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Look what West Coast Customs did to a 100-year-old Mitsubishi Model A

A hundred years ago, Mitsubishi made its first car, called the Model A. Back in April of this year, the automaker said it would update an example of that original model, electrifying it with the help of West Coast Customs. The result is the Mitsubishi Re-Model A, which combines old-school looks with the automaker's plug-in hybrid powertrain borrowed from the Outlander PHEV. To make room for the Outlander PHEV's chassis, West Coast Customs had to stretch the body of the Model A, while attempting to retain as much of its original form as possible. Once that was completed, they gave the car new door panels and modern steering wheel and parking brake. With two drive motors, the Re-Model A gets Mitsubishi's Super All-Wheel Control. The resulting car is a little funky looking. It's got wide, modern wheels and tires that look out of place. The front end takes on a new shape that looks odd from certain angles. On the plus side, it's probably faster and better to drive (depending on your perspective) than the original, which had a 2.8-liter four-cylinder engine producing 35 horsepower. We drove the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV that the Re-Model A gets its chassis from, and enjoyed it quite a bit. Still, watching the mechanics tear down a 100-year-old vehicle — which will never be the same again — makes us cringe. Mitsubishi has a microsite devoted to the Re-Model A if you'd like to learn more. Related Video:

Junkyard Gem: 1987 Mitsubishi Mirage L Hatchback

  Chrysler Corporation began selling Mitsubishi Colt Galants with Dodge Colt badging in North America all the way back in the 1971 model year, with many more rebadged Mitsubishis to follow in later decades. Soon after Mitsubishi developed the new front-wheel-drive Mirage for the home market in 1978, this car received Dodge Colt and Plymouth Champ badging on these shores. Sales were brisk, despite internal competition from the Simca-derived Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon. Starting in the 1983 model year, Mitsubishi began selling vehicles under its own badging here; at first, Americans could buy the Starion, Tredia, Cordia, and Mighty Max. For the 1985 through 1987 model years, the second-generation Mirage rolled out of North American Mitsubishi showrooms, doing sales battle with its near-identical Colt twins at the Dodge and Plymouth dealers. Here's one of those cars, found in battered condition in a Denver self-service car graveyard. This car didn't get much beyond 150,000 miles during its career, but those miles must have been hard ones. More likely, it spent long periods (maybe decades) sitting outdoors after being parked for the last time. Presumably, the driver's side was facing south and bore the brunt of many years of mile-high solar radiation. While the 1985-1987 Dodge and Plymouth Colts sold in huge numbers here, this generation of Mirage didn't catch on nearly as well with car shoppers. I hadn't seen an early Mirage in a junkyard for many years when I found this one. The "Big Nose Guy" icons on the HVAC controls appeared in all Mitsubishi-built cars sold here during the 1980s. Mitsubishi was (and is) a consumer-electronics behemoth, and so the high-end factory AM/FM/cassette rig in this car bears the same nameplates as the car itself. I couldn't get the hood open, but this car was almost certainly powered by an ordinary 4G Orion engine. The transmission is the five-speed manual, which was easier to use than the dual-range Twin-Stick four-speed but not nearly as cool. Starting in the 1989 model year, the Mitsubishi Mirage had to compete with three different badge-engineered siblings for sales: the Dodge Colt, the Plymouth Colt, and the Eagle Summit. On top of that, the first-generation Hyundai Excel and its Mitsubishi Precis twin were close cousins to the Mirage. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The 1980s really were the Golden Age of JDM Car Advertising.

Recharge Wrap-up: Japan supports hydrogen, Fools against fuel cells, BlueIndy controversy

Japan hopes to expand the use of hydrogen energy by subsidizing fuel cell vehicles, according to The Japan News. The trade ministry plans to include the subsidies in its 2015 budget to coincide with the expected launch of Toyota's Fuel Cell Vehicle and the Honda FCEV hydrogen car. By jump-starting purchases of hydrogen cars, Japan hopes that innovation and mass-production will get a boost and the cost of fuel cell vehicles will be competitive with gasoline-powered models by the year 2025. Japan plans to have 100 hydrogen fueling locations operating by March 2016, and wants to halve the cost of building those stations by 2020. The amount of the subsidies has not yet been set. Investing website The Motley Fool isn't quite as optimistic as Japan about hydrogen cars, and is instead bullish about Tesla Motors. The Fool points to Tesla's strong stock performance, and predicts future growth will come from more car models in the future - starting with the Model X - as well as the company's proposed Gigafactory for manufacturing batteries. If Tesla's charging technology continues to catch on, that only improves its financial prospects. The article has some harsh words, however, for hydrogen: "Fuel cells are an inferior automotive technology and for fundamental efficiency, cost, and infrastructure reasons always will be mere compliance gimmicks." Yeesh. As part of a program to build charging stations for the Indianapolis EV carsharing service BlueIndy, utility company Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL) wants to raise its electricity rates an average of 44 cents a month per residential customer to help pay for its share of the project. State consumer advocacy agency Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor and consumer watchdog group Citizens Action Coalition oppose the plan, according to Greenfield, Indiana's Daily Reporter. The BlueIndy program, which is a partnership between the city of Indianapolis and battery manufacturer Bollore Group, will provide up to 500 cars for rent at 25 charging sites around the city. Those who oppose the rate hike call IPL a monopoly and say the amount of the increase is not allowed under state law and that the program wouldn't benefit working class and low-income citizens. A hearing regarding IPL's proposal is scheduled for July 23. A Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV will run the 2014 Asia Cross Country Rally, Hybrid Cars reports. The rally covers 1,367 miles of woods, swamps and mountains from Thailand to Cambodia.