2002-2022: TWENTY YEARS SINCE THE FIRST ISSUE OF TOTAL OFF ROAD
Grand Design
Original Suzuki Vitaras are getting to the age at which people are starting to use them off-road. The same can’t be said for the Grand Vitara, however – which is why Craig Langley’s is one of a kind Words: Tom Alderney Pictures: Phil Masters
I
’m a Suzuki man through and through,’ says Craig Langley. He’s not joking. Having bought his first SJ410, taken it on a couple of fun days and been bitten by the off-road bug, four years later he owned two heavily modified Samurais and had a Jimny for his wife. Enough? Of course not. What you see on these pages is a 1998 Grand Vitara V6 LWB – the Lang-
leys’ erstwhile family car, which we photographed while it was in the process of being turned into Craig’s next plaything. Back in 2002, the vast majority of the many Grand Vitaras you’d see going around had never even been so much as put into low box. But Craig started thinking about turning his V6 into a big boy’s toy pretty much as soon as its three-year factory warranty had expired. ‘I was looking for a nice, comfortable vehicle for long-distance off-roading,’ he told us. ‘I’d been thinking about possibly a Land Rover or Wrangler – but having read the magazines, there wasn’t much that
people hadn’t done to them. You know, there are so many people out there that have done every sort of trick possible. ‘So we decided that because the Vitara had been so reliable, and nobody had done one, we’d have a go at experimenting and doing one for off-roading.’ This desire to be different led Craig on a major hunt of the internet, as he searched for the necessary kit to build the mother of all Grand Vitaras. ‘We established that we could get some sort of suspension lift, and started from there. That was the basic premise – we needed a lifted car, because obviously the Grand Vitara has quite low ground clearance in normal trim. Said suspension system, a 2.5-3” Calmini kit, was augmented by a 1.5” body lift built by Craig’s friend Shaun Briggs. Shaun’s been the man behind the majority of the mods on the vehicle, having also designed its rock sliders and front and rear winch bumpers, relocated its fuel tank and trimmed out its interior for serious action. Shaun modified the Calmini kit as he worked, moving the radius arms back slightly and altering
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