The Fixer and the Samurai - /TUNED
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ม.ค. 2014
- When we arrived in Panama City, all our plans completely fell apart. We had nothing, and no one. Until Joel Bolanos came along, became our fixer, and saved our trip. In this film, we take Joel's brilliant custom Suzuki Samurai up in the Cerro Azul, Panama's mountain region, for a little off roaring adventure.
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I will always respect a man that builds his own ride.
Same here.
Joel's a really cool guy! Lots of respect and he's very humble.
So humble and respectful...this episode is in my tuned top 5
By far the most respectable car tested on /Tuned. Seems like a genuinely cool owner, and an amazingly capable machine that most people would consider a Barbie car... all while having limited resources for the build. Respect!
That's one of the nicest samurais I've seen . Nice of him to let you use it, he seems like a real cool guy.
This is one of the best tuned episodes.
Yeah and i just shit myself because of my poor choice in beer
I bet you have an amazing farmer's tan after this trip. Love the little change of cars here. Probably one of your better episodes.
I like this guy! Joel looks like a fun dude.
Joel seems like a really cool guy, love his Samurai!
Thanks for a great video, and what a great guy. And I too liked his garage lol, so clean and organized. To see someone like Joel doing the best he can with his car and it's the best suitable suv for those jungle roads and rivers. It can make it because of it's small size and lightness. I think a heavier suv would get stuck more easily.
This is one of the best things you guys ever did and really showcases Farrahs ability to organize thoroughly, have it all go to shit and keep his cool and put together a fantastic episode. This is what I wish Drive was all about, I know budget and reality are constraints on that.
Joel has really built a great Samurai with all the neat details! And his garage matches it perfectly!
Joel is my hero right now. Nice job bud!
Amazing car, cool guy, great episode!
That is a pretty bad ass 4x4 samurai. Cool video & guest.
That Samurai is one hell of a ride.
Good to see someone still believes in this beast of a car. Always love the Samurai. It is also good to see what Joel has done with his skill. Thanks for sharing this with us all and saving the day.
damn that Joel got some skills!! that ride can get you to any parallel universe you choose!
I love these little Samurais. I have seen them put larger, more expensive 4x4s to shame in wet, muddy areas.
It is a real shame that there aren't any inexpensive, basic SUVs like the Suzuki Samurai, Daihatsu Rocky and Geo Tracker on the market today. They may have been basic but definitely made up for the lack of luxury and equipment with tons and tons of character and fun.
I bet these things will become quite collectible in the future.
What about the Dihatsu Terios
I think the still manufacture the Russian Lada Niva. It's a great simple and cheap suv, same size as the Suzuki Samurai. Watch this: watch?v=bTnZejG4Cdw
oscar tapiero Wow, the Diahatsu Terios is pretty cool. I haven't seen one of those before. That definitely is a great little SUV. I sure wish that they were available in the US.
bezor Ta Thanks, I'll check it out!
Suzuki Jimmy?
That is just overwhelmingly gorgeous.
I thought this was a nice example of what these trucks can do. Also, the closing a gap between cultures. 4x4 off roading is a world wide passion. Great video.
I had no idea a Samurai could be so cool. Thanks.
I am not into off road builds but joel did an amazing job
Amazing video man...I admire people like the Samurai owner, someone who loves his car, knows everything about it, fix it by him self. That's a real person.
Awesome example of tuning done right. Form following function all the way. Well done Jorel.
Joel, thanks for sharing your work with us. Kudos for Tuned for finding this guy. This is what people want to see.
This kid has an amazing car! Thumbs way up to him, simply awesome.
Fantastic... I drive a Samurai 9 months out of the year here in Michigan and now I want to go to Panama and meet Joel and have a beer !!!
Never been a Samurai fan but... Damn! thats a good looking and fully functional ride. Especially for its age.
i like this guy saying that he loves his Suzuki Samurai. Wow. :D
Good video and Great guy!
Absolutely love this thing. Awesome job Joel!
That car is very well built. I love the look and he has done a lot with it.
I've always wanted a Samurai :D I think it would fit greatly besides my Miata. Both are small, usually underrated cars that are the best value for money in their respective markets and can put more expensive cars to shame with the right mods or driver.
Excellent video....
Awesome Suzuki!!!
What an awesome video series, I have such a big smile watching this... so cool
I have an '88 Samurai .... This is EXACTLY where I want to go with my Samurai ! Awesome ride !
"It's for Men"!! CLASSIC! This is an awesome series of /TUNED guys, loving it.
Awesome little Suzuki-truck! This will most probably smoke some of them big new ones. These Suzies will get you through and to anywhere. Great job, Joel! Love it!
Great vid guys. Big thumbs up to Joel for building such a great samurai, that thing is really something to be proud of
My first car was an '87 Samurai. A fantastic little beast. Thanks for this video - good memories.
Props to Joel. Love the passion and humility.
I bought my 04' Jimny because of this video. Suzuki way of life!
I'm a huge off roader, and that suzuki is one of the nicest I've ever seen
What a nice and open minded guy, this Joel. Great series Matt, it's a pleasure to watch.
This type of modification to the Suzuki mini SUV (it's called Jimny here in Japan) is very very popular in Japan too.
It's a great little fun off-roader which can handle the most severe off road trial. Almost a cult car.
This is one of my all time favorite off road vehicles. Great in the dirt, terrible on the street but still an awesome ride none the less. I used to patrol a square mile in one of these and took it through EVERYTHING. Also did the same with a side kick, and an isuzu amigo. all three were awesome but the samurai was definitely better than the other two offroad. The amigo was the best on street moreso than dirt, and the sidekick was a happy medium. I loved all of them!!
Great job Joel, definitely a cool dude!
People are always so confused by these Suzukis...
Why?
Big is bad. Big means you get stuck, you ground out (unless you lift it ridiculously), you can't go round tight corners, fit through tight gaps or even park the thing easily.
Big also means heavy. Weight makes you sink, weight requires more power to push it, which means beefing everything up or risk breaking it. Massive drivetrain components are heavy too. It's a vicious circle.
You also have to have big brakes, and a big engine, and all the ancillaries have to be big to support it....
This is expensive, and it will eat fuel.
A light truck can hop over things that big trucks get stuck in. It will go further for longer because it's less stressed by its own weight.
This is why a good Series 1 Land Rover, or original Willys jeep is such a fun thing to drive off road, and remarkably capable, especially the more sophisticated Rover, with its very light aluminium body shifting the CoG lower down.
In Panama they have old school diesel toy hilux and nissan patrol diesels, so they're spoiled for choice as far as lightweight 4x4s. But they don't have any rovers or willys to speak of.
Martin Espinoza Rovers have definitely been _through_ Panama. Mine has, and I believe it was a Range Rover that was the first vehicle to drive all the way between.
As for sales, I'm not sure. I'm a little surprised there are no Willys though, seeing as it's much closer to the US than Japan.
Absolutely right. Big power and heavy weight = broken drivetrain. And don't forget a small, short truck has an excellent breakover angle so it won't get high-centered while going over a sharp crest. My old Tracker was great like that; even with small tires, it can make it over angles that would have a bigger truck with big tires risking sitting on the rock panels. It also had very short overhangs front and rear, so you could drive right onto an abrupt climb without risking scraping your bumpers. An unbobbed pickup bed sticks a couple feet out the back, and will bury its trailer hitch easily. Also, the small dimensions meant that I could easily lean out window, and look right down onto my front wheel and see exactly where it was going, and how much clearance there was for the bumper and rockers. It also would fit down ATV trails and snowmachine trails...they put up big rocks or posts with gaps too small to fit a truck through, but usually the Tracker would fit with a couple inches on either side. I would much rather have had a Samurai with the Geo 1.6L swapped in, but hey, it was free.
But guys got to have their big trucks....people might think they weren't tough and macho if they didn't have a fullsize V8 pickup! Just like how guys will laugh at a Miata even though it's one of the funnest, fastest and cheapest cars out there. If they aren't in a Camaro, people might think they are gay! They never seem to comprehend that if you need to drive a tough, "cool" car to look tough and cool, it's probably because you aren't actually very tough or cool yourself, and are using the car to make yourself look better. A really cool guy has no problem driving a 4-banger and doesn't worry whether anyone is laughing (and the only ones who do laugh are the ones who are convinced they need to have a big truck to be cool....sooo.....)
Beautiful car, beautiful garage. Congratulations.
Thank you Joel for saving their trip! love the truck and the video!
Joel and his Sami kick ass, great video.
that is bad ass! always catch myself staring at these things on the road
Love this episode. I know your bread and butter is the tuned sports car scene. But I really like when y'all branch out into the 4x4 and truck "tuning"
Great video. I love these journey-style-documentaries. Please keep em coming.
Oh and thumbs up for Joel! What a nice person and damnit he can build a car. I'm guessing he taught himself how to do it which makes it even more impressive!
Best tuned video ever if you ask me! Good job guys, what a quality show.
This was kick-ass guys! I thoroughly enjoy seeing another person so passionate about their car. Joel has a wicked sick Samurai too, I would love to own one myself.
I love to see people's garages I love to see where time and money investments come to life.
Another TV quality video, trips like this make great video
That was a great segment. It's sometimes a surprise what vehicle folks choose to build on. Respect.
Joel's so cool! I trust he's getting a cut? He did save the trip
Very well built give this guy major props and his garage is amazing!
Wish I had a wheeling buddy like Joel... seems like a really cool guy! Great episode!
What an awesome episode. I truly envy all the guys on the show that make this show such a success. Great work guys and beautiful 4x4 episode.
I need to show this to my dad! My dad had an old Samurai and he loved it a lot, hated to sell it. I remember being a tiny kid and riding in the back through the streets in my car seat.
Honestly one of my favourite videos on this channel! Well done
Totally agree with you Steven.. Joel seemed like a nice guy, very smart, very humble. Cool place to see. Thanks Joel.
All things being relative/equal, the Samurai is arguably THE BEST world 4X4 for the money spent and the overall functionability resulting. Yeah, it's more simple/basic, but it goes places others can't, costs less to modify, holds up well, is sold all over the place, it's cheap to operate, and as the owner said, even in stock form, it's pretty amazing. I have a Cherokee with over 30K "invested" and I wish I'd bought a Samurai instead.
This niggaa Joel!! Mad respect for the clean ass garage and DIY abilities!
Really cool guy. Glad he shared his ride with us!
Thank you guys for this episode! Looking at the scenery was cool and such a sweet place to off road. Joel's truck is the shit!!!!!
Kick ass car. Great job Joel.
Excellent video. Great job. He is a cool gear head.
Best trucks for 4x4ing by far.
Great vid!!
Love the music, it makes the whole video sort of fun and friendly.
Joel is ballin on a budget :) cool guy, with real passion.
These little things amazed me in Okinawa. There they are a k car with a 3 cyl turbo there. Blew my mind watching one hill climb at our drift spot. Then later he pulled me out of the mud after a good off while not driving sideways properly. Good episode man. Still one of the top shows on drive.
That was an awesome ride, and a cool/humble owner.
This was a great tuned video (: the terrain looks amazing and the samurai is awesome!
Love that Samurai, I have a 1986...Known as my money pit. That is one amazing vehicle. I just dropped in a 1.6 Sidekick blue printed motor with cam, producing 140 HP.
That's a great-looking samurai! Great job on building that thing it looks like would go anywhere's...
i like this series so far its good :)
I know you guys were probably worried about filming a off roader when its mostly road cars, But really this is one of the best episodes!! More off road cars!
Awesome! This is a great rig, I have one just like it here in Australia, called a Sierra here...
I loved the samurai when it was new in the 80's. Would love to own one now even in stock form. Joel's samurai is awesome!
his garage! So beautiful, something to aspire to.
That is so cool! The Samurai was a short wheel based little dynamo. And really simple to modify.
I really enjoy this series, It's nice that you do things quite spontaneous
Nice episode, humble man. Great car, awesome garage. Salute Joel!
Great video guys and I would kill for a garage as clean and well organized as Joels is.Love all the old service manuals that he probably rescued from the dump.Someday those manuals will be worth a fortune.
sweet samurai/vitara. looks like the panama trips coming up trumps. Looking forward to the next episode hopefully the evo's in it.
Hats off man ... to say it impressive would be an understatement. Great great job 👏
Great vid again - Kudos to Joel seems like a great build and looks quality - hanging out for the next vid...
what an awesomely friendly and open guy!
Thanks Matt for keeping up awesome and hilarious content on this series! Never a dull moment watching /TUNED :D
Matt Farah is my favorite vehicle enthusiast on the web.
For two reasons.
He good review:
•Samurai &
•Cappuccino
Suzuki FTW!!
And this Joel guy is Ninja-builder!
Much respecto!!
Kick ass! Sweetest ride I've seen sine I can't remember when.
That is one bad ass Suzuki samurai I lovet man joel take good care ot it thank for sharing bro
Great video and an awesome old Suzuki, I guess your not a pussy anymore, hahaha
I love the music. Reminds me of the game "Tropico," a classic.
Wish I had some pals and a budget to kick around south/central America and look for cars. I have been to Peru and Brazil. Interesting to me the differences in what is for sale there. Lots of Honda XR dirt bikes and strange VWs I've never seen at home in the states.
Another cool episode, the two last Tuned were really different and really good.
And Joel seems to be a great guy !
Love to see Steve o into his 4x4
so true