Not very big: Mitsuoka is a Japanese company that makes neoclassic cars based on models from Mazda, Honda, and Toyota. The M55 looks like a 1970s American muscle car, but it is actually based on the modern Civic hatchback. Even though the M55 is just an idea, Mitsuoka sees no problems with making it. You won’t find one around here, though. The current Dodge Challenger has been a sales success for 15 years, which is good for a car that builds on the success of the model from 1970 to 1974. Dodge has done a great job of appealing to memories, which is a very addictive drug. What if, though, you wanted to drive a fun-sized hatchback power car like you did as a kid? The strangest car company in Japan has you covered in some ways. The Mitsuoka M55 is just an idea right now. This is because Mitsuoka is a small business with only 80 workers and doesn’t make concept cars. The same method has been used for almost 50 years. It is in Toyama City, which is about 250 kilometers from Tokyo. Mitsuoka is not only Japan’s newest car company but also the last company that follows the country’s old ways of making cars. Two artists carefully hand-build each of its neoclassical cars, a process that can take up to two months to complete. They take their work very seriously, even though the cars they make are funny. The M55 is a Civic hatchback with a direct-shifting 1.5-liter turbocharged engine. Then, why not? Mitsuoka changes it to look like a Charger. This is amazing, funny, and well done. It is the best. If purists are upset, they can stand in the “no fun” zone. The themes of earlier Mitsuoka versions were mostly European. One such car is the Viewt, a Nissan that was made to look like a Jaguar Mk II. As a European specialized service business, Susumu Mitsuoka built the company from the ground up. But after the company’s 50th anniversary in 2018, Minoru Watanabe, Mitsuoka’s general manager, started making plans for the future. Watanabe had happy memories of the old cars he grew up in in the United States. His first design job was to create the Mitsuoka Rock Star, a Mazda MX-5 with the feel of a 1960s Corvette. Really cute Buddy might do even better. The Buddy uses the K5 Chevy Blazer’s charm while staying built on the dull RAV4—dependability from Toyota and a unique, hand-crafted, retro look. Also, these coach-built works of art aren’t that expensive. The Buddy costs USD 45,000 and has a two-year waitlist. Few Rock Stars were made, and there wasn’t a big price difference between them and standard Mazdas, either. Once more, it takes at least a month to make these cars. The square-jawed American iron front and back louvers on the M55 look great together. When looked at straight on, it makes a lot of sense. Like a Mitsubishi Galant GTO, a Datsun B110, or a C110 Nissan Skyline from the 1970s, it looks like a coupe from the back. The Civic that’s hiding below is most clear from the side. Inside, there are well-made seats in a retro style. Mitsuoka says that the M55 will be shown off in Tokyo and Toyama this winter. The formal statement says that the goal is not to make things but to bring back the “hot magma” of the 1970s. Mitsuoka is checking to see how much desire there is for this. If enough people sign up, the company can make an M55. The M55 is not likely to be seen on this side of the Pacific because it can only make a few things. Even though the company doesn’t plan to sell outside of its established Asian markets (there are two approved dealers in the UK and Monaco), older Mitsuoka models do show up on the black market every once in a while. Instead, the Mitsuoka M55 makes me wonder, “How much more are American customers willing to pay for a regular car with a lot of extra personality?” Flex Automotive of Japan has a shop in San Diego where it converts Land Cruisers from the early 2000s into vehicles that have the appearance of having been produced in the 1980s. This might be good for business. No matter what, it’s important to note that the Mitsuoka M55 exists. To do it is just fun in a world where making cars is very important.
