Search the Community

Without seeking help from Google, can you guess which model is the donor for this fake Dodge Challenger? Coachbuilding is almost a lost art, but Japanese company Mitsuoka is trying to keep the magic alive. It has built some weird cars over the years, including a retro Miata that looked like a Morgan Aero 8 and a Jaguar XK120 had an affair. The most unconventional build in recent memory was this – the M55. Initially a concept, the fake muscle car is going into production. Unveiled in November 2023 to celebrate Mitsuoka's 55th anniversary, the quirky Dodge Challenger lookalike is actually a Honda Civic underneath its vintage body. In the months that have passed, the company has received more than 1,300 messages from people wanting to buy the contraption: "This was the first time for us to receive such passionate messages directly from so many people of all ages and both sexes." Due to popular demand, Mitsuoka has decided to make the M55 a reality. However, it's going to take a while. The company intends to have the car on sale near the end of 2025. Additional details are yet to be disclosed but we'll remind you the concept was based on the Civic five-door hatchback and had a 1.5-liter engine hooked up to a six-speed manual gearbox. While the car's front says Challenger, the rear makes us think of 1970s Japanese coupes, such as a Nissan Skyline or a Mitsubishi Galant GTO. The profile is an obvious reminder that the automotive oddity is a Civic at its core. Inside, Mitsuoka went through the trouble of adding retro-looking blue upholstery and it swapped out the Honda badge on the steering wheel for its logo. Mitsuoka certainly has imagination, and there are apparently enough people interested to warrant the development of a production model. This is more than just a comprehensive body kit since the headlights and taillights are also tailor-made, as is the front grille. The rear window louvers seem to take inspiration from a 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1. Mitsuoka reckons it won't be able to build enough cars to meet demand because the conversion will take time since all necessary changes will be performed manually. Pricing has yet to be disclosed but given the extent of the modifications, it's safe to say it won't be cheap.

@Watwheels and @Sturtles favorite Rock Star has a new Buddy! (pun intended) Wanna to guess which model it is based on? At the front, the Mitsuoka Buddy reminds of the 1980s Chevrolet Tahoe thanks to the big chrome grille and split squared headlights. Seen from the side, the front end is also more upright than on the SUV it is based on. Mitsuoka rips off the original SUV's front end and replaces it with a chrome egg-crate-style grille with a pair of stacked headlights on each side. For a modern touch, there are skinny LED running lights in the central crosspiece. The company also adds a shiny chrome bumper, a hood with sharper creases, and boxier fenders, which makes the area ahead of the windshield vaguely resemble the classic Chevys. The Buddy also receives a modified rear end with styling that more generally evokes the styling of '80s Chevy SUVs without directly taking from them like at the front. There are now vertical taillights and sharper creases for the rear hatch with a two-tone finish for the area in the middle versus the rest of the body color. For a matching touch, there is a chrome bumper like the one for the nose. We don’t get to see the interior yet, but we should expect Mitsuoka to leave its imprint on the cabin as well. For now, the company has announced the color palette, which consists of 11 monotone body colors and six two-tone liveries.

Chance upon this while watching some car reviews. Quite chio or cool... https://www.mitsuoka-motor.com/global/lineup/new/rock-star/ The Mitsuoka Rock Star. It looks like the 60s Chevy C2 Corvette but underneath the skin is the MX5 Miata. The 1.5L NA one. It's actually on sale here in Singapore via some PI. See link below and scroll to the bottom to see who's selling. Price? $220,800 with COE. Glup... https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/hub/bt-motoring/mitsuoka-rock-star-review-fully-vetted Other PI selling the 1.5L Miata at $154K. https://www.sgcarmart.com/new_cars/newcars_overview.php?CarCode=11744 The Japanese review. Turn on CC/subs, settings choose auto-translate to English. If you dunno how, get a Millennia to do it for you. LoL... Oh... It's also a limited run production. Only 220 units will be made and only 20 units will make it out of Japan to be sold. If you have $220K spare change...

I'm not usually a fan of the mitsuoka design. But i have to say this car looks very nice. Like one of the classic british convertibles of the 60s or 70s. (i dunno what the old corvette looks like though this is a homage to the corvette) http://www.mycarforum.com/blog/12/entry-5518-mitsuokas-new-roadster-is-based-on-the-mazda-mx-5/ https://www.topgear.com/car-news/modified/mitsuoka-rock-star-mazda-mx-5-corvette-fancy-dress

looks the same as axio? would u buy this mitsuoka for $113K? http://www.sgcarmart.com/new_cars/newcars_...p?CarCode=10819

Those crazy people at Mitsuoka are at it again. This time they've turned their attention on making their traditional 1930s styled roadster, the Himiko HT (Hard Top) to something even more traditional. They did this by junking the hardtop for a more traditional cloth soft top and calling it the Himiko Classic Edition. We know that the original MX5 was designed to replicate the excitement you get from a traditional British soft top like the Lotus Elan or a MGB Roadster but with Japanese reliability and engineering. So Mitsuoka has decided, unsurprisingly, to use this car as its base model for the new Mitsuoka Himiko HT in 2008. They've turned it into a 1930s or a Morgan Plus 8 style of sports car, which is the only production car at the moment that is still stuck in a time warp. The only thing which is familiar externally is the windscreen and A-pillars as well as the roof. The cabin looks like it has the whole MX5 dashboard with a lot of wood tacked here and there. The original Himiko HT comes with a hard top but Mitsuoka has decided to produce a limited run version that is truer to cars from the 1930s; the Himiko Classic Edition with a soft folding top. Of course, no one told them that cars in the 1930s have wire spoke wheels instead of 5 spoke chunky looking alloys. The car is powered by the MX5's 2.0liter engine making 170bhp in manual and 160bhp in automatic. The Himiko is around 4.76meters, a good way longer than the 4.0 meter long MX5. The extra length goes into making the long bonnet line and sloping bootlid. At least it isn't as obscene, ugly or vulgar as a Le-Seyde or even an Orochi. If I drove an Orochi, I'd put a brown paper bag over my head. With the Himiko, I wouldn't mind driving one up and down Orchard Road.

http://www.sgcarmart.com/main/info-2IQuA0dW-1013.html 3.3L, Power 233 bhp, Torque 328 Nm this freak car cost S$375k even in pre-owned? omg..brand new ones cost S$420k.. other cars u can get at a similiar price: audi RS4: S$345k(4.2L, Power 420 bhp Torque 430 Nm) audi R8: S$497k(4.2L, Power 420 bhp Torque 430 Nm) GTR: S$299k(3.8L, Power 480 bhp, Torque 588 Nm) lol..wonder who would throw their moola into such a freak? given a choice of the above, wat would u choose?

Saw the advert on the latest edition of Torque... They are selling this car here and I wonder who will buy it...

Know somebody that cant wait for the car to reach our shores! The interior looks exactly like a Sunny and it,s $90k plus....1500cc....When he take delivery....he will be one cool GUY!!!

this is the first Mitsuoka i had seen on the roads. Nouera.