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BōzukiBōzuki is an ASK-Solutions project centred on the staged build and further development of an older Suzuki Swift. Inspired by Bōsōzoku, the project uses the car as its lasting physical project object for practical ownership, design, fabrication, electronics, documentation and technical learning.
Bōzuki is not a restoration project, a conventional tuning project or a repair project intended to return the car to its original factory or road-going state. Repair may be necessary as part of the build, but it serves a much broader development. The project explores how far an existing vehicle can be modified safely and responsibly when the operation of its parts and systems is understood, choices are documented and knowledge is made transferable.
Bōzuki uses an existing Suzuki Swift as the basis for a long-term self-build and modification project. The goal is to create a vehicle that is no longer automatically recognisable as a standard Swift, while keeping the existing car as a practical and regulatory starting point.
That starting point matters. Building a complete vehicle from zero would require solving many legal and technical requirements before the vehicle could even become practically usable for the build, investigation and documentation within the project. Using an existing vehicle makes it possible to work from a real, registered, physical base while still redesigning, replacing and documenting many parts of the car over time.
The name Bōzuki combines Bōsōzoku influence with Suzuki. The project uses an existing vehicle as its starting point, but its purpose is not to preserve or restore the original Swift. Nor is it a conventional tuning project in which performance, appearance or market value is an end in itself. The staged build is used to investigate and apply practical ownership, self-build, documentation, design choices and technical responsibility in one continuously changing object.
Within Bōzuki, a central question is what ownership means in practice. Repair is part of that, but it is not the whole story. The broader question is what ownership still means when people cannot understand, read data from, adapt, repair, document or continue using the systems they legally own because access to the required tools, knowledge, parts or software is blocked.
Modern vehicles increasingly contain software, sensors, telematics, digital activation, closed protocols, infotainment integration and manufacturer-controlled configuration. That complexity is not the problem by itself. Complex systems may require specialised knowledge, proper tools, safe procedures and careful documentation. The ownership problem begins when those tools, procedures, documentation, parts, protocols or configuration options are not made available, or when access is restricted through vendor accounts, licences, subscriptions, locked software, unavailable diagnostic functions or closed data channels.
A person may legally own a vehicle while still being practically dependent on manufacturer permission to diagnose it, configure parts, access data, use installed hardware or keep functions working over time. Bōzuki takes a different route. The project makes technical choices visible. It documents what is changed, why it is changed, how parts are selected, how systems interact and what knowledge is needed to modify a complex object responsibly.
The public result of Bōzuki is not only the car itself. The value also lies in making the process visible: measuring, designing, fitting, building, replacing, testing, documenting and explaining. Within Bōzuki, the car makes visible how technology, ownership, safety, regulation and practical self-build come together in concrete project work.
That is why the project does not only show a finished result. Choices, intermediate steps, patterns, designs, software, parts, mistakes and solutions are recorded and shared where possible. The project shows how responsible modification can be approached and how the knowledge behind it can be made transferable.
Where possible, designs, patterns, software and documentation are released as free hardware and free software. In that way, Bōzuki produces reusable knowledge for people interested in body design, mould making, composites, electronics, Linux, Raspberry Pi, software development, vehicle technology and documentation.
The car remains the central physical project object of Bōzuki. This allows the build to develop over several years and the same vehicle to be used repeatedly for investigation, documentation, explanation and demonstration.
The car can be shown at events, workshops, shows and technical demonstrations to involve new people and start conversations about making, design, documentation and ownership. It can show not only what has been built, but also what was measured, changed, tested, learned and documented along the way.
This long-term role is important. A single finished vehicle can impress people once. A documented, evolving project can keep teaching: about choices, errors, safety, tools, parts, materials, software, regulations and the difference between owning an object and actually being able to work with it.
One of the learning goals of Bōzuki is to show how vehicle repair is often organised, and what can be lost in that approach. In many workshops and parts systems, repair starts with brand, model, year, version and part number. A suspension part is worn, so a replacement damper and mounting kit are ordered for that exact vehicle. A brake booster is defective, so the correct OEM part number is searched. The old module is removed, the new one is installed, adjusted and tested.
That way of working is practical and often efficient, but it can also make technical knowledge dependent on catalogues, part numbers and availability. When a part goes out of production, the search may be reduced to finding a used part from the same model. The functional question moves into the background: what does the part actually do, which dimensions matter, what forces are involved, how much travel is needed, what pressure is required, where are the mounting points, and which other parts interact with it?
Bōzuki therefore uses a different learning route. It looks not only at the part number, but at the function. What must the part do? Which forces, movements, connections, safety margins and interactions matter? Can another part be used if the mounting position is adapted and the system as a whole remains safe and functional? Which other parts must change with it?
This is similar to the way people often upgrade computers. When replacing a graphics card, you do not only ask which cards were once sold under the original computer manufacturer’s part number. You check whether the PCIe connection is compatible, whether the card must be low profile, whether it takes more than one slot, whether the power supply is sufficient and whether a power cable adapter is needed. Bōzuki applies that way of thinking to vehicle technology: understand what a part does, why it is there and how it can be safely replaced, adapted or redesigned.
Bōzuki is being developed toward a more stately, angular and less immediately recognisable form. The design direction draws on Bōsōzoku influence, but also on the proportions and presence of larger 1980s cars and the sharper sport-coupé language of cars such as early 1980s Nissan Silvia and Skyline models.
The goal is not simply to make the Swift boxy. The direction is more specific: flatter surfaces, a longer and lower nose, a more triangular overall impression, fewer rounded hatchback cues and a rear shape that moves toward a sedan-like sport-coupé character.
The front of Bōzuki is one of the clearest design and build directions. The project uses original Hella headlights from the 1980s Volkswagen Jetta parts line, with mounting frames and related body parts. These are not Jetta-like styling references, but real automotive components that will be integrated technically into a new front design.
That distinction matters. In automotive parts, “fits OEM part number” does not always mean original, identical or equal in quality. Some replacement parts are universal solutions that fit the same mounting pattern but have a different appearance. Other parts are reproductions, sometimes very accurate and sometimes much less so. In this case, Hella is the original supplier selected by Volkswagen for these headlights.
The same functional parts perspective also applies to the rear lights. For Bōzuki, new VParts rear lights are already available. The Swedish VParts supplies Volvo parts such as new old stock, special reproductions and adapter solutions that can make parts from later model years usable on earlier models. Bōzuki therefore looks at parts not only as catalogue numbers, but through function, dimensions, mounting, quality, availability and safe applicability.
The area between the bonnet and the headlights is intended to become black, but not grille-like. The direction is a closed glass front surface with black behind it, so the front becomes flatter, cleaner and more deliberate rather than an open grille conversion.
The Suzuki badge direction is also different from the original Swift. The project uses a rectangular Suzuki badge, as used on the 1980s Alto, instead of the larger loose rounded chrome-plastic S badge from the original car. The wheel direction is aluminium JDM rims in a chrome colour.
An advantage of this Swift version is that the front axle already sits relatively far from the doors compared with many compact hatchbacks. On many small hatchbacks, the side panel behind the front wheel is only a few centimetres wide at its narrowest point. On this Swift, that distance is about twelve centimetres. That gives the car better starting proportions for a longer, lower and more stately nose line.
The project will therefore probably not need to change the actual position of the front axle. The intention is to build on the existing proportions visually: lengthen and lower the nose, flatten the rounded shapes and move away from the standard hatchback appearance.
If the distance between the front wheel and the door still looks visually too tight, a small caster adjustment may be enough to move the wheel subtly forward. That would allow the wheel arch to start slightly further toward the front of the car, helping the longer nose line look more natural.
That fits within the planned suspension and geometry upgrade. The original non-adjustable caster and camber setup will be replaced by a setup that allows caster and camber adjustment, and may also make the front slightly lower and the suspension slightly firmer. The goal is not to force a lower ride height by cutting springs, clamping spring coils together, installing a generic lowering kit or using an off-the-shelf adjustable set simply because it can be made to fit. Bōzuki needs a setup selected, adapted or built around the actual geometry and purpose of the car: caster, camber, ride height, spring behaviour, damping, wheel position and safe handling.
Bōzuki brings together several technical disciplines. The project includes body design, fabrication, mould making, composites, lighting, electronics, interior design, software, measurement, documentation and vehicle technology. Some parts will be repaired, but many will be replaced, redesigned or rebuilt as part of the wider concept.
The electronics and software direction is already part of the Bōzuki design. The project uses a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 as the computing platform for higher-level vehicle systems such as display, interface, audio, logging and integration functions, with Linux as the operating-system base. It is not intended to act as the ECU. Engine management will be handled by a separate dedicated embedded solution designed for this project, because Bōzuki has requirements that are not expected to fit within a standard off-the-shelf ECU.
The dashboard direction includes custom bar graphs for temperature, fuel level, oil pressure, exhaust-gas temperature, fuel control and engine speed. Custom seven-segment displays are planned for speed, odometer and trip-counter information. This keeps the instrumentation close to the project’s visual language while avoiding a generic tablet-dashboard approach.
The electronics work also includes DSP-based multi-channel audio, control of voltage rails, actuators, headlights and LED drivers, sensor read-out and many physical switches. These systems are part of the same ownership question as the mechanical work: the vehicle should remain understandable, adaptable, documentable and under the control of its owner.
Bōzuki is intended for a broader audience than car enthusiasts alone. It is relevant for people interested in mold making, composites, electronics design, Linux, Raspberry Pi, software development, vehicle technology, fabrication, design, documentation and practical ownership.
For learners, students, makers and volunteers, the project can show how a large technical project is approached in stages. For technicians, repairers and designers, it shows how parts, safety, documentation and adaptability interact. For people interested in privacy, Right to Repair and Right to Ownership, Bōzuki makes the ownership question tangible through a real vehicle.
The project is also useful in conversations with people who normally do not encounter technical work directly. Because the car remains visible, physical and unusual, it can invite questions and make technical choices easier to discuss.
Bōzuki is a project of ASK-Solutions. The objectives of ASK-Solutions arise from philosophical and ethical questions concerning, among other things, knowledge, freedom, responsibility, ownership, dependency, human development and the relationship between people, organisations and society. Projects give such questions concrete forms in which they can be investigated, applied, shared and developed further.
Technology is a particularly concrete place where many of these questions come together and become visible. In a technical object, dependencies, design choices, access to knowledge, repairability, control and responsibility become material: a component can or cannot be investigated, a system can be understandable or closed, and an owner can modify something independently or remain dependent on permission, tools, software or knowledge controlled by others.
Bōzuki makes this visible through a single vehicle that is designed, built, modified and documented over an extended period. Questions about ownership, knowledge and responsibility can therefore be examined not only in the abstract, but through concrete decisions concerning construction, components, electronics, software, safety, regulation and documentation.
Knowledge transfer arises directly from that project work. Measurements, design, fabrication, electronics, software, safety, mistakes and solutions can be explained, investigated and documented through an existing and changing object.
Bōzuki is structured as a phased build and documentation project. The project page describes the purpose, design direction and technical approach; detailed progress, dated updates and build notes belong on the Bōzuki website and in project notes.
The documentation follows the same principle as the build itself. It is meant to show not only results, but also measurements, choices, mistakes, solutions, regulations, parts, software, patterns and the reasons why certain modifications are made and others are not.
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