GeoMetro

01

Origins

The Geo Metro of 1989 was a Suzuki Cultus built in Ontario by the CAMI joint venture and sold through Chevrolet dealers as basic transportation, unashamed. Its 1-litre three-cylinder engine made around 55 horsepower and returned fuel economy in the fifties of miles per gallon — figures that made the Metro the thriftiest car in America for most of its life, and briefly famous again every time petrol prices spiked. The XFi economy special was more frugal still; a tiny convertible added improbable cheer. Nobody pretended it was fast, quiet or prestigious, and owners tended toward fierce loyalty precisely because the car never claimed to be anything but honest. It outlived the Geo brand itself, wearing a Chevrolet badge from 1998 until the end in 2001 — the last true econobox America embraced.