The entry level Polaris RZR starts off just north of ten thousand dollars and can go as high as nearly thirty grand. Yamaha side-by-sides hang around twenty thousand dollars, and Can-Am isn’t far off from those figures, either. The popularity of side-by-side vehicles can’t be denied: they have all of the fun capabilities of a rock buggy, a quad, and the go-kart of your childhood dreams wrapped up in a ‘caged package, ready to go, but damn if they aren’t expensive. And be sure to add in the certain depreciation once it leaves the parking lot of the powersports store and hits the trail for the first time. Mud? Trail pinstripes? Yeah…call us cheap if you want, but dropping twenty-five grand or so on something that is going to be thrashed isn’t exactly a sensible choice.

Here is an option, then: take the Suzuki X-90 instead. Don’t remember what one looks like? Here you go:

It’s odd to place the X-90’s actual position in the marketplace. Supposedly, it was to take the place of the much-maligned Samurai that had been removed from the American market in 1995 after Consumers Union had gone after Suzuki, claiming that the Samurai rolled over faster than a fat dog wanting belly scratches. The replacement, the Suzuki Sidekick, was a bit bigger than the Sammy, but not by much, but for 1996 this kind of egg-shaped thing was on sale, complete with the full palette of 1990s colors (Teal! Purple! WTF…) and of all things, “lift off roof panels”…you know, T-tops. Powered by a 1.6L four-banger that provided adequate power, looking perfectly Japanese, and selling in small numbers, the X-90’s most memorable note was that these were the cars chosen as Red Bull’s marketing cars, complete with a five-foot “can” of Red Bull in the back.

Now, I remember when these things came out…they were weird, at best. But I do remember reading an off-road magazine’s take on them, saying that they were surprised at how competent the X-90 was off-road, particularly when playing in the dunes. Nowadays, seeing one at all is kind of a cool throwback, but they weren’t particularly loved then or now, so if you found one running, could you look at it and consider it a cheap alternative to a side-by-side UTV, especially when you can put plates on it? One guy in Colorado thinks so, and we agree. Front sheetmetal? Nah…look at the stock one above. You could build something better easily if you don’t like the four-banger hanging out in the breeze. For a fraction of the cost of a new UTV that is going to be an off-road toy only, you could have a fun beater that can handle the job. It might not have the cool factor, but you won’t have to drag around a trailer wherever you go, either.

Craigslist Link: 1996 Suzuki X-90