NCF Blitz An answer to rusting SJs that should have sold way more than it did

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

Old 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 fi rst 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.

The fi rst 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 fi rst 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 modifi ed 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

NCF revised the Blitz’s cage design just before this example was built, running it down to the chassis – which gave the vehicle a new level of potential for competitive use. The wheels, tyres and snorkel seen here were among a set of options offered by southern agent Blitz Midlands, whose demo car this was

said than done, given the extent to which these panels liked to rust, but once you’d freed off the bolts you were already on the home straight.

There are several advantages that come from taking such a simple approach to changing a vehicle’s character. One, obviously, is that it’s quick and easy to do. Another is that because it’s just a body swap, Blitz builders didn’t need to mess around with Single Vehicle Approval – just change ‘three-door estate’ to ‘off-road utility’ on the vehicle’s V5, and all the paperwork is taken care of.

But there’s a more subtle advantage, too. If you were running around in a rusty old SJ, and that’s how it was going to stay, you’d be unlikely to embark on a chassis-up overhaul. Yet that’s exactly what changing it into a Blitz encouraged people to do – because with the body coming off, you’d never get a better chance to inspect the chassis, sort out any surface rust and do whatever was necessary on ancillaries like the pedals, brake lines, wiring loom and steering column.

These all needed to be removed before the Blitz body was fitted in place, after which they’d just go back where they came from. ‘It’s been designed so it’s as simple as possible,’ said Dave. ‘Anybody with basic mechanical knowledge can do it.’

One thing you didn’t have to touch was the drivetrain, which remained almost completely standard. All Dave did to the 1.3-litre engine on this one was add a Weber carb conversion kit and make up a snorkel from some tubing and a K&N Vauxhall Corsa air filter.

The main part of the Blitz body was a one-piece tub made from 48mm MSA-approved blue rolled steel tubing, with the floorpan and bulkhead built in. Customers also got two side panels, a one-piece bonnet and a detachable front end. The latter section is mounted by six bolts, two on each side and two at the front on the chassis itself, which means it can be removed in minutes for easy access ‘should you ever decide to do any engine upgrades.’ Or just when you pull into service at a comp safari.

Think we’re joking? NCF modified the cage prior to this example being built, running its supports all the way down to the chassis so it would meet with MSA approval for speed events. Dave’s was only bolted in place, whereas for competitive use you’d have to weld it on, but all the metalwork was there to let customers make this happen.

What didn’t the kit include? Aside from a donor vehicle, customers needed to source a pair of lorry wings (which were cut in two to make a set of wheelarches), a windscreen and wiper and a set of headlamps. When it came to lighting, that was all you needed to buy in – every other light on the donor vehicle was retained on the Blitz.

There was also a list of optional accessories available, including custom-made Cobra buckets and Willans four-point harnesses (for which the mounting points were already in place), as well as 31x10.50R15 tyres and eight-spoke rims, a rear-mounted spare wheel carrier, a windscreen flange and, would you believe, a heater.

You might have expected non-standard springs to be on the list too, given that the Blitz body is about 200kg lighter than standard, but Dave told us he had found the effect to be negligible. ‘People always think it’s had a lift kit as it stands,’ he said, ‘purely because of where the wheelarches sit on it. But it’s totally standard ride height, just as it was taken from the donor vehicle. In my experience, there’s very little difference in the way it drives. It’s not as pitchy as the standard SJ; I don’t know whether that’s to do with the tyres being a bit more cushioned.’

We had a test drive while these pictures were being taken and found that while the Blitz was able to compress its suspension, it could perhaps have done with lower spring rates and less enthusiastic damping. There was enough flexibility there to let it get over extreme obstacles, but it felt as if it would give its best at higher speeds. For trialling, the soggiest springs you could find would be in order, along with a set of knackered long-travel shocks.

And what about for winch challenges? Back then, we concluded that with the right set-up, Blitz would be a very promising prospect indeed for extreme use. With its incredibly sharp approach and departure angles, along with integral box-section rock sliders instead of vulnerable sills, you’d have to be trying very hard indeed to get it hooked up and harder still to do any actual damage.

Would it become as common a sight at 4x4 events as the standard SJ, we wondered. Unlikely, we said, and in this we clearly weren’t wrong – but at a time when the amount of Suzukis battling terminal body rust was reaching bloodbath proportions, it’s perhaps a surprise that more people didn’t spring for the £1200 NCF was after for the entire kit.