Manual cars in Japan
Handmade cars are often expensive, European and exclusive. Mitsuoka Buddy was the last of them. Buddy's entry-level model starts at $45,000 and will sell out over the next two years. You probably can't buy it anyway: Mioka only sells cars in parts of Asia and Europe.
Mitsuoka Automobile's factory is located in the city of Toyama, 250 miles northwest of Tokyo, a rebellion against Japan's auto manufacturing tradition. Mitsuoka is the youngest automaker in Japan, but it inherits a tradition of handmade manufacturing for more than a century. Today, the main representative of the Japanese automobile industry is the streamlined mass production. Mitsuoka is unique in providing customers with unique handmade vehicles, and it is commendable that the price of the vehicle can still be within the affordable range of ordinary consumers.
In 1917, Japan's first foray into series production was the Mitsubishi A-car. From 1917 to 1921, only 22 of these luxury cars were produced, each with an enclosed rear compartment decorated with lacquered white cypress trees. The Model A was not commercially successful, but it did mark a milestone in the rapid modernization of Japanese industry.
By the 1960s, Japanese automakers had developed their own style – flagship models were handmade. For example: the Toyota 2000GT, which today is the most collectible Japanese classic, and it is a masterpiece hand-crafted in cooperation with Yamaha. Cosmo, Mazda's first model with a twin-rotor engine, could only produce one a day on average due to the labor and time required for manual manufacturing. Then there are sports cars like the Datsun 510 (son of the DAT and predecessor of the Nissan Blue Bird bluebird) and the Fairlady 240Z. At the same time, many Japanese car enthusiasts also bought European brands: Jaguar, Alfa Romeo, MG, Triumph, Porsche and Abate's modified Fiat.
The establishment of the Guanggang Auto Shop Car Shop Mitsuoka Jidōsha
By February 1968, Susumu Mitsuoka founded a company named after his surname, and soon after opened Car Shop Mitsuoka Jidōsha.
Jidōsha is a slightly more formal word for car in Japanese, similar to a car. The name slightly hints at Mr. Mitsuoka's ambitions. He had a special passion for British cars, and his shop began serving owners of various brands in Toyama Prefecture.
Among them is an Italian miniature car, because it has been so long, its make and model are now forgotten. Therefore, it is not possible to find a part that has completed the repair. Perhaps stimulated by the simple construction of a mini-car, Mitsuoka decided to build his own car from scratch. By 1982, he had succeeded.
Bubu Shuttle 50
Bubu Shuttle 50 – the first car in Mitsuoka
The first car produced by Mitsuoka Motor Co. was called the Bubu Shuttle 50. Bubu is the Japanese children's name for cars, while the shuttle is powered by a 50 cc engine, small, slow and toy-like. However, it is also forward-looking, designed for drivers who use wheelchairs. In modern times, almost every Japanese manufacturer has built models that can be used in wheelchairs.
Himiko of Mitsuoka
Mitsuoka Motors followed up with the production of the three-wheeled Bubu 501 and the Boxy 502, which were sold steadily and other departments of Mitsuoka established used car dealerships in the region.
Bubu 501 502
The real breakthrough of Mitsuoka Auto came in the mid-to-late 1980s. As new safety regulations come into effect in Japan, the minicar market is drying up, and the small plant needs new jobs to keep running. On a trip to Los Angeles, Mitsuoka saw several examples of the kit car craze that was popular at the time. He decided that the future of his company would be to build replica cars.
The first of these is the Bubu 505-C, which is also a 50 cc car, but here it resembles a miniature Jaguar SS100. Later Bubu Classic SSK was more typical of the replica car era, incorporating pre-World War II Mercedes design elements but using the chassis of the Volkswagen Beetle. As you might expect, the Bubu 356 Speedstar is a replica of the Porsche 356 Speedster.
The secret of making a car in Mitsuoka: Take an ordinary car, inject the spirit of a classic car, and build a car that looks unusual but is not so expensive
The secret of making a car in Mitsuoka: Take an ordinary car, inject the spirit of a classic car, and build a car that looks unusual but is not so expensive. Would you be tempted if you could buy a vintage car that looks like the Cruella de Vil and can drive and still change the oil at your local Nissan dealership? Mitsuoka did just that, and built a neoclassical model based on the fifth-generation Nissan Silvia, the Le-Seyde.
At that time, Japan was in the midst of a neoclassical frenzy, and Nissan's retro Parker factory cars and other models generated a large number of orders. When Le-Seyde went on sale in 1990, all 500 units sold out within 72 hours.
Mitsuoka continued this success with the Viewt, its longest-selling model. Viewt perfectly exemplifies what Mitsuoka does best. On the one hand it is a compact sedan with low price, fuel efficient, compact size, suitable for narrow Japanese roads. Externally, it is a fascinating and quirky adaptation of the British aesthetic of the sixties.
The Bubu 505-C is inspired by the Jaguar SS100. Power comes from a 5 hp single-cylinder engine.
Each light oka represents the work of two craftsmen. Factory workers in Mitsuoka usually work in pairs and complete one or two cars a day. Depending on the model, it can take 30 to 60 days to complete a car.
The production facility employs a small number of people, with only 80 employees in design, manufacturing and management. The factory layout is completely different from modern assembly lines. It is more like a restoration facility. Workers shape and weld the steel plates, the cars are painted individually in the paint booth, and the final internal assembly is done by hand. Without robots, everything moves at an orderly and discreet pace.
Most people make S13 Nissan Silvia for drift. Le-Seyde is based on Silvia, so it can still drift
Mitsuoka Great Snake
Mitsuoka gained the status of Japan's 10th automaker in 1994 with the Zero1. Except for the powertrain from the Mazda MX-5, this model looks similar to the Lotus 7, and the rest of the parts are made entirely in-house. The successor to the Zero1 appeared in 2007 as the wacky Big Snake, a mid-engined sports car. The big snake is powered by a Toyota V-6 3.3L engine, and this car has a saying that says it well: you either love it or hate it, you can only choose one or the other.
The challenge for the serpent is not so much its polarized styling as its bespoke chassis price tag. The car proved Mitsuoka's design and manufacturing capabilities, but by 2015, the company had reverted to more traditional bus manufacturing arrangements.
Today's Mitsuoka
Today, Mitsuoka sells six models, each based on a traditional model. Viewt, Galu and Ryugi are all four-door sedans with elements of Jaguar, Bentley and Rolls-Royce. The Queen (Himiko, or Beimihu) (c. 159 – c. 247, also written in some history books as "Bamihu") was the queen of the evil Matai Kingdom of Japan during the Yayoi period, and appeared in the history book "Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Wei, and Biography of the Uighurs". The sports car is similar to the Morgan Plus Four, based on the Hyundai MX-5; Its wheelbase is lengthened by approximately 23 inches to achieve the silhouette of a long nose.
Then there's the first model built to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Mitsuoka – a rock star. This model fully draws on the American car culture. Like the Queen, the Rock Star is based on the MX-5 bodywork. The body is a replica of the Sixties Corvette Sting Ray, which originally produced only 50 vehicles.
The rock star adopted the Mazda Miata and gave it a distinctly Corvette look
Mitsuoka's MX-5 body did not come directly from Mazda, but from a local Mazda dealer. The company even purchased a Canadian-spec MX-5 and built a one-to-one left-drive model to sell in a lottery. Each ticket costs the equivalent of $4,355, or more than double the price of $86,274 for a standard rock star.
Mitsuoka is just a small niche (niche is the English translation of Niche's Chinese. Niche refers to the market segmented by the advantages of the enterprise, which is not large and does not receive satisfactory service. Products advance this market and have a profitable basis. Here, in particular, targeted and professional products. The company, a Japanese automobile manufacturing a small fish in the ocean. However, it has a 50-year history of success, and its products are still in high demand. Some of its quirky efforts haven't fully translated into a wider audience, but cars like the Buddy and Rock Star offer understandable appeal.
Mitsuoka Great Snake
Compared to the homogenization of other automotive industries, Mitsuoka offers a rare creativity that is not limited by large-scale manufacturing. Its vehicles are not suitable for the masses, and they are manufactured with an extraordinary level of care and attention.
Whether ideas like Buddy Mitsuoka can work in the European and American markets. Are consumers of crossovers willing to wait months to buy a car that combines all the practicality of Toyota with a touch of nostalgia? Are people willing to pay a premium for a wider range of colors and great styling? For a lucky few lucky customers in Japan and a handful of places around the world, a special car handcrafted by artisans is within reach.