Not Toyota, Honda, Suzuki or Daihatsu, but Mitsubishi is the first time to have cars sold to Japanese society.
Mitsubishi has a factory located in Okazaki, Aichi, Japan. Around the factory there is a Mitsubishi Auto Gallery that contains vehicles in the early days of Mitsubishi. Well that's where we can see at a glance Mitsubishi car history.
1917 Mitsubishi Model A at Mitsubishi Auto Gallery. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/2uuxCNZ) |
The car is one of Mitsubishi's core businesses, in addition to cars, Mitsubishi also has other industries that are very large and diverse, ranging from ships, aircraft to rockets. Another business lines like food and fashion even Mitsubishi has it.
History of Mitsubishi actually began in the 1870s but they just made a real car in 1917, so in 2017 Mitsubishi Motors Corporations is already 100 years old. So what's the first car made by Mitsubishi? The car was Mitsubishi Model A. This car is inspired from European cars in that era. This car is also listed as the first mass-produced Japanese passenger car.
This car uses an engine with a capacity of 2,800 cc with a length of 3.8 meters and only produced as many as 30 units including the prototype. But unfortunately the model on display at this Museum was not the original model, but a replica of size 7:10. The replica in its original form are being borrowed.
Replica model of 1917 Mitsubishi Model A was rebuilt by West Coast Customs. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/2uxW9Bi) |
This year as Mitsubishi Motors' 100th anniversary celebration and collaborated with West Coast Customs the renowned American custom workshop, they revived the Mitsubishi Model A. The car will be built from the most advanced Mitsubishi platform today - the platform that produces the Outlander Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV).
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