is a small

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

company. It is noted for building unique cars with unconventional styling, some of which are modern while others imitate the look of American, European and particularly British retro cars of the 1950s and 1960s. Mitsuoka Motors is also the principal distributor of the retro-classic

TD2000 The TD2000 is a retro-classic roadster styled after the MG TD. It is produced by TD Cars (Malaysia) Pte. Ltd., a private limited company incorporated in 1998. The company acquired the rights, intellectual properties and trademarks associated with ...

roadster in Japan. Mitsuoka is primarily a custom design

coachbuilder A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily ...

, customizing production cars, e.g., the Nissan March, and replacing various aspects of the bodywork. It has also produced a sports car, the Orochi.

History

Mitsuoka was recognised in 1996 as the 10th Japanese auto manufacturer to be registered in Japan since Honda in 1963, basing its current cars on Nissans and other Japanese car manufacturers. Mitsuoka Motor launched in the UK in 2015 under sole distribution of T W White & Sons and launched the Mitsuoka Roadster (Himiko) at the London Motor Show in 2016.

Models

Current lineup

*1993–present Viewt *1996–present Galue *2008–present Himiko/Roadster *2010–present Like-T3 *2014–present Ryugi (based on the

Toyota Corolla Axio The is a series of compact cars (formerly subcompact) manufactured and marketed globally by the Toyota Motor Corporation. Introduced in 1966, the Corolla was the best-selling car worldwide by 1974 and has been one of the best-selling cars in ...

and Toyota Corolla Fielder) *2021–present Buddy ( K5 Blazer inspiration based on the Toyota RAV4)

Past vehicles

*1982 BUBU 50 Series ** 1982 BUBU 501 (a three-wheeled microcar) ** 1985 BUBU 505-C (a Morgan 4/4 inspiration) *1989-1990 BUBU 356 Speedstar (a replica of the Porsche 356 Speedster) *1987-1989 BUBU Classic SSK (replica of the

Mercedes-Benz SSK The Mercedes-Benz SSK (W06) is a roadster built by German automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz between 1928 and 1932. The name is an abbreviation of ''Super Sport Kurz'', German for "Super Sport Short", as it was a short wheelbase development o ...

roadster based on the

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...

) *2008-2012 Galue 204 (based on the Toyota Corolla Axio) *2010-2012 Galue Classic (based on the Toyota Corolla Axio) *1991-1993 Dore (similar to the Le-Seyde, based on the Nissan Silvia S13) *1990-1993, 2000-2001 Le-Seyde (a

Nissan Silvia The is the series of small sports cars produced by Nissan. Versions of the Silvia have been marketed as the 200SX or 240SX for export, with some export versions being sold under the Datsun brand. The name "Silvia" is derived from Sylvia, th ...

-based coupé inspired by Zimmer) *2010-2012 Like (based on the Mitsubishi i-MiEV) *1998-2007 Mitsuoka Microcar **1998-2007 Microcar K-1/MC-1 ***1999-2007 MC-1T **1998-? Microcar K-2 (based on the design of the FMR Tg500) **2005-? Microcar K-3/Type F (design similar to the Zero1) **2006-? Microcar K-4/Type R (styling reminiscent of 1950s race cars) **1999-2007 ME-1 **2002-2007 ME-2 (Convoy 88) *2004-2012 Nouera (based on the Honda Accord and later the

Toyota Corolla The is a series of compact cars (formerly subcompact) manufactured and marketed globally by the Toyota Motor Corporation. Introduced in 1966, the Corolla was the best-selling car worldwide by 1974 and has been one of the best-selling cars in ...

) *2007-2014 Orochi (based on the

Honda NSX The Honda NSX, marketed in North America as the Acura NSX, is a two-seat, mid-engined coupe sports car manufactured by Honda. The origins of the NSX trace back to 1984, with the HP-X (Honda Pininfarina eXperimental) concept, which was a mid-eng ...

) *1996-2004

Ray Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (g ...

(styling similar to the

Riley Elf The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

Mk.3, based on the

Mazda Carol The Mazda Carol is a kei car manufactured by Mazda from 1962 until 1970. The Carol name was revived again with Mazda's 1989 re-entry into the kei car class with the Autozam brand. Since 1989, the Carol has been a rebadging, rebadged model manufac ...

and later the

Daihatsu Mira Gino The is a kei car/city car with distinctive retro styling made by the Japanese automaker Daihatsu from 1999 to 2009. It is based on the more mainstream Mira and was first introduced to the Japanese market in 1999, with the second generation mode ...

) *2018–2022 Rock Star ( C2 Corvette inspiration based on the Mazda MX-5) *1998-2004 Ryoga a "classically" styled sedan originally based on the Primera and later on the smaller Sunny *1996-2000 Type F (a restyled Zero1) *2000-2001 Yuga (a

London Taxi A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or London taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common si ...

replica based on the

Nissan Cube The Nissan Cube is a mini MPV produced by carmaker Nissan between 1998 to 2019. Initially sold only in Japan, the Cube was sold in North American markets from 2009 to 2014, and in European markets from 2009 to 2011. In Japan, it was exclusive to ...

) *1994-2000 Zero1 (a

Lotus Super Seven Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

replica with

Eunos Roadster The Mazda MX-5 (NA) (sold in Japan as the and in North America as the Mazda MX-5 Miata) is the first generation of the Mazda MX-5 manufactured from 1989 to 1997. Inspired by the post-war era British sports cars, the MX-5 rejuvenated intere ...

drivetrain)

References

External links

Mitsuoka Motors Japanese website
(Japanese)
Mitsuoka Motors UK website
(English)
Mitsuoka Motors global website
(English) Companies based in Toyama Prefecture Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1968 Lotus Seven replicas Car manufacturers of Japan Sports car manufacturers Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers Japanese brands Japanese companies established in 1968 {{motorvehicle-company-stub