Mitsubishi Pajero off-road vehicle imported in 1980s.

From 1984 to 1986, China experienced a round of Japanese automobile import peak, during which three types of Japanese off-road vehicles were imported; Toyota Land Cruiser LC60, Nissan Toure and Mitsubishi Pajero. Among the three off-road vehicles, Mitsubishi Pajero has a higher exposure, which is the first generation product of Mitsubishi Pajero.

From 1953 to 1973, Mitsubishi has been manufacturing Jeep CJ3 off-road vehicle (introducing production license). From the production of this vehicle, Mitsubishi Motors has accumulated experience and technology, and has the technical strength to develop off-road vehicles with better performance. The first prototype of a brand-new off-road vehicle was launched in 1973, and the second prototype was launched in 1978. In 1982, the first generation Pajero came out. At first, there were only three-door models with short wheelbase. In 1983, Mitsubishi introduced its five-door model with long wheelbase, and the model sold in the United States was called Montero.

Mitsubishi Pajero has got rid of the commercial compartment design of the previous off-road vehicle, and the comfort of the compartment has improved a lot, so it has completely changed from the previous off-road vehicle in function, and some private SUVs taste. The chassis design is also brand-new, giving up the leaf spring and front hard axle suspension design of Jeep CJ3, and using the front suspension design of double wishbone plus torsion bar and anti-roll bar, which is not only suitable for high-intensity off-road but also for highway high-speed driving.

In terms of power, there are three (2.0, 2.0T and 2.6) four-cylinder gasoline engines and three (2.3, 2.3 turbocharged and 2.5 turbocharged) four-cylinder diesel engines. In 1987, Mitsubishi launched a flagship model of Pajero with more luxurious configuration. In 1988, its power was upgraded to a 104 kW 3.0-liter V6 gasoline engine (6G72), which became From 1982 to 1990, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation manufactured 300,000 first-generation Pajeros. Because of Pajero’s success, Mercedes-Benz was invited to talk about cooperation. At that time, Mercedes-Benz did not have an SUV with high taste.

Mitsubishi Pajero, imported from China in 1980s, is widely used in the western region. It is much better than GAZ 69 and BJ212 used in the western region before, and it has more face when going out for business. Compared with the Toyota Land Cruiser introduced at the same time, it is not fast and comfortable. However, after several years of use in the western region, it showed that its reliability and durability were not as good as that of Toyota Cruiser (at that time, there were few roads in the western region and the road conditions were very poor. In Tibet, the failure rate increased obviously after 80,000 kilometers in Pajero, but there was no problem when the land cruiser was 120,000 kilometers). After 1990s, the field in western China was dominated by Toyota Land Cruisers.

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(Article source: Ye Hong 2011)