1999 Mitsubishi Diamante Base Sedan 4-door 3.5l on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 1983 Mitsubishi 4WD SPX Truck

Mitsubishi began building the Forte small pickup in 1978, and Chrysler quickly started selling the Forte in North America with Dodge D-50/Dodge Ram 50/Plymouth Arrow Truck badging. Mitsubishi-badged vehicles first showed up on our shores as 1983 models, with four models available: the Cordia liftback coupe, the Tredia sedan, the Starion sports car and the Truck. Today's Junkyard Gem is one of the very first of those Mitsubishis to be sold in the United States, found in a Denver self-service car graveyard recently. This series is all about gems of automotive history, and we've got a really rare bit of Mitsubishi Motors history here with this August 1982 build date. I've documented six discarded (Mitsubishi-badged) Mitsubishis from the 1983 model year prior to now, and none had build dates earlier than January of 1983. This pickup may have been on the first shipload of new Mitsubishis to arrive at San Pedro (while the town's most legendary band was just becoming known outside of Southern California). Even my discovery of one of the very first Camrys sold in North America (in the same junkyard a few years back) isn't as cool as this. The commonly used name for all of the first-generation (1983-1986) Mitsubishi pickups is "Mighty Max," but a look through contemporary price guides (of which I have an extensive library) and Mitsubishi Motors USA's own marketing materials shows that the official name for this truck was "Truck," available in Mighty Max, Turbo Diesel and SPX sub-designations. Other Japanese manufacturers also sold vehicles named Trucks and Vans here, with the Toyota Truck (aka Hilux everywhere else in the world) being the best-known. Later on, Mitsubishi fully embraced the Mighty Max trim level as the model name for all the Forte/Triton-based pickups it sold here. For the 1983 model, the Mighty Max was the cheapest Mitsubishi Truck, sold only with 2.0-liter engine, rear-wheel-drive and four-on-the-floor manual transmission. This is a 4WD SPX with automatic transmission, the most expensive Mitsubishi Truck available in 1983. It has the 2.6-liter Astron SOHC four-cylinder engine, rated at 108 horsepower and 142 pound-feet. The Astron went into a wide variety of U.S.-market vehicles over the years, including Chrysler K-Cars and Dodge Challengers. Such luxury! The Dodge-badged version of this truck, the Ram 50, remained available all the way through the second generation of Forte and the 1994 model year.

Japan calls Ghosn's escape inexcusable and vows tighter immigration checks

TOKYO — Japan's justice minister on Sunday called the flight of former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn as he awaited trial on financial misconduct charges inexcusable and vowed to beef up immigration checks. Justice Minister Masako Mori said she had ordered an investigation after Ghosn issued a statement a few days ago saying he was in Lebanon. She said there were no records of Ghosn's departure from Tokyo. She said his bail has been revoked, and Interpol had issued a wanted notice. Departure checks needed to be strengthened to prevent a recurrence, Mori said. While expressing deep regret over what had happened, Mori stopped short of outlining any specific action Japan might take to get Ghosn back. Japan does not have an extradition treaty with Lebanon. “Our nationÂ’s criminal justice system protects the basic human rights of an individual and properly carries out appropriate procedures to disclose the truth of various cases, and the flight of a suspect while out on bail is never justified,” she said in a statement. MoriÂ’s statement was the first public comment by a Japanese government official after the stunning escape of Ghosn, once a superstar of the auto industry. Tokyo prosecutors issued a similar statement Sunday. They had opposed Ghosn's release on bail, arguing he was a flight risk. First arrested in November 2018, Ghosn was out on bail over the last several months, and more recently had moved into a home in an upscale part of Tokyo. He has repeatedly said he was innocent. His statement from Beirut said he was escaping injustice. Japan's justice system has come under fire from human rights advocates for its long detentions, the reliance on confessions and prolonged trials. The conviction rate is higher than 99%. Even if Ghosn had been found innocent, the prosecutors could have appealed, and the appeals process could have lasted years. Ghosn's trial was not expected to start until April at the earliest. During that time, he had been prohibited from seeing his wife, and was only allowed a couple of video calls in the presence of a lawyer. Ghosn had been charged with underreporting his future compensation and breach of trust in diverting Nissan money for his personal gain. Although the details of his escape are not yet clear, Turkish airline company MNG Jet has said two of its planes were used illegally, first flying him from Osaka, Japan, to Istanbul, and then on to Beirut, where he arrived Monday and has not been seen since.

Masuko to step down as Mitsubishi Motors CEO, Kato to succeed him

TOKYO — Mitsubishi Motors Corp said on Friday that Osamu Masuko will step down as its chief executive on June 21 and be replaced by Takao Kato, who is president of its operations in Indonesia. Masuko will retain his role as chairman of the board, Mitsubishi Motors said in a statement, adding that Masuko and Kato will hold a press conference on May 20 to discuss the changes. Japan's sixth-largest automaker, in which Nissan Motor Co holds a controlling stake, said this month it expects profit to fall to 90.0 billion yen ($821 million) in the year to March as it navigates slowing demand for cars, global trade frictions and the need to develop new technologies. Mitsubishi's partners Nissan and France's Renault are meanwhile grappling with the fallout from the arrest of Carlos Ghosn, the group's former chairman, who is facing charges of financial misconduct in Japan. Ghosn has denied all charges against him. Reporting by Stanley White.