2002-2022: TWENTY YEARS SINCE THE FIRST ISSUE OF TOTAL OFF ROAD
Blitz and pieces At a time when the Suzuki SJ was still a very common sight but more and more of them were suffering terminal body rust, the NCF Blitz looked like a perfect way to keep an old one alive. It’s a surprise that the eternally innovative kit car company didn’t sell more of them during its time Words: Olly Sack Pictures: Phil Masters
O
ld Suzukis never die. They just rust in peace. As everyone who’s into off-roading knows, the SJ is an awesomely capable little vehicle – but one which suffers badly from body rot as the years turn into decades. At chassis level, however, the SJ is virtually indestructible. And that what first attracted Nick Findeisen, whose company NCF Motors had been ploughing its own furrow in the custom car market since 1984, to start looking at the legendary 4x4 as a donor vehicle for future models.
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2pp NCF Blitz.indd 50
The first Blitz off-roader was based on the Fiat 126, of all things. But with the advent of the SJ-derived version, NCF raised the game. Suddenly, the Blitz was more than just a funky little toy – now it was a serious off-roader with real potential for extreme fun and even competitive use. The man behind the vehicle in these pictures is Dave Sturmey, who when he built it was NCF’s representative in the South, Midlands and Wales. What attracted him to the kit in the first place, he told us, was the fact that you don’t need a degree in quantum physics to build it.
‘The main focus is to ensure that it’s a very simple conversion,’ he said, ‘utilising as many parts as possible off the donor vehicle and minimising any additional purchases. That’s one of the things we liked about it, and why we took it on.’ The Blitz design, of which NCF sold around 50 during its lifetime, used a standard SWB chassis from a 1985-on vehicle. This didn’t need to be modified at all – you just unbolted the old panels and replaced them with the Blitz body, which went straight on to the same mounting points. Of course, removing the old body tended to be easier
4x4 01/08/2022 23:22
