I had a big WTF while watching this Suzuki Alto Works CA72 ad. In a typically 80s Japanese style the Alto is announced with a big Liding High, Alto Woks:
Disclaimer: I’m not trying to mock the Japanese here and we all know they have difficulty with foreign languages like English. The funny part is that the ad is lacking the R and high is spelled hi. Now it feels like someone is saying hi with the Alto Works. ;)
You can watch the full video below:
Some context around the Alto Works. Works is the in house tuning department at Suzuki. They take existing cars (mostly the Suzuki Alto) and beef up the engine, tweak the suspension, install bucket seats and apply some mad aero parts to the body. This generation of the Suzuki Alto Works is a pretty impressive car: with its tiny 543cc engine it was able to produce 64hp! That is about the same figure the 1.2 litre Duratec engine outputs in todays Ford Fiesta ST! The car only weights 600 kilograms, delivering a power to weight ratio of 97 PS/tonne. Not bad for a tiny pocket rocket with a 550cc engine from Japan during the 80s!
There was also a Suzuki Alto Works RS-R CC72 edition that additionally has four wheel drive so it is time to say HI! to the Alto! The Alto Works RS-R came with 4WD configuration, making it the weapon of choice for the Japanese mountain villages during the 80s. The 4WD required the rear seats to be mounted more forward to make room for the trans axle and rear differential. This version was the most expensive of the Alto range ant it tripled the price of the standard basic Alto, so you really had to be determined to get one!
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