Mitsubishi started selling Hearts, Tredia’s, Star signs And Trucks in the United States for the model year 1983and an Americanized version of the Pajero SUV followed a year later. This was the Montero, and sales of the first generation version continued here until 1991. Today Jewel of a car graveyard is one of the very first Monteros to reach our shores, found with some modified touches in a junkyard in Northern California recently.
That build date of October 1983 and VIN ending in 00258 tell us that this truck may have been part of the first shipment of Monteros to arrive in the United States. We saw one of them the very first Mitsubishi Trucks (the Mighty Max name started out as a trim level designation and only became a model name in its own right later in the 80s) in a Colorado graveyard this past winter, so we’ve got a few important pieces of American Mitsubishi history recently in this series.
This is a Sport trim with a manual transmission, which means its MSRP was $10,159. That’s about $31,322 in 2024 dollars.
Chrysler had been selling re-branded Mitsubishis in North America since the first Mitsubishi Colt Galants were sold here as Dodge Colts in 1971, and so the first-generation Montero eventually became a Dodge twin called the RaiderThis truck was available here for the 1987 through 1989 model years. Just to confuse everyone later, Mitsubishi Motors USA sold Dodge Dakotas with Raider badges for model years 2006 to 2009.
From 1984 through 1988, all Monteros for the U.S. market were powered by the 2.6-liter Astron four-cylinder engine, which in this guise produced 106 hp and 142 lb-ft. The Astron found its way into many Chrysler products in the 80s and 90s, including K-cars and minivans. For the 1989 through 1991 model years, the Montero could be purchased with an optional 3.0-liter 6G72 V6 engine.
The Montero Sport was well equipped with luxury and convenience options for a truck of its era. Lo and behold, an AM/FM/cassette radio with digital tuning! Air conditioning, of course, cost extra.
This one has the optional electric sliding roof.
The inclinometer was a nice addition the real missing cats was on it the factory Montero altimeter also.
Scuffed door handles are most often seen on Use in the style of the 50sbut this Montero has them.
The original paint appears to have been silver, judging by the color of the engine bay, and there is a lot of old body filler under the metallic green coat.
Only 124,219 miles on the odometer. The Mitsubishi with the most miles I’ve ever found in a junkyard was a Dodge Ram 50 with 313,560 miles.
When you see your Pajero on a Japanese beach, you can easily imagine it beating the competition in Africa.
Mitsubishi certainly has something to offer with the Pajero.
The rule of thumb for 80s car commercials is that the JDM versions are always more fun.
With the four-door Montero you could survive in the suburbs.