As I was pulling into the local REI parking lot a few weeks ago, I spied this fine example of mid-80’s Japanese 4×4 style. My kids were mortified when I started snapping pictures but these are getting distinctly thin on the ground.
Back in the day I always kind of considered them the equal of the Isuzu Trooper but as they progressed through several more recent generations, I suppose they were really more of an alternative to the Toyota Land Cruiser in overall capability and competence before the Toyota really started getting overly expensive.
In other markets, they were usually known as the Pajero (and Shogun in the U.K.) and have a significant racing history, notably in the Paris-Dakar rally-raids of the 80’s and 90’s. While the Montero nameplate was retired in the U.S. in 2006, it is still available in other markets to this day.
In any case, this appears to be a model from around 1989. Originally the Montero was only produced in two-door form (and for a while in was also sold as the Dodge Raider), but in the late ’80s Mitsubishi began to offer the longer 4-door version in the U.S. with the V6 engine.
The V6 was a 3.0l, SOHC design that produced 143hp and 168ft-lbs of torque, which seems quite meager for that size engine today. The truck weighed just under 4000 pounds, so I am imagining that acceleration would be leisurely, especially up here in the thin air of Colorado.
Judging by the Seattle license plate frame, the CSU sticker, as well as the relatively new license plate, I am guessing that this particular Montero is a newer arrival to Colorado and is probably owned by a student in town. Whoever it belongs to, he (or she) seems to be taking excellent care of it, as the body is devoid of major blemishes and the interior still looks to be in great condition (my poor picture of said interior notwithstanding).
I did not realize until I was looking at these pictures again that the rear door is side-hinged. As opposed to the Trooper, the Mitsubishi’s is a single piece (like the RAV4’s), and also hinged on the “wrong” side for left-hand drive countries. (I also realized that I completely overlooked the Isuzu Axiom parked next to it, which if anything is even more rare nowadays!)
All in all, this is a fine example of a truck that has been forgotten by many and is not seen much anymore.
Pajero Exceed I think if it has all the bells and whistles, there are multitudes of them ex JDM in NZ, my boss in Tassie used a later petrol V6 to tow his speedway car, good tow car though it ate several exhaust manifolds, My sister has a 98 Pajero 3.4 turbo diesel in Aussie for caravan towing it was far cheaper than a Landcruiser it seems Australian cars have become much more expensive than their NZ counterparts these days.
I quite like these and Isuzu Troopers of this era. Purpose built, solid, and very good in the back woods and trails. Lots of utility and earnestness in this truck. I would take one of these hands down over todays neither-nor soft roaders and body on frame crossovers that do not know what they want to be when they grow up.
These were good both on and off road one of the first that could do both competently.
These were rugged, honest rigs. I liked the 2 door versions a lot, just too bad there weren’t any soft top versions. That could’ve outshined the dinky suzukis and other pint sizers, while making a serious run at the Wrangler. The 4 door Wrangler kind of brings it full circle.
On thing I never understood is why Mitsubishi…and Isuzu for that matter…never shared sheet metal on the Monty and Trooper with their pickups. Isuzu later did with the Rodeo and Amigo, but these seem like they would have made pretty tough little haulers in pickup form.
I miss rear spare tire carriers and desperately await their return.
There’s no federally mandated reason for their absence, right? Just changing consumer tastes?
+1
Nope the government has not mandated absence of the rear mounted spare. I think it has to do with car makers wishing to streamline all aspects of their vehicles or perhaps it is cheaper to omit it in the rear?
The Jeep Wrangler still has one.
I think rear mounted spare tires are better then having the spare under the car because a under vehicle mounted spare seems to collect crap like dirt and wear on the tire due to being exposed to rock salt and other crap.
Re the rear spare. I’d blame it on:
1) The 4 x4 that never leaves the bitumen and is used as a station wagon.
Too much of a PITA to swing the spare way before you can open the tailgate.
2) Rear light visibility. Most 4 x 4s here in Aus with the rear spare have to have extra tail/brake/ idicators mounted in the bumpers. Dunno if that bit of
insanity is confined to our shores, or if its spread.
I think it has more to do with insurance companies. Rear mounted spares can cause thousands of dollars in damage to the hatch and glass from just light rear taps, if the vehicle impacts the tire and not the bumper. The RAV4 did away with it for just this reason.
Didn’t these have that fully suspended driver’s seat or was that the Trooper? You don’t see cool, oddball features like that anymore.
Yes…that did! It was a full suspension truck-style driver’s seat…SUPERB!!
Well there’s something I didn’t know. That’s so cool!
Fantastic for the lumbar spine when u’re off road ..yep ..had one of these for 9 years ..it gave 28mpg on hard driving ..could easily ‘ton-up’ ..and was a quick accelerator comparatively speaking.. just an amazing vehicle all round !
ps ..did i forget to mention it was diesel powered .. lol (intercooled, high pressure big turbo body 4D56T which I extensively modded, including using a better cylinder head from the Preggio Van (upgraded cloned 4D56) and all power robbing clean air stuff removed and/or disabled, boost raised from 11 to 15psi, and more fuelling through the pump, straight thru exhaust, plenty of teflon on the bearings, and a tad of ‘not diesel’ added into the fuel tank to boot … honestly it would leave the petrol powered 6G72 in it’s slightly black-enrichened exhaust smoke.. no problem (free wheeling hubs and light weight Yokohama’s with 50psi in each also helped) ..a very fun wagon 🙂
a version was also called mitsubishi nativa. It was sold in Latin America and also Puerto Rico so it is also seen driving around in the USA.
The one called the Mitsubishi Nativa was the Montero Sport. The regular Montero was called Montero too here in Puerto Rico. The one in the picture is the Mitsubishi Nativa aka Montero Sport.
My family owned a 1987 2-door Montero for several years when I was growing up. It was a brilliant vehicle, and I remember it with a lot more fondness than all the other family haulers we had over the years. It was painted in a ruggedly attractive metallic brown, and had the 4 cylinder automatic combo. It was the first car I ever ‘drove’, steering from my Dad’s lap while he operated the pedals. On a remote dirt road of course.
Talk about a bulletproof reliable, no nonsense, and well engineered machine. My parents were avid outdoor enthusiasts and the Montero took as to some very remote parts of Utah, Nevada, Idaho, and Wyoming with no trouble whatsoever. It replaced our red and white V6 1985 Blazer S-10, an attractive but significantly less reliable and capable machine.
Now that we’re living in an era where even rugged 4WD’s aren’t spared from senselessly garish styling trends, and electronic over-complication, older machines like this Montero are more appealing than ever.
A Montero! I haven’t seen one since I had mine, last in 2008. A neighbor had a Dodge 2-door one, that rusted to pieces in an alarmingly short time (this is in Wisconsin in the early 80s) but I remember it being tough, no-nonsense and we took it FAR off road with no trouble. (logging roads in northern WI in the winter) Another friend’s parents had a Montero but with the Mitsu 2.6 engine, which also rusted to pieces, but the engine cracked it’s head due to the “jet valves” and the oil pump broke, killing the engine outright. THe 3.0 was the same engine in Chrysler products, but with different intakes and exhausts.
I found my 91 Montero right by my house with a “For Sale” sign on it, it had been brought in from CA so had next to no rust (but definitely developed a lot of it in the year I had it) I loved it because it was square, basic, had a ridiculous amount of room in it (we transported most of our furniture in it when we moved) It had like an entire foot more headroom than the Cherokee my Dad had, or the Explorer my Mom was driving. ALso, it was basic enough that I could fix it, despite having next to no mechanical skills other than what I learned online or from the Haynes manual I got… unfortunately pretty much everything started to break on it, (many electrical gremlins, starter went out, burned exhaust valve, transfer case shifter) it was rusting like crazy, and I was using it to commute 30+ miles each way for work so we started looking for something a little newer. Then when it stranded my wife and new baby, that was the end of it. I REALLY liked it though, and it’s nice to see another one in reasonably good shape.
My daughter is a realtor in the Dallas area. She drove the next generation Montero (sport) for work and it never let her down. Good car.
Good note on the rear door. It is made like the old sedan deliveries normally were. They were always made to open to the curb. As noted, this is backwards so maybe a JDM import? There are restrictions on that but this is just about old enough to slip those restrictions.
Our cube has that door and I prefer it to my forerunner with the tailgate because I can actually reach into the car. My vues had the lifting rear doors and I practically concussed myself more than once. Especially winter time when the shocks sagged. Well a pet peeve of mine and I did not realize Mitsubishi did it that way. Thanks.
No, not an import. They were all like this. The first 3 generations of RAV4 were as well which is really weird seeing as how the majority of sales were in left hand drive countries. It’s a strange thing for the Japanese to have ignored in my opinion.
A high school friend has one of the 2-door Raider-badged versions as his first car. It set him on a trend of older Japanese vehicles for life, evidently (he currently owns a CRX, a Civic tall wagon, an FJ60 Land Cruiser, and an FJ80 Land Cruiser).
The 4-door versions like the featured car were never common in my part of the USA. The one I best remember was owned by another student at my high school, who managed to roll it onto its side in the school parking lot. That took some talent…
Those sold like hotcakes in Spain in the 90s, albeit with a Diesel engine. In fact, my best friend still drives a 2-door version which is undestructible.
BTW, since nobody has said this yet, I’m writing this. No way Mitsubishi could sell this car as a Pajero in Spanish-speaking countries… It means “wanker” 🙁 Montero is actually a name that evoques mountains and is quite more Spanish-friendly
This one looks practically factory fresh! Good to see the owner is taking good care of it, from the days when SUVs were work vehicles and not mere fashion statements.
<3 the Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero/Shogun aka Hyundai Galloper. Legend has it that the upstart Koreans bought the tooling for the first gen Pajero from Mitsubishi and shipped it to S Korea. As Mitsubishi moved on to softer, more aerodynamic designs, Hyundai started cranking out gen-1 Pajeros and rebadging them "Gallopers".
In the Mideast late 90's Gallopers were the expat 4wd of choice–less than half the cost of a new Land Cruiser or Patrol!
Here is our 97 Galloper, loaded up for one of many family trips to the Musandam, Oman.
I have a 1989 Mitsubishi Montero 3.0 LS with 359,000 miles. I love the vehicle and still drive it. People always stop and ask me about it. Although most confuse it to be a Trooper. Sorry to say it is getting very hard to find parts for it. Love to have the two door version now my kids are out of the house. On rare ocassions I will see one. i know of one in Cherokee Nc and looks to be in great condition and two in a salvage yard, that I sometimes get parts off of for my 4 door.
I had the same car