The New Zealand Father & Son Duo Designing Lightweight Beautifully Made Accessories for the Suzuki Jimny

Skinny Jim: Lightweight Ideas, Heavyweight Passion.

Every so often you come across a company in the Suzuki Jimny community that feels like it could only have been born from the Jimny itself. Stripped back, capable, and always up for an adventure. Skinny Jim is exactly that. A father-and-son outfit from New Zealand who, after years of tinkering, turned a love of these little 4x4s into a mission: to keep them light, functional, and fun.

From roof racks to false floors and everything inbetweener, Paul and Tom have been designing Jimny-specific gear that stays true to the car’s DNA. Like many of us in the community, taking what some might perceive as flaws with the Jimny platform into opportunities to make the Jimny’s character shine even more.

I caught up with them to talk about beginnings, designs, misadventures, and where Skinny Jim is heading next.

What’s the story behind the name “Skinny Jim”? When and where did you have the “aha moment” to go for it?

The name was kind of the inception of the business. It took us from ‘the tinkering stage’ to having a purpose, vision and some fire in our bellies.

Back in 2021 Paul had designed some tough little radius arm protecters out of folded aluminium, and we were chatting about what else was possible with this lightweight construction. Roof racks? We knew how important weight was from our own Jimny explorations and mistakes, so when ‘Skinny Jim’ fell out of my mouth, it got us excited. Then we quickly had to make sure there wasn’t another Skinny Jim out there in the Jimny community.

Paul was also convinced it might mean something dodgy. Still unconfirmed.

You talk about keeping things skinny in weight, style, and functionality. If you had to sum that philosophy, what would it be?

Great question. I think we’re really stretching the definition of ‘skinny’ these days, in a good way I hope. The core of it is ‘less is more’.

We love the stripped back but capable nature of the Jimny, and no matter what we add, we don’t want to lose that DNA. This obviously means a lightweight focus, but equally useful, smart and tough. Think mountain goat.

We even talk about a ‘skinny install process’– which to us is less time, less complexity, less fiddly parts – much like working on the Jimny itself. So it’s building and evolving on the Jimny, without losing its essence. That’s the goal.

Paul’s a nuts-and-bolts guy and Tom’s a get-out-there guy. How do those two worlds collide when you’re designing gear?

Ha, you’ve put your finger right on it. The worlds do collide but usually productively. Paul is a perfectionist in the workshop, and I’m obsessed with our gear’s ‘out there’ usability.

A classic Monday will be us debriefing how one of our prototypes handled a new scenario over the weekend. Or a new use case we should really design something for. Or not… This keeps us busy and the discussions robust.

As a random aside, we rarely use any nuts these days. It’s bolts and threaded inserts mostly. Paul has become so stripped back with the design, he’s dispensed of the nuts.

You mentioned it can take “ages” to design and re-design. What’s one product that nearly drove you mad, but now you’re most proud of?

Without doubt our Jimny 5-Door false floor solution. When the 5-Door arrived everyone in the community was pretty disappointed with the car’s interior layout/functionality. The rear seats didn’t fold flat, and weren’t flush to the boot space. It was a super niggly loading area to work with.

This was a ‘challenge accepted’ moment for us, to fix the issue while adding further value. It took us 9 months (and probably 1000 hours of Paul crouched awkwardly in the rear footwell) before we had a solution we were truly satisfied with. The response from our initial pre-launch teaser made it all worth it, and the feedback once we started getting the kit out there even more so. It’s still one of our best sellers.

Everything is made in New Zealand. How important is that to you, and what does it bring to your gear that people might not realise?

It feels so great do it all here. And practically, it means we stay completely in touch with all aspects of the production. In the early days this meant literally driving between our metal folder’s, welder’s and powder coater’s place with a trailer full of metal bouncing behind the Jimny. It is all still pretty hands on.

Making our gear in NZ also means we’re collaborating with craftspeople with that classic Kiwi ‘can do’ mentality and creative spirit.

But the real benefit to our customers is that our gear is made to last in New Zealand conditions. We are blessed with the highest UV rating in the world here, and an equally high salt content being so coastal. It’s incredibly harsh on cars. That’s why we go with marine-grade aluminium, stainless steel fixings and a high-spec powder coat all over – anything else doesn’t stand a chance down here.

If the Jimny is allergic to excess weight, what’s the biggest design compromise you’ve had to make to keep things lightweight but still tough?

Another great question. Initially we thought aluminium construction might be a compromise in certain areas – the roof rack clamps for example. But learning more and more about how far you can push this metal (stronger grades and folding methods) has convinced us that it’s a winner for virtually all things Jimny.

What’s the most skinny (minimal but brilliant) Jimny camping setup you’ve seen or created yourselves?

Geordie Jimny we are giving this one to you. Your early solo camps actually inspired Paul to purchase his Jimny JB74.

“Wow, small world! Queue a shameless link to my YouTube!” – Paul @ Geordie Jimny

To us camping isn’t about who has the most clever or pimped out setup. It’s time dedicated to having less, doing less, and enjoying that feeling.

As for us, we are currently working on something minimal (and hopefully brilliant) in the camping space. Think glowing hot orb of energy in the sky.

Between the two of you, who’s more likely to overload the Jimny with “just one more” thing and who’s the ruthless weight police?

This might surprise you, but neither of us are real sticklers when it comes to the load limit.

Our products are a different story, as they’re often on the roof or in the car 24/7 – so weight really matters there. But when it’s a one-off camping or surfing trip, it’s more about common sense. Both of our Jimny’s have been unwilling pack horses when required.

What’s been your most memorable Jimny adventure so far, and did any Skinny Jim gear save the day?

Our most recent South Island trip, no doubt. Ironically our Jimny business has got in the way of a lot of our Jimny adventuring, so to get out for 2 weeks of continuous touring, off-roading and camping in the most stunning part of the country – man it felt good. The South Island’s mix of braided rivers, shingle and mountain climbs is such fun Jimny terrain. I’m back there in January and it couldn’t come sooner.

Gear that saved the day – probably our interior tie-down setup. There were some rough old tracks that could have sent a fridge flying.

On the flip side, tell us about a Jimny misadventure where things didn’t go to plan and what you learned from it.

We have pushed ourselves on some more challenging tracks, but a couple weeks ago I took on a relatively easy one and ended up close to a roll over. It was a real lesson in complacency, and the Jimny’s high centre of gravity. A relaxed attitude to a downhill rutted section (and one dodgy reflex reaction) saw me very close to laying on my side. Luckily we had some experienced Jimny friends around, who perfectly executed a winch recovery to get me back on 4 wheels.

Skinny Jim started with two Jimnys. Removing all limits of reality, what’s the dream fleet you’d add to the garage?

A little publicised fact is that Paul is big into designing parts for Porsche track cars too – it’s his ‘fast car’ alter ego. There is a half-built Porsche 944 which I’m sure will make its way into the Skinny workshop at some point. We both love Safari 944 builds too.

It’s either that or turbo-ing the Jimnys!

What’s the best Jimny chat you’ve had with a customer that still sticks in your mind?

It’s got to be our very first customer, who we ran into at a Jimny meet months later. Not only were they stoked with our roof bars, they gifted us both a brass Jimny key ring they had designed and made themselves. Sums up the Jimny community really. It sticks in our minds and on our key chains too.

The Jimny community is famously global and passionate. How does it feel to see Skinny Jim gear making its way beyond New Zealand?

It’s a thrill for sure. I think the gear has travelled to more countries than either of us have now. It often seems like the further the distance from us, the more enthused the Jimny owner tends to be. That must be what offsets the shipping cost – pure passion. So grateful for the unpaid ambassadors we have dotted around the globe. It’s honestly what keeps us going.

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Without giving too much away, what’s next on the design table?

So our modular roof setup is more or less complete, which leaves us with the rest of the car. The vision is to make the Jimny the ultimate lightweight overlander/camper, so we’ll definitely need more than roof racks and interior storage.

There’s a few things we are often asked for like a Skinny ladder, that’s high up the list. We have a few camp-oriented ideas too. Summer is coming back down south. Funny you mention a table actually. Maybe our Inbetweener platform could grow some legs…

Who wins in an off-road duel, Paul’s Jimny or Tom’s Jimny?

Tom’s Jimny gets there faster, but with a higher risk of damage.

A skinny send-off with a big thank you

Skinny Jim is proof that when passion and purpose collide, the results are gear that doesn’t just fit the Jimny, it belongs there. Whether you’re in New Zealand or halfway across the world, their focus on lightweight design and rugged simplicity speaks to what makes the Jimny special.

Big thanks to Paul and Tom for sharing their story and let’s keep them busy 😉 – visit https://www.skinny-jim.com and pick up some gear designed specifically for your Jimny today.