"carcrasher88" (carcrasher88)
11/20/2015 at 21:12 • Filed to: Japan, Google Street View, Street View Road Trip
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"carcrasher88" (carcrasher88)
11/20/2015 at 21:12 • Filed to: Japan, Google Street View, Street View Road Trip | 1
| 0 |
Continuing my latest road trip in Japan on Street View, I came across this !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
In Japan, these buses are used to transport children to and from school. I’ve seen images of these on the web, but this is the first time I’ve seen one on Street View.
For those who like their cars as Swedish as their meatballs, here’s an old, boxy Volvo I found just down the street.
Now, for a bit of a JDM education for ya.
What you see here is a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a large MPV manufactured by Mitsubishi Motors.
The !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! was the successor to the Chariot, which the first two generations were sold in North America as Mitsubishis (second generation, the Expo), Dodges (first generation, the Colt Vista), Plymouths (see Dodge), and Eagles (first generation, the Vista Wagon, Canada only).
The last generation wasn’t sold here, and neither was the Grandis, though it WAS sold in Mexico, Honduras, and Jamaica.
The Grandis was introduced in May 2003, and was actually the first Mitsubishi to use the grille design seen in other Mitsubishis of the mid-00’s (like the Lancer Evo VIII, final generation Eclipse, first generation Outlander, etc.).
Oh, and while here in the US, we usually have model generations that usually last 4-5 years (which I call the Honda Civic Rule), the Grandis is a great example of how long a single model design can last a long time in Japan.
The Grandis was produced all the way until 2011, or 8 years, though the plug was pulled in it’s home market in March 2009, or nearly 6 years.
It could also be had with a 2.0 4-cylinder diesel supplied by VW.
And, believe it or not, this and the second generation Subaru Legacy have something in common, the same designer. They were both Oliver Boulay designs (Subaru hired Boulay short-term after leaving Mercedes-Benz, which he went back to after working for Subaru).
Anyway, I’ll get back to my trip and will see if I can find anything else interesting, possibly with another JDM lesson, too.