Mitsubishi 3000GT: Outcast or misunderstood?

Everything has an era.

A particular time where a trend, fashion style, or music genre is extremely popular, and it seems for a few years as if the world revolves around this wave of interest.

Cars are the same (of course). The 60s were famed for the American muscle car, the 80s saw the flashiest of Italian supercars line the streets, and the 2020s are like playing a game of spot the difference (impossible edition) every time you drive down the motorway. (I promise I don’t hate new cars; the joke was just a tap in).

But the 90s to me were ruled by the Japanese sports car, almost every manufacturer from the nation was producing a 2-door coupe, with a 6-cylinder engine of some sort, a sleek body, and insane tuning capabilities.

I could list the 90s Japanese sports car hall of fame for you, but you already know the score.

So instead of focusing on the front-page icons of this era, let’s take a look at a car built during this time, but that never quite saw the limelight.

Japanese sports cars

As I’ve just mentioned, the 90s were truly the time to be living in if you had a fascination for Japanese sports cars.

Toyota had the Supra, the Celica, and the MR2. Nissan had the Skyline, the Silvia, and the Z cars. Mazda had the first generation Mx-5 (Miata) and the RX-7. Subaru had the early Impreza. Honda had the NS-X, the Integra, and kicked off the new millennium with the S2000.

While they all shared similarities, it was their differences that gave people their alliances. The Skyline’s techno-fest and 4-wheel-drive layout was enough to please the innovators of the community. The lightweight and uniqueness of the RX-7 gave driving purists their car of choice. And for those doing particularly well in life, as well as those with impeccable taste (sorry for the lack of neutrality), the NS-X was a more than suitable choice.

But there is one brand I missed.

Mitsubishi.

Now, if you ask me, or the majority of people with half an interest in cars, what is the fastest Mitsubishi that you remember, the most common answer will likely be the Lancer Evolution.

A car that dominated the WRC championships throughout the 90s and 2000s alongside its arch nemesis, the Subaru Impreza (insert letters here). A car that had 6 different evolutions (sorry) throughout the course of the 90s, and enough power to make you feel as if you were Tommi Makinen.

But there was another. One that was made throughout the entirety of the 1990s. One that was definitely known, but just seems not get mentioned in the same light as any of the cars named above.

I wonder why?

Mitsubishi 3000GT

As said previously, the Mitsubishi 3000GT was one of the manufacturer’s sports cars of the entire 90s, initially released in 1990, and ending in 2000.

It followed a similar pattern to many of the Hall of Famers mentioned above. Front engine, 6-cylinders, many of which are turbocharged, very powerful, and to top it off, a sleek 2-door coupe body to round it off.

At its most potent, the 3000GT featured a 3.0L Twin-Turbocharged V6 engine, developing 320 brake horsepower, getting the Mitsubishi to 60 miles per hour in sub 5-seconds.

Like the Nissan Skyline, many of the 3000GT’s were 4-wheel-drive; given their rally pedigree, this is to no one’s surprise.

And again, like many of their rivals, technology and innovation were a non-negotiable for this car. For their flagship model, the VR-4, the 3000GT used rear wheel steering, active aerodynamics, and electronic suspension, making this car a poster boy for leaders in the techno-boom for sports cars.

But compared to its biggest rivals, it never got the spotlight.

Throughout pop culture, we see the Supra, the RX-7, and the Skyline as the pinnacle of this era. Even looking back now, 30 years later, just look at the stark difference in pricing for one of the cars mentioned above in comparison to the 3000GT.

By the end of the decade, the 3000GT had run its race. Since then, Mitsubishi hasn’t attempted to build a sports car anything like the 3000GT, and its brand resides today with building SUVs and electric options for the mass market.

So, what was so different about the 3000GT?

It’s actually quite simple

Now picture a Venn diagram in your head, one with a lot of circles that overlap. Now, as established, the 3000GT fits in with a lot of its fellow Japanese sports cars of the era.

It was powerful, had 2-doors, technologically advanced, and could be modified enough either to feature in a late-90s motion picture or an episode of Pimp My Ride.

But truly, the 3000GT is an entirely different car.

While many of the cars I have mentioned countless times throughout the article are lightweight, true driver’s cars, the 3000GT isn’t.

Just look at the name. Mitsubishi gave it away before you even drove it. 3000cc, and a GT car. A gran tourer. It was heavy; it was set up to be a fast cruiser, rather than a poised sports car tearing up mountain roads or race tracks.

The 3000GT was the civilised option in an era in which being civilised wasn’t important.

It was grouped with cars that didn’t belong to it, and because of that, it was left behind before it was even given a chance.

It was simply a car that just wasn’t as desirable as its competitors. And that is simply why it wasn’t as successful.

Maybe it was too ahead of its time. Maybe in a different era, the 3000GT would’ve shown its true potential, and it would’ve been rewarded for that. Maybe people just didn’t recognise it for what it was.

Maybe.