Mitsubishi Motors Debonair and Mitsubishi Aircraft MU-2 Turboprop
(first posted 8/27/2016) The ‘60s were Japan’s “go-go” years – it had rebuilt itself from the utter destruction of the previous World War, and its industries were humming. As before the War, Japan’s economy was largely in the hands of several large conglomerates. These conglomerates had numerous individual business entities – so there were lots of senior executives. Company loyalty is a given in Japan, and these executives needed transportation – and for Mitsubishi Exec’s, (aircraft, cars/trucks, shipbuilding, chemicals, energy, electronics, financial, real estate), riding in a Toyota or Nissan just wouldn’t do – thus was born the Debonair.
Century President
The Debonair, and later Nissan President (1965) and Toyota Century (1967) were part of Japan’s “Executive class” sedans, sold mainly to fleet operators of their respective parent corporation or affiliated companies and to the government. They shuttled executives/politicians as they went about their very busy duties contributing to Japan’s economic miracle. The cars were not generally marketed to the public, but if you knew the right person, one could be ordered. They would also show up on the used car market.
The Debonair debuted in 1963, and with its slab sides and chrome-stripped fender peaks, clearly drew its inspiration from the Elwood Engel-penned early 1960’s Lincoln Continental. This first generation model was built an incredible 22 years – from 1964 to 1986. There were three changes during the production run.
The initial model, the A30, was powered by the KE64 1991cc straight six with dual carburetors, and was sold from 1964 to 70.
For 1971, a new “Saturn” series 6G34 straight six was installed, and in ‘73 the round taillights gave way to L shaped versions – this model was designated the A31.
The “Silent Shaft” 2.6L 4G54 four cylinder debuted in 1976 – this was the same engine recently highlighted in Paul’s Plymouth Arrow post. The car remained basically unchanged until 1985, when only 205 rolled out in their last year.
2nd Gen 3rd Gen
The following generations (Debonairs were built until 1998) were more mainstream models marketed to both the public and business fleets. The second generation was quite distinctive, to include an AMG model, but that’s a story for another post…
“Look at these sales figures – the Debonair is selling well.”
My first thought was that it reminds me of this, and that it would make sense considering Mopar and Mitsubishi’s relationship. Then I realized the Debonair came first. Did it influence the Valiant and Dart?
Umm, no. Elwood Engle designed the ’61 Continental. Then he moved to Chrysler in 1963, and the ’67 Valiant/Dart were of course done under his direct supervision. Hence the Conti-look ’64 Imperial, the Conti-look ’65 Chryslers, and these in ’67.
Chrysler and Mitsubishi had no relationship at the time. That started in 1971.
It was actually styled by an ex-GM guy called Hans Bretzner
My first thought too – “that’s a Plymouth Valiant!”
Sort of 90% Lincoln, 10% Simca Vedette. Interesting combo. Works well except for the quad headlights. They should have been vertical, as in ’57 Lincoln.
Interesting read…was not aware of these.
A Continental sized like a Rambler?
Have heard of the Mitsubishi Debonair but had never seen a picture of the 1st generation. And with the Japanese obsession with ongoing refinement and constant improvement I’m surprised it was produced for 22 years, but then the Nissan and Toyota also had long production runs, too, didn’t they?
Mitsubishi has built fascinating cars, it’s a shame that a changing market has (seemingly?) forced them to adopt such a dismal product portfolio. That is, SUVs, CUVs, and small-sized electric/electric-hybrid/plug-in hybrid vehicles. Mitsubishi’s best selling vehicle in the U.K. is the Outlander hybrid….which oddly, they don’t sell here, do they?
As Jim says, these weren’t intended for public consumption, so a lot of the usual assumptions didn’t really apply. I think the manufacturers hoped that these would be like Rolls-Royce, with minimal, mostly regulation-driven changes over long periods.
I’ve heard of the Mitsubishi Debonair, but because it was never sold in North America, I’ve never seen one in person. I have seen pics of the first generation Debonair, and until now, I’ve never found it as attractive as the first gen Nissan (H150) President or the Toyota Century. It wasn’t until the second generation Debonair that I thought Mitsubishi did a good job in the styling department.
I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT BILL MITCHELL[GM] INSPIRED THE STYLING OF THE ELEGANT DEBONAIR– NO MATTER//–IN LATE 1969 A YOUNG GEOFF GOGLE[26] HEADED FOR JAPAN TO LOOK FOR A JAPANESE CAR AND TRUCK TO IMPORT INTO MY HOME COUNTRY OF ZAMBIA–MY BANK DIRECTED ME TO MITSUBISHI–I WANTED A ”BIG”CAR TO COMPETE WITH THE TOYOTA CROWN AND NISSAN CEDRIC AND A CLASS 6/7 TRUCK RANGE–WHEN I MENTIONED THE DEBONAIR TO MITSUBISHI–THIS WAS THEIR REPLY –QUOTE:-OUR DEBONAIR IS EXPENSIVE[NOT COMPETITIVE] AND MAINLY USED BY MITSUBISHI EXECUTIVES AND ”BANK ROBBERS”//-WE NAMED OUR COMPANY ”MARUNOUCHI” THE FINANCIAL HEART OF TOKYO
Please, no all-caps comments. It actually makes it harder to read. And it’s visually offensive. Thanks. 🙂
Mike, very nice write up of a car I’ve always been quite fond of. I loved seeing these when I was in Japan in 1982; they were already living dinosaurs then.
There’s more than a touch of the Debonair in the Fiat 125 (and 124), to my eyes.
Great writeup. Never seen those 73 taillights before.
Love this Mitsubishi. Saw one in the metal in Japan once. It went by too quick for me to take a picture. Funny how they pretty much copied the Lincoln design down to the kink in the belt line. The sincerest form of admiration indeed…
The Prince Skyline 2000 GT could also be added to the list of plushy Japanese cars of the mid-60s.
pic
Not the Skyline. That was a Corona-size car lengthened in the nose to take a two litre six. For “Plushy Japanese car” Prince offered the Gloria; that’s the car the Skyline got its six from. There’s one parked just next to the Debonair in the first pic.
Gloria was the first NZ assembled Japanese car AFAIK
they keep popping up for sale on trademe but I havent seen one in the metal for while.
In Japan, there was a very old nickname for the 1st gen Debonair ; “Coelacanth”- because it ran out from the factory for 22 years without major change. Maybe, just maybe, we also could find out another Coelacanth too.
Zaibatsu were prewar family-owned conglomerates similar to S. Korean chaebol, & New Dealers suspicious of such things during the Occupation were unsuccessful in completely eliminating them, perhaps undermined by fears about weakening Japan vs. Communism. Their descendants, keiretsu, are groups of companies centered around a bank, hence Sumitomo & Mazda, for example. Such cross-ownership, as between car companies & suppliers, makes hostile takeovers difficult, annoying Americans like T. Boone Pickens, who tried & failed to buy up a Japanese supplier.
These cars are fascinating, but I’ve never learned much about them, so this write-up fills in a lot of gaps. I never knew, for instance that the reason for the Debonair’s existence was to serve as company executive cars. That explains the design conservatism and it’s frozen-in-time nature… and these two characteristics are what I’ve always been intrigued about.
Every so often a picture of a Debonair or one of its equivalents from another company would appear in a U.S. magazines, but other than a few words telling readers that such cars existed, there was hardly any description. I would really love to see one of these cars in person.
Favorite car of ” Misubishi executives and ‘bank robbers’ “. I like that!
There’s something about those big, funky, boxy ’60s Japanese luxury cars I find attractive. They were probably pretty nice, durable rides too, if the rust-bug didn’t get them too soon.
I think the Toyota Crown was about the only such vehicle ever sold in the US at the time.
Those had a neat, hemi-OHC straight-six that eventually made it into the early Cressida and Supra.
Happy Motoring, Mark
Sort of like how the Ambassador existed so that AMC execs had something substantial to ride around in.
That Nissan President looks an awful lot like a 63 Rambler, especially in the greenhouse.
Nice Debonaire some second gen have turned up in NZ, but did you get any photos of the Prince Gloria parked next to the Deb in the first pic?Those were the cars that Nissan merged with and learned about OHC engines from.
The gen 2 Debonair could be bought with an Aquascutum option pack, something like a Bill Blass Lincoln. It’s a pity that it sounded like a particularly nasty anti-fungal medicine.
The hockey stick taillights on the 73 model remind me of a certain American Pontiac from the sixties.
Also, the slab sided styling was certainly ahead of its time. I kinda like this car.
Yup. 1967 or 1968 Pontiac Bonnevilles had the hockey stick tailights, but the orientation was reversed from the Debonair’s tailights.
powered by the KE64 1991cc straight six with dual carburetors…
Sounds like a smooth, powerful slice of heaven. 🙂
There were scads of 2-liter sixes in Japan in the ’70s and ’80s. None of them were very powerful until the arrival of turbocharging around 1980, but probably very smooth.
The Japanese “executive” segment of the market is a lesser-known part of Japanese motoring history. Two of the more unusual models offered were by Isuzu and Mazda, who didn’t have a an existing car, and didn’t want to spend money building cars for such a niche market.
Their solution – use an Australian model as a base. Isuzu used the HQ Holden Statesman and called the rebadged car the “Isuzu Statesman De Ville”.
Mazda went even further – a HJ or HX Holden Premier with the 6-cylinder Holden engine replaced by a 13B rotary, and called the “Roadpacer”.
Sales of both of these vehicles were only in the couple of hundred each.
2nd gen white car looks like an ’80s Volvo, all thick pillars and boxy transitions and proud of it. 3rd get is an imitation upscale Japanese sedan.
I think there is a hint of the contemporary Opel Admiral A. Maybe some logic to it with styling from a guy working at GM!
Vauxhall Cresta PC wheelarches hints of early Toyota Crown and some Simca Vedette thrown in for good measure, nice looking cars
Here’s a picture
It is interesting having the Debonair with their corporate twin executive plane, the MU-2. The airplane was also blessed with a long production run. The Gulfstream also started as an executive twin turboprop but quickly grew jet engines. Perhaps that they were less necessary for the short distances of Japan, it never evolved like the Gulfstream.
The MU-2 is a very impressive aircraft with performance superior to more conventional light twins of similar size. An innovative wing design employing spoilers instead of ailerons, which allows full span flaps, is key to the performance advantage. However, pilots not sufficiently familiar with the handling characteristics suffered a high accident rate, which damaged the plane’s reputation. Supplementary and type-specific training eventually reduced the accident rate, and the aircraft is still highly regarded today. This a summary of Wiki’s pretty good write up.
@ John C. : The turboprop Gulfstream I is a straight wing, conventional tail aircraft. Gulfstream II features a swept-wing, T-tail, rear engine mount configuration, so I wouldn’t say the original quickly grew jet engines. Anyway, both I and II had long service lives.
My father was an instructor on then Grumman Gulfstream Is for Flight Safety Int. and stayed with the I till he retired in the late 1980s. The training moved to Savannah in 1973 even though all the Is were built in Bethpage, NY.
IMHO, a good looking ‘western’ styled vehicle, with one bad point. The way forward mounted rear view mirrors detract from it`s styling, but this touch seems typical for home market Japanese vehicles . Other than that, no complaint.