Not So Big in Japan

The Tokyo Motor Show, the 41st installment of which is taking place later this month, is home to all kinds of automotive Oriental oddities, and thank god for it. Mitsuoka motors for instance can always be counted on for an interesting homage – witness the ballsy Rolls-Royce ripoff Galue Limousine S50, based on the Infiniti M35, which they debuted at previous proceedings, as well as the 180 kg Mitsuoka Micro-Car, a sort of pared-down pastiche of 1930s racers. This year they plan to present the Viewt, which no matter how you describe it is a Nissan Micra masquerading as a classic Jaguar Mk II.

Mk II’s are failry underpriced as classic British slaloons go, so it seems an odd choice for what is essentially a replica. However above and beyond all other considerations it is a hell of a lot more stylish than the Nissan in the nude. Mitsuoka actually plans to make three different versions available, with engines ranging from 1.2 to 1.5-litres in displacement and outputs ranging from 90 to 109 horsepower. Little did we know but this in fact the vehicle’s third generation, finally ready for the worldwide stage, It’s also expected to be priced at considerably less than the $100,000 Galue S50, and we should hope so.

Tags: galue limousine, infiniti m35, micro-car, mitsuoka, s50

This entry was posted on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 8:00 am and is filed under Cars. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.