The has featured an incredible number of neat custom cars, and a bunch of them are unsurprisingly from the . The students and instructors from had been putting together a for weeks that debuted at the , after all. And I knew the custom five-door Jimny would be good, but not this good.
You see, I was worried about the weird, little back window. But it looks great!
The is officially called the NATS Jimny “Kimun Kamy,” a reference to the people’s “,” or mountain god. I’m digging the connection.
Especially since the Jimny’s older sibling, the , once held the for highest altitude reached by car, after driving to 21,942 feet — on the slopes of a volcano, no less — in Atacama, Chile in 2007.
The five-door Jimny Kimun Kamy doesn’t look nimble enough to be considered something of a climber, but it’s still equipped to tackle some gnarly roads and destinations. Look at this thing, sitting happily next to the .
That’s right. Tow Mater. But to get back to the five-door Jimny Kimun Kamy, the project had humble beginnings. It started with a Suzuki Jimny Sierra that belonged to one of the college instructors. The specs shared by NATS the project lengthened the Jimny’s wheelbase by almost 16 inches, added two doors, and lifted it by six inches.
The five-door Jimny is riding on 35-inch tires wrapped over 17-inch wheels, all tucked under oversized fenders. There’s a custom body kit, and the Jimny is protected by an outer roll cage fabricated at the college. The drivetrain also gets some modifications, including a turbo kit that increased the engine’s output to about 123 horsepower and 132 lb-ft of torque. Maybe it’s now?
The Jimny’s ECU was remapped for the bolt-on turbo kit and a custom exhaust system was installed, too. The project finished off by adding a light bar, rooftop tent, winch and other overland staples. Of course, there were upgrades to the interior, too, like a custom speaker system hooked up to an head unit, which should be an upgrade over the dreadful infotainment from Suzuki.
All in all, the NATS five-door Jimny should make a good template for those who want to build up the upcoming five-door production model from .