Mitsuoka Galue Convertible: Mustang Madness from those Purveyors of the Peculiar at Mitsuoka

The New Mitsuoka Galue Convertible



Mitsuoka, without doubt the most enigmatic of all Japanese carmakers, never fails to raise both eyebrows and smiles on the infrequent occasions it launches new models. Indeed, displaying its customary eccentricity in choosing to launch its latest visually challenging model on Friday the 13th (of April), Mitsuoka looks set to once again make waves with its new, dare we say it, handsome addition to the curious Galue range - the Galue Convertible.


The Mitsuoka Viewt (2nd Generation)

Mitsuoka, although outlandish in its approach to vehicle design, has, until now, more or less stuck to a tried and tested formula when concocting its singular automotive creations, traditionally taking a standard vehicle from any number of Japanese manufacturers, before then endowing these aforementioned vehicles with numerous styling cues lifted directly from various British automobiles of the 1960s. To witness evidence of this approach to automotive design, one need only look as far as Mitsuoka's most famous export and perennial bestseller - the Viewt. This vehicle, now in its second generation, adheres firmly to the Mitsuoka formula, taking a standard Japanese domestic market vehicle - in this case the Nissan March/Micra - and extensively reworking it, incorporating various elements of British car design circa 1960 to produce an end product which bears more than a passing resemblance to the getaway car of choice for armed robbers in 1960s London, the Jaguar Mark II. Indeed, this pattern of paying homage - although some purists may prefer the term “bastardising” - to classic British designs repeats itself across the Mitsuoka range, with the Daihatsu Mira-based Ray mimicking a Riley Elf and the larger Ryoga showing traces of Jaguar Mark X and early Jaguar XJ.


The Nissan Fuga-based Galue Saloon

However, the newly launched Galue Convertible - Galue being derived from the Japanese word 我流 meaning "to go one's own way" - looks set to live up to its name and jettison the ageing Mitsuoka philosophy of melding antediluvian British design with contemporary Japanese hardware. Although the new Convertible's sister model, the Galue Saloon, gave intimations as to Mitsuoka's new direction, fusing, as it does Japanese underpinnings with a British Bentley-esque front end and an American Cadillac-inspired rear, the Galue Convertible consolidates this new design philosophy, breaking with tradition and becoming the first Mitsuoka offering not to be based on Japanese hardware. Whilst the Galue Saloon is a remodelled version of the Japanese market Nissan Fuga, the Convertible model has gone further afield in search of its inspiration and is based on the American market Ford Mustang Convertible.


The Galue Convertible's Mustang-based Interior

While the Galue Convertible still exhibits strong traces of Mustang -most noticeably on its flanks and in its interior, which is, bar the edition of a Mitsuoka-embossed steering wheel, carried over almost wholesale from the Ford - the front and rear of the Mustang have been extensively refashioned, duly imbuing the Convertible with the idiosyncrasy necessary to bring it sufficiently into line with the rest of the Mitsuoka range. Mitsuoka have traditionally been keen to preserve the more traditional elements of car styling however, the Galue Convertible sees the company show a distinct disregard for the Mustang's iconic design, Mitsuoka's stylists giving the Mustang a frontal treatment which bears similarities to Bentley S2s of the 1960s. Meanwhile the rear styling of the Galue Convertible skips a couple of decades and crosses the Atlantic Ocean, imbuing the vehicle with heavy doses of Americana and a derriere reminiscent of a mid-1980s Cadillac Eldorado. The overall result, despite the use of such disparate design motifs, is surprisingly coherent and sufficiently unorthodox to justify both the vehicle’s Mitsuoka badge, and its hefty premium over a standard Mustang.


The Galue Convertible's Cadillac Eldorado-inspired Rear

The Galue Convertible will be offered with two power plants, both of which are Ford engines found in the Mustang: one a 4-litre V6 (213ps), and the other a 4.6-litre V8 with a power output of 304ps. Both models are equipped with a 5-speed automatic gearbox and are only available in left-hand drive. Meanwhile, body colours are limited to black, red, or white, with the leather interior available in either red or black. Those wishing to own one of these Anglo-American/Japanese automotive oddballs will be required to shell out 6,720,000 Yen (£29,000) for the V6, or 7,770,000 Yen (£33,500) for the V8. Eccentric exclusivity never came so cheap.

Subaru B9 Tribeca: Subaru's Piggy Faced SUV Succumbs to Pressure from the Design Police

The ugly duckling of the Subaru range (a title seemingly under threat from the new Impreza, if recent shots circulating on the internet are anything to go by), the B9 Tribeca, and its much maligned exterior design, have gone under the cosmetic surgeons knife at the behest of the design police, duly resulting in the facelifted 2008 model Subaru Tribeca, due to be launched at today's New York International Auto Show. It would appear that the B9 nomenclature has been dropped for the new model, as have the previous model's quirky front and rear aspects - the front end having been squared-off with a more neo-con Forester-inspired look.

Subaru Tribecas:

Past (2007 B9 Tribeca)...


...and present (newly launched 2008 Tribeca)

While earlier incarnations of Subaru's B9 Tribeca were widely acclaimed for their interior design, the original car's exterior styling received few plaudits; the Tribeca's challenging front-end treatment often leading to the B9 being lumped together with other aberrations of automotive design, such as Pontiac's Aztec and the vast majority of product from Korean firm, Ssangyong; her po-faced mien becoming the butt of many a hack’s comic musings. Although Subaru’s outgoing corporate façade, with its prominent central snout flanked on either side by rakish wing-like grilles, succeeded in lifting the strangely compelling R1 – one of Subaru’s petite offerings in the Japanese kei-car market – above the mundane, this piggish visage translated less successfully to larger models as it gradually infiltrated the Subaru range, the corporate proboscis finding itself awkwardly grafted to the front of the Impreza, before ultimately ending its life in ever more embellished form on the front of the flagship Tribeca.

Evolution of the species:

Subaru's corporate snout, from diminutive R1...


...through Impreza...


...to the 2007 model B9 Tribeca.

However, to seemingly discourage the world’s automotive press from continued sniggering at the Tribeca’s expense, and to placate those potential customers of a more staid disposition, who may otherwise have been dissuaded from purchasing the car in its earlier flamboyantly eccentric configuration, Subaru have extensively reworked the exterior styling of their SUV offering for the 2008 model year. The result is a resounding coup for the forces of conservatism with all traces of the profligate idiosyncrasy – swooping curves, challenging creases, oddly positioned headlights, imposing grille – of the previous model having been quashed, all intimations of underlying character replaced by the prosaically generic. The most pronounced changes are to be found at the front of the vehicle, where the now infamous Subaru snout has been replaced with a nondescript grille – an enlarged version of the new Subaru corporate grimace, as already seen on the Japanese market Stella, and the new Impreza – which looks as though it could have already seen prior service on any number of identikit Korean vehicles from the late 90s and early 00s. The frontal visage has been further diluted by the addition of yet more unassuming Forester-derived features which aim to give the car a more aggressive, squared-off look, and all but eradicate the charisma formerly exhibited by the outgoing Tribeca’s engaging, if controversial, frontal detailing. Meanwhile, the Tribeca’s hindquarters have also been remodelled, with remedial cosmetic work straightening out a once curvaceous posterior, raising the position of the number plate, and softening the once prominent crease which formerly circumnavigated the car’s rump.

Subaru's New Corporate Look

The Stella (Japanese market "Kei" car)

The New Impreza Hatchback

Changes for the 2008 model Tribeca, currently scheduled to go on sale this summer, are not however solely limited to the realm of the aesthetic. The Tribeca’s boxer engine has been enlarged from 3-litres to 3.6-litres for the new model year, and the new power unit is also set to feature Dual AVCS (Active Valve Control System), which promises increased torque across the rev range. As is to be expected from a vehicle with a widely lauded interior design philosophy, inwardly little has changed for 2008, bar the addition of a second lever, on the driver’s side of the vehicle, to move the central row of seats forward and facilitate access to the rearmost passenger seats. Meanwhile, revisions to the seat mechanism itself, now mean that much less effort is required to manoeuvre the Tribeca’s central row of seats back and forth. The final modification of note comes in the form of new bushes for the rear suspension which have been designed to offer improved comfort and ride-quality.

The largely unaltered interior of the 2008 Tribeca

With these and a raft of other tweaks finding their way onto the 2008 model Tribeca, the new car is destined to be every inch the accomplished vehicle its forebear was. It is difficult, however, not to be disappointed by the overarchingly commonplace stylistic mutations, which have tempered the eccentric individuality of the pre-facelift Tribeca, and robbed her of her singular character. While the retiring B9 Tribeca could never have been described as a thing of automotive beauty, she nonetheless exuded a certain sense of occasion and a defiant, unorthodox charm, duly maintaining the lengthy Subaru tradition of producing offbeat, challenging designs, as established by cars such as the XT, and the Giugiaro-penned SVX. Her successor, the 2008 model Tribeca, however, merely blends in with the amorphous automotive landscape.

Scion xB and xD Coming to Japan as Deka bB and New ist

The Scion xD(foreground) and xB(background)

Newly introduced at last month's Chicago Auto Show, the second generation xB and the all new xD, two models from Toyota's youth orientated US brand Scion, are due for release in Japan in the summer. However, the Scion brand itself, together with the frankly nonsensical xB/xD nomenclature, will not be making the move East, despite Toyota's recent success in establishing the Lexus brand in Japan. Both vehicles will thus be released in Japan as Toyotas; the xB being renamed as the Deka (meaning 'big') bB, and the xD becoming the successor to the current ist.

Although the first generation Scion xB was based on the Japanese market first-gen Toyota bB, the second generation of the Toyota bB, released early 2006 in Japan and forming the basis of the Daihatsu Coo/Materia, will not be finding its way stateside. Instead the longer, wider Toyota Deka bB will form the basis for the new Scion xB in the US. Meanwhile, in Japan, the Deka bB slots in above the regular bB in the Toyota range, and will be marketed as a successor to the Corolla Spacio MPV. Although exact specifications for the Japanese market Deka bB are yet to be finalised, it seems unlikely that the vehicle will be offered with the 158 horsepower 2.4l engine that has been promised for the American version. Indeed, inline with the rest of the Japanese market, 1.5l and 1.8l engines seem to be more probable options for power units. It also appears that the Deka bB, due to go on sale in Japan in August, may do away with the third row of seats found in the current Corolla Spacio, duly limiting its seating capacity to five.
The MK1 Toyota ist
The MK2 Toyota ist


The second generation Toyota ist (Scion xD), is due to replace the current model in June, and is based on underpinnings from the new Toyota Yaris/Vitz. The current ist is marketed as Toyota's sophisticated small car, with increased sporting pretensions, and this trend looks set to continue with the new model, if the semi-bucket seats of the Scion xD shown at Chicago are anything to go by. While the new ist retains virtually the same dimensions as the outgoing model, engine capacities is expected to increase, with a 128 bhp 1.8l powerplant joining the 103bhp 1.5l unit from the current model. It is however anticipated that the 85bhp 1.3l from the current model will not see service in the new ist.

With the new ist posing as a bloated, squared-off Yaris, and the Deka bB taking on the guise of a heavy-set Japanese market bB, the styling of both cars can hardly be seen to be a harbinger for a new Japanese car design direction. Instead, the design of the two vehicles seems to merely reaffirm the prevalence of utilitarian cubism - the design philosophy of choice in Japan over the last few years. However, with the addition of bulging curvature, the Deka bB and new ist do bring something new to the cubism party, yet these bulbous curves seem merely to dilute the bold and unadulterated cubism of the mk1 bB, and Toyota's attempts at curvaceous cubism don't seem to be as well executed as those of the now somewhat venerable mk2 Nissan Cube. Stylistically then, Toyota's two new offerings seem to be something of a retrograde step, especially considering how well Toyota matched cubist architecture with taut convex surfaces on the Japanese market mk2 bB launched last year.
The Japanese Market Second Generation Toyota bB