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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.

Mitsubishi shows five concepts headed to the 2020 Tokyo Auto Salon

Mitsubishi will storm the 2020 Tokyo Auto Salon with seven concepts, five based on production models getting early previews. This year's haul more than doubles the trio of concepts Mitsubishi took to this year's Tokyo Auto Salon, and it's obvious the company put more effort into all of them as well. The wildest among the five could be the Delica D:5 imagined by Japanese director, producer and writer Teruo Ito. With the idea to rework the Delica into the idea of embodying charm "like a dog or a member of a family," Ito threw out the van's rectangular headlights, working with Mitsubishi designers to replace them with large round units inset like eyes. The anthropomorphic face is so important that the concept is apparently called the "D:5 eye," according to Google Translate. The van wears a "light army green" hue from its roof to its MLJ Daytona wheels, the interior done up in a olive tartan pattern.   Right behind it in the "Look at me!" stakes is the eK Cross Wild Beast Concept, a contrast to the "Cute Beast" that is the standard eK kei car. Drenched in yellow, with gray X graphics, a contrasting black roof and tailgate, black cladding, mud flaps, chunky rocker panels, roof rack and basket, and all-terrain tires, this one is meant to evoke a "playful outdoor image." In case the striking livery doesn't convey the message, the command to "Play the Nature" appears on the hood, roof rack and fuel filler cap. Inside, all-weather floor mats and a load bay mat stand ready to protect the interior from mud. Or Play-Doh. The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV NERV is the widest combination of real and imaginary usefulness. Re: the latter, NERV is the fictional Japanese paramilitary organization that battles creatures called Angels in the "Neon Genesis Evangelion" anime. Warfare between the Evangelion units and the Angels tends to destroy a lot of animated real estate, hence the usefulness of a disaster relief vehicle like the Outlander PHEV, coordinated by the Gehirun Corporation that's also in the anime. For real-world service, designers installed a KYMETA u7 planar satellite antenna that can pick up signals from Sky Perfect JSAT Corporation — a Japanese-based satellite television and Internet company, and the Asia-focused Michibiki emergency broadcast and GPS service.

Mitsubishi Motors shareholders approve ouster of Ghosn

TOKYO — Mitsubishi Motors Corp. shareholders approved on Friday the ouster of Carlos Ghosn, who was pivotal in the Japanese automaker's three-way partnership with Nissan and Renault until he was arrested on financial misconduct charges last year. The vote took place in a two-hour general meeting of shareholders at a Tokyo hotel. Nissan Motor Co. owns 34% of Mitsubishi Motors. Osamu Masuko, who was reappointed chairman, promised to strengthen governance and transparency and monitor wrongdoing. More outsiders will check executive appointments and compensation, he said. Nissan shareholders held an extraordinary shareholders' meeting in April to oust Ghosn as chairman. He resigned from French alliance partner Renault SA. The Mitsubishi shareholders also approved the appointment of Renault's chairman Jean-Dominique Senard to replace Ghosn. Renault owns 43% of Nissan. Nissan, based in the port city of Yokohama, is holding a general shareholders' meeting next week to approve other measures, including setting up committees to strengthen governance. Nissan said late Thursday two Renault executives will be on the committees. Renault earlier said it would abstain in that vote, and the greater representation promised on the committees may gain Renault's approval. Renault said in a statement that it welcomed Nissan's decision but did not say how it planned to vote. "The agreement reached on Renault's presence in Nissan's new governance confirms the spirit of dialogue and mutual respect that exists within the alliance," it said. Some analysts suggest a deepening rift between Renault and Nissan after a planned merger between Renault and Fiat Chrysler fell through earlier this month. Nissan expressed reservations about immediately joining the merger. Masuko told shareholders the auto industry faced challenges because of the costs of advancements such as emissions standards and self-driving technology. He said the Tokyo-based automaker will pursue focus over expansion, repeatedly highlighting the company motto "small but beautiful." He also stressed the importance of auto alliances. "We want to be a profitable company even if smaller in scale," he told shareholders. One Mitsubishi Motors shareholder expressed anger over the Ghosn scandal. But most of the questions were about new models and market strategy.