Mitsubishi is not a particularly active carmaker. Sandwiched between Nissan and Renault in an alliance that is slowly killing it, Mitsubishi is releasing new car models at a snail’s pace. But from time to time, the carmaker remembers it can still do some crazy engineering.
At the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show this week, the company is rolling concepts like the world is about to end, giving us hope we are yet to see the last of the brand established half a century ago. Things like the Super Height K-Wagon Kei car, or the much more spectacular MI-Tech Concept.
Officially, the latter of the two is a small-size SUV, but most of its design elements bring back pictures of buggies of old, taken through a wormhole to the future, and transformed into something else entirely.
The Mi-Tech, befitting a buggy, is a two-seater with no doors and no roof that looks so rugged not even the most violent of apocalypses seems capable of destroying it.
The front end with the Dynamic Shield, evolved from other Mitsubishi models, the T-shaped headlights, and the very low bumper make for a very aggressive look, one you would not like to see in the rearview mirror as you escape the end of the world.
The MI-TECH is a plug-in hybrid, but not a conventional one. Instead of the regular gasoline engine, the buggy packs a gas-turbine engine-generator that can run on anything from kerosene to alcohol, “depending on the regions,” or whatever fuel remains after the global meltdown.
Whatever terrain the world would throw at it, the MI-TECH could handle it, thanks to the systems it is fitted with: Integrated Vehicle Dynamics Control System (S-AWC), a quad motor system that spins all four wheels, and Active Yaw Control.
The concept is survival gear on wheels, assisting the driver via a series of sensors and technologies, some already in use on other Mitsubishi vehicles - Human Machine Interface, augmented reality, MI-Pilot.
Officially - and unfortunately – Mitsubishi has no plans to actually produce the MI-TECH. At least for now. Full details on the buggy can be found in the press release section below.
Officially, the latter of the two is a small-size SUV, but most of its design elements bring back pictures of buggies of old, taken through a wormhole to the future, and transformed into something else entirely.
The Mi-Tech, befitting a buggy, is a two-seater with no doors and no roof that looks so rugged not even the most violent of apocalypses seems capable of destroying it.
The front end with the Dynamic Shield, evolved from other Mitsubishi models, the T-shaped headlights, and the very low bumper make for a very aggressive look, one you would not like to see in the rearview mirror as you escape the end of the world.
The MI-TECH is a plug-in hybrid, but not a conventional one. Instead of the regular gasoline engine, the buggy packs a gas-turbine engine-generator that can run on anything from kerosene to alcohol, “depending on the regions,” or whatever fuel remains after the global meltdown.
Whatever terrain the world would throw at it, the MI-TECH could handle it, thanks to the systems it is fitted with: Integrated Vehicle Dynamics Control System (S-AWC), a quad motor system that spins all four wheels, and Active Yaw Control.
The concept is survival gear on wheels, assisting the driver via a series of sensors and technologies, some already in use on other Mitsubishi vehicles - Human Machine Interface, augmented reality, MI-Pilot.
Officially - and unfortunately – Mitsubishi has no plans to actually produce the MI-TECH. At least for now. Full details on the buggy can be found in the press release section below.