The history of Suzuki four wheel drive cars goes back to 1968. Suzuki bought former Japanese automaker Hope Motor Company which had produced fifteen small off-road vehicles called the HopeStar ON360. Then in 1970, they produced the first "real" Suzuki 4x4. It was called the LJ10, and it had an air cooled, 359 cc, two-stroke, in-line two-cylinder engine. 1972 saw the introduction of the LJ20. The cooling was changed from air cooling to water cooling due to newly enacted emission regulations, and gained 3 hp. In 1975, Suzuki complemented the LJ20 with the LJ50, which had a larger 539 cc, two-stroke, in-line three-cylinder engine and bigger differentials. This was originally targeted at the Australian market, but more exports soon followed.