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Junkyard Gem: 2003 Mitsubishi Diamante VR-X

Mitsubishi has been selling cars and light trucks under its own name in the United States since the Starion, Tredia, Cordia and Mighty Max appeared here as 1983 models, but only one big luxury sedan has ever been in the Mitsubishi Motors USA lineup: the Diamante. For the last few years of the Diamante's availability here, a factory-hot-rod version of the Diamante known as the VR-X could be purchased. Here's one of those extraordinarily rare cars, now residing in a Denver-area self-service wrecking yard. The Diamante was the successor to the Mitsubishi Sigma, an upscale "pillared hardtop" version of the fifth-generation Galant. The Sigma sold poorly here, but Mitsubishi had hopes of stealing some American-market sales from the strong-selling Lexus ES and Acura Legend. Making a North American version of the swanky Mitsubishi Debonair didn't seem like a wise investment (though some Debonair DNA eventually showed up here, within the Hyundai XG), and so the brand-new Diamante made its North American debut as a 1992 model. The first-generation Diamante was available in both sedan and wagon form, with the wagon getting the axe here after 1995. The second-generation Diamante sedan appeared in American Mitsubishi showrooms as a 1997 model, with sales here continuing through 2004. There was a facelift for the 2002 model year, after several miserable sales years in the United States, and the sporty VR-X version was added to the lineup at that time. The VR-X got some cladding, white analog gauges, a louder audio system, some performance upgrades and a fast-and-furious optional spoiler. The MSRP for the '03 VR-X was $27,557, or about $46,362 in 2023 dollars. The VR-X's engine was a 3.5-liter 6G-series V6, rated at 210 horsepower. This was just five horses better than the regular Diamante's 3.5-liter. All 2003 Diamantes sold in the United States came with mandatory four-speed automatics.  This car, like the Diamante wagons of the middle 1990s, was built in Australia. The leather seats came with VR-X embossing. This is a good example of a rare special-edition car that's not worth much now. Perhaps some Front Range Mitsubishi enthusiast will buy the unique VR-X wheels and other bits before this car goes to the crusher. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 0% interest, zero down payment, zero payments until 2004 on all new Mitsubishis. This content is hosted by a third party.

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 denies plans for Toyota/Subaru rival sports coupe

Forgive us for being wistful, but there was a time when Mitsubishi coupes and sports cars were the downright awesome. The 1990s brought us the all-wheel drive, turbocharged Eclipse GSX and the twin-turbocharged 3000GT VR-4 (seen here). The times, they were good.
Fast-forward to today, and the Lancer Evolution exists as Mitsubishi's sole, true performance offering. Mitsubishi killed off the Eclipse last year, by which time it had lost much the luster of its predecessors. With an affordable Japanese sports car fomenting underway thanks to Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ, one may think that it's an ideal time for a brand like Mitsubishi to jump back into the performance coupe game. A rear-drive Mitsubishi sports car to take on the Toyobaru twins could be just what the brand needs to gain some mindshare among consumers.
Not so, says Osamu Masuko. The president and executive director of Mitsubishi told reporters at the Sydney Motor Show, "Our engineers are very prominent to investigate new technologies, but to use that technology they are not that good to bring the revenue to make that money." Read: the engineers want to do it, but the company does not find it to be financially responsible.