspirations for when it grows up, and with your love and support, it can achieve them. Let’s hope a few of these kits are still floating around in 2043, when the first fourth-generation Jimny models are finally legal for U.S. importation.

(Photo credits: DAMD)

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40 thoughts on “This Adorable Suzuki Jimny Cosplaying As A Geländewagen Has Stolen Our Hearts”

  1. Of course, a contemporary Jimny is on my list of over-the-border (in Mexico) automotive offerings that elicit a Pavlovian response in me, along with the current Suzuki Swift. The modest googling I’ve done didn’t provide much to be optimistic about re: how to buy a car in Mexico and legally import/register/drive it in California, even if one’s willing to accept the risks associated with owning a modern car not sold in America.

    1. My ’66 Thunderbird has that, or at least something similar. It has regular front turn signals, but also little chrome bullet-shaped bezels on the front fenders with lights facing the driver to indicate that you’re signaling. It’s so much better than having signal indicators on the dashboard, it’s just out there in your line of sight so you never forget to cancel your signals. I agree more cars should have that.

      1. As did the Studebaker Hawk, and some American ‘luxury’ cars in the 70s/early 80s which had little indicators (often in chromed mini-fin housings) riding atop the front fenders, with a little light inside to flash when your blinker was on.

        1. IIRC the Mustang had them on a few trims for a while, but they were recessed in the hood “vents” so you wouldn’t notice them until they start blinking. Gotta love the creativity.

          1. Some cars (older ones, like the Studebaker) have (had?) little plexiglass protrusions, sort of like vertical fins, as indicators, with the bulb beneath. I seem to think some older Cadillacs had something similar, but I might just be imagining that now.

  7. I’m usually not a big fan of body kits but this looks great. I have absolutely adored the Jimny/Samurai since a trip to Aruba in the 90s where we took one places no Wrangler could possibly fit. If not for the 25 year rule this would be a “shut up and take my money” proposition even though I have absolutely no legitimate need for a Jimny.

      1. You know I’m DD’s are Toyotas and the Toyota engineers have figured out a way to make the bonnet winker’s work without fluid, which is great bc it saves some money on running costs.

        I’ve heard Ford, GM and Stalantis Stull use the same inexpensive type of bonnet winker fluid that’s like windshield washer fluid levels of cheap…

        The German makers of course Require bonnet winker fluid and Each Maker has their OWN Super expensive fluid type and if you Dare try to use the cheap Ford / GM / Stallantis type well then you whole damn bonnet winker system stops working, which I’ve heard is why you so rarely see BMWs and Audis using their bonnet winners, their systems are simply broken

    3. But it’s precisely the miniatureness of this that makes it appealing. Yes, the very few late-model Jimnys needed for one of these kits is pricey in America, because they’re not sold in the States. If you can buy one in Mexico, and figure out how to drive it here legally, I imagine the cost for a decent used one would be significantly less. Here’s a link to Doug DeMuro reviewing a current (2021 actually) Jimny driven over from Mexico (I’m not certain, but I think he’s doing the review in either San Diego or LA): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RJ3JONrSK4

      Even w/o the body kits (which actually seem fairly priced, even though installation will be extra) I still want a Jimny.

  13. It’s a good thing (for me anyway) that this won’t be legal in the US in my lifetime. My wallet just jumped out and what little cash in it has landed on my screen.

    1. Yeah, I saw a photo of one parked in a suburban shopping center somewhere in New Zealand with a K-Mart and a BBQ restaurant in the background and a Ford Ranger parked next to it, and I was like, WTF, explain again how this vehicle wouldn’t work in the US?

      1. I can only assume that Suzuki can’t make a viable business case for a return to the US market, and/or their current products wouldn’t pass federal requirements necessary to sell here. I’m a bit sad about this on an almost daily basis since I already have a Suzuki motorcycle and really like the current Jimny and Swift.

        1. I saw a lime green (Ryobi colored) Jimny in Tucson 2 weeks ago. Had a front plate that said 2023. I got a quick pic from the front then the stoplight turned and my driver (my gf lol) floored the rental and we were gone as I was still trying to take pics.

    2. I thought the idea was to make it look better or more capable? A unable to release is hardly better. But might be the only way we actually get to see a Bronco.

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