19 May 06
Let's hear it for the Mitsuoka, Japan's ever-inventive number one replicar maker. A builder of offbeat cars that are consummately weird, wacky and for some, it seems, really quite wonderful, Mitsuoka occupies a space on the Japanese automotive map about the size of Rutland.
If you've never heard of Mitsuoka, the first thing you need to know is that it's the brains behind the Viewt, a Nissan Micra dressed up to look like a classic Jaguar Mk II from the 60s. No kidding: brilliant or bonkers, gauche or genius, the Viewt is now a small car legend in Japan where it's a big money earner and more than 10,000 have now been sold.
Then there's the Zero-1, Mitsuoka's tribute to the Caterham Seven. Mitsuoka offers 50cc single-seaters that come in a crate and you build up yourself (one of the best ones is an inspired take on the corrugated Citroen H van) but there are several others out there to tickle your fancy.
What else? In Japan, Mitsuoka has found a niche converting big Nissans to look like Daimlers, Daihatsus to resemble Rileys, Honda Accords to look like, er, well... think of a Ford Edsel, shorthand for the biggest automotive dud of all time and you're getting close. It's the big horseshoe grille on the front, you see.
