We brought you the sad news earlier this week that the Suzuki Swift Sport is set to die. With three generations under its belt (and preceded by the fabulous underrated gem of the Ignis Sport), it became a cult hit among the hot hatch greats – offering bags of old-school, free-revving fun without ever really breaking the bank.
Of course, that did change for the third generation which gained a turbocharger and an eye-watering price tag. Launching at £17,999, which I can confirm earned an audible gasp on the European press launch, it was a mere £1,000 cheaper than the Ford Fiesta ST which was inarguably a cut above the Swift as a proper hot hatch.
Yet even that is beginning to look reasonable with the current, now-mild-hybrid equipped car now commanding an RRP of £24,270. We’d love to tell you to go enjoy the final days of that Swift Sport, but not at that price.
Suzuki Swift Sport ZC32S
Naturally, that leads us to the classifieds where fortunately things are much, much more tantalising. You can pick up a third-gen car for as little as around the £10,000 mark, but we think you can do better still.
There’s the Mk1, often considered among Swift Sport owners (of which I’ve long been one) as the purest driver’s car of the three, which these days can be picked up for almost pocket change on the ropier end.
For something to use day-in, day-out, though, the second generation is the car you want. Commonly referred to by its chassis code of ZC32S (although three-door versions had ZA32S in their VINs), it carried over the M16A engine from the 31S, upped power to 134bhp from 122bhp and most crucially added a much-needed sixth gear.
Suzuki Swift Sport ZC32S interior
The result was a car that was a bit quicker than the one it replaced, just as fun in the twisty stuff and with a bit more equipment to boot. Standard-fit cruise control, Bluetooth and a more logical keyless start system than the first-gen were the most welcome additions.
Yet the price didn’t catastrophically rise either. £14,000 would’ve grabbed you the keys to a new one on its launch in 2011, about a £1,300 increase on the 31S.
In 2024 though, the second-gen Swift Sport is a rare offering – a genuinely fun, Japanese performance-ish car that doesn’t cost the earth. You can pick leggy ones up for as little as £4,000, while near-mint cars can fetch up to £9,000.
Suzuki Swift Sport ZC32S
We’ve picked out this neat 2015, three-door example for £6,450. 67,800 miles is above average but, provided it’s been looked after, the 1.6-litre M16A is a bulletproof unit. There’s no mention of service history in the listing, so it’s worth asking about that.
It has failed three MOTs in its time, but twice on tyre-related accounts and once on registration plate lamps, rather than anything to cause major cause concern.
We’re not sure any Suzuki Swift Sport is going to be cheaper than now so, if you’ve had an itch, now feels the time to scratch it.
