Those of us who appreciate the finer things in life sadly do not always have the means to afford them. One may desire a bottle of vintage wine, a trip to a tropical paradise or a lakefront property, but some of us have to settle – and settle hard. So we end up drinking beer, going to the swimming pool and living in a van down by the river. Likewise, there are Japanese folks who dream of owning a Rolls-Royce. And if they haven’t got the coin, Mitsuoka has a solution.
That solution, since 1996, bears the uncanny moniker of “Galue” and has gone through many a generation. And we have seen some (most?) of those over the past few years, but let’s go back to the very first, the one that started the whole rigmarole. Mitsuoka’s Silver Ghost, if you will.
The value proposition of the first-gen Galue is, compared to the blue-blooded Brit it seeks to emulate, quite striking – and at least as striking as its appearance. But if, as Dolly Parton justly said, it “takes a lot of money to look this cheap,” Mitsuoka conversely proved that it can be relatively economical to look expensive.
One key factor is to keep the whole gussying-up budget for, well, the gussying up side of things. The oily bits need not be too dear or exclusive – certainly, no massive exotic engine or onerous unit body tooling should ever be factored in, as that will drive costs up very quickly. Mitsuoka’s cunning plan was to take a Nissan Crew (1993-2009), a reasonably-sized and sensibly-motorized low-cost four-door with a live axle and a spacious rear seat typically used by driving schools and taxi companies, dress it up with as much gingerbread as possible and, Bob’s your uncle, you have a car that sort of looks, to the untrained (and very near-sighted) eye at least, like a million bucks. Or a million pounds, whichever is greater when you’re reading this.
The key to the Galue’s design philosophy is excellence in excess. Mitsuoka don’t manufacture much of the car, really, but what they do add is very carefully made (by hand, in fact) and always designed to impress through the copious use of chrome and other neoclassic / retro tropes.
Given that the price of the Galue – well above that of the Crew it was based on, but several times less than an actual Roller – and Mitsuoka’s ability to cater to most of their clientele’s whims, no two Galues are said to be alike, particularly inside.
This one, besides being very well cared for, obviously had a very enthusiastic buyer who ticked a great many boxes on the options list: I can’t say I’ve seen all that many of these, but this is the first one that has leather upholstery and plastiwood veneer.
No expense was spared: these are Mitsuoka-branded wire wheels – a rarely seen (and doubtless pretty costly) item that definitely gives the car a certain je-ne-sais-quoi. Actually, I do sais quoi: makes it look like a Jag. Which doesn’t really work if you’re going for the R-R look, but it’s English and high-end, so squinting from a distance, in a way and if we must, it sort of works.
All that was needed to complete the faux-Royce illusion was to replace the Mitsuoka star sitting atop the grille with something a little more spiritually ecstatic. Something that would look the part when viewed from the driver’s perspective, at least.
From the front and up close though, the “Frying Lady” looks like the knock-off it clearly is. But then, the Galue has to be appreciated as a whole, not examined in too close detail. That tends to ruin the effect.
What I cannot ascertain is the engine sitting behind that grandiose radiator shell. The overwhelming majority of the 50,000-plus Nissan Crews that were produced over a decade and a half were taxis powered by an LPG 2-litre 4-cyl., but there was a civilian version of the Crew with more engine options, offered until 2002, that would have been used as the base for the Galue. Beside the LPG engine, one could order a 2.8 litre Diesel six and the famous 2-litre RB 6-cyl. also used on the Skyline.
It’s doubtful that the person who specified wire wheels and leather seats and went to the additional trouble of fitting a Rollsesque mascot on his prized possession would go for the Diesel, but, just like there might be someone out there who will figure this is a genuine luxury car, anything is possible.
Related posts:
CC Capsule: 1998 Mitsuoka Galue (Series I) – Downhill From There, by T87
CC Capsule: 1997 Mitsuoka Galue – Real Horrorshow, by T87
Cohort Pic(k) Of The Day – Mitsuoka LeSeyde And Galue Double Feature, by Jim Klein
Weird but I like it .
-Nate
The 2 Buck Chuck of the luxury car world. I
It looks just like a Rolls Royce until a Rolls Royce pulls up next to you at a light…
I love it. Against all car-guy logic, these things seem to sell well. Which makes sense as there can’t be many cars less expensive to maintain on an ongoing basis than a Nissan Crew. This is like adding rhinestones to your Timex, squinting at it until the first three letters of Timex morph into something else and then just going about your day.
The Silver Galue. Timeless elegance…
Shouldn’t that be the ‘Frying Rady’ ?
These must retain their value reasonably well as they seem to be comparatively expensive on the export from Japan market. Here is one I came across with a manual transmission! (seemly rare for any Mitsuoka)
https://jdmwholesale.com/detail/2600625e645a526e
That’s awesome!
I’d take a base Crew with a 4 cyl/manual. Boring to them as a Crown Vic is to us, undoubtedly, but I bet it would make for a decent and unique daily driver over here.
That JDM site sent me down a rathole for a few minutes. RHD Taurus wagon or PT Cruiser? Who’d have thought there’d be a market … either new or used.
Thr formal-ish roof on the Crew works well for the conversion. Not as out-of-place as some other Mitsuoka creations you’ve shown us.
Thanks for sharing the great pics!
Drinking beer, going to the swimming pool, and and gussying up our VW Beetles.
To my eyes this looks MORE Rollsy and prestigious and substantial than the actual RR of the last two decades. RR should copy Mitsuoka.
I kind of like it! I agree about the wire rims. Although it may have been an “upgrade”, I don’t care for them and think a nice set or caps with the (on this car) silver center painted would look more RR and better. Maybe even a 1/4″ set of WW tires. Other than that, the only thing that looks kind of strange is how they extended that crease from the front, through the doors and into the back quarter panel and then just stopped. From a design standpoint, I think that crease would have done well to go all the way to the rear bumper.
As an extended thought on the wires: I have a beautiful 1988 Cadillac Cimarron that I picked up last year with only 60K on the clock. It’s darker red over silver with the garnet red leather. Outside of the tinted windows that I’ve left on for now, the only non factory item was the wires someone put on. It had those with brand new 1/4″ WW tires and although it didn’t look terrible, I wanted the car to be 100% factory original. I was able to find 6 original 14″ alloy rims and was able to have 4 of those 6 refurbished to like new. Then I put on the proper set of black-wall 14″ tires and she’s back to original.
Only problem now is I have a very expensive (when new) set of genuine wire rims with all new WW tires just sitting in my shed.
If you drink enough beer, and apply the consequent goggles, may be you could convince someone it looks a bit of a Wolseley for the 1990s, or has the front end of a Mk 2 Jaguar. But once you’ve caught on, you’ll never forget.
But you can continue to give it a miss.
Hmm, replace that RB20 with an RB26DETT….
And I so want that “frying lady” to be holding a frying pan. Call it the frying pan of doom…. 🙂