The boom in the Japanese economy in the second half of the 1980s brought, in addition to high profits, the enormous popularity of comfortable and luxurious limousines. One of them was the Mitsubishi Debonair of the second generation, introduced in 1986. At first glance, a boring angular and heavy limousine full of electronics with front-wheel drive. However, in the eyes of AMG , who knows why, the ideal car for foreign cooperation.
The Debonair was first introduced back in 1964, and as a comfortable sedan with rear-wheel drive , it found a wide fan base. So wide, in fact, that when the second, front-wheel-drive generation appeared more than twenty years later, conservative middle-aged Japanese businessmen began flocking to the competition. Fortunately, the economy was growing at a rocket pace and with it a lot of young predators , who were mainly interested in social status and "full fire" of electronic toys, including buildable chassis. And so the second Debonair became very popular.
Although AMG was behind sports and racing Mercedes in the 1980s, including the legendary AMG Hammer , the German manufacturer did not yet hold a majority stake in it at that time. For that reason, AMG could have been created in 1986, the existence of which the three-pointed stars in the sports division would rather remain silent today.
The Mitsubishi Debonair V 3000 Royal AMG proclaims its origins from miles away. The front bumper, alloy wheels, rear fenders, trunk lid and rather unsightly four-spoke steering wheel are decorated with AMG badges. The problem is that, together with a decent body kit, that's pretty much it. If you're expecting a large-volume eight-cylinder engine with around 450 horsepower, you'll be disappointed by the fully stock three-liter six-cylinder engine with 200 horsepower. All the more so because the force of 1620 kilograms of heavy car is transferred to the front wheels by a four-speed automatic transmission ! Even the chassis, famous for its comfortable tuning, did not undergo any major changes, otherwise typical for sporty Mercedes. Quite possibly the most interesting element of the entire car was the very comfortable front and rear seats, but their presence was not conditioned by the AMG design. All the more so when Mitsubishi asked for 4,516,000 yen (today approx. 895,000 crowns) for it.
The collaboration between a Japanese mainstream manufacturer and a German tuner on a "swinging limousine" was destined for failure and subsequent oblivion. Production of the Debonair V 3000 Royal AMG ended in 1989 and today the car ranks among the rarities of Japanese roads. Even the role in the crime series Gorilla did not change anything about the low popularity. Are you expecting that this was the first and also the last car with the Mitsubishi AMG badge? You are wrong again! A year after production of the V 3000 Royal ended, the three diamonds arrived with the Debonair V 150 AMG saloon, which was, in other words, a 150mm lengthened version, created as a response to the similarly designed Nissan Cedric Gloria Brougham. The price rose to 4,888,000 yen (about 968,000 crowns today), but the life of the car was literally amazing. The third (and definitely last) "diamond from Affalterbach" aka Mitsubishi Galant AMG made more sense thanks to its racing past and decent engine strengthening. But that's a completely different story…
Source: Mitsubishi, jalopnik.com, japanesenostalgiccar.com, hemmings.com, 7tune.com, autoblog.nl
