It may be hard to believe today that Mitsubishi was once a rallying powerhouse, but it has the hardware to prove it. Various iterations of the Mitsubishi Pajero (or Montero to Americans) won the treacherous Dakar Rally 12 times—including seven consecutive wins from 2001 to 2007. Now the car that kicked off this era of domination is getting some well-deserved attention.
The Pajero that took Mitsubishi’s first Dakar win in 1985 hasn’t exactly been treated like the hero it is. According to a company-produced video, after the rally, it was left to gather dust at Mitsubishi’s R&D facility in Okazaki, Japan, sitting untouched for 40 years. To commemorate the anniversary, Mitsubishi finally restored it, bringing back some veteran Dakar and World Rally Championship engineers for the project.
In 1985, the Dakar Rally still started in Paris and ended in Dakar, Senegal (it later moved to South America and then the Middle East). That year’s course covered 6,390 miles over 22 days, including 4,652 miles of competitive special stages. Competition ranged from Land Cruisers and Range Rovers to Porsche 959s and Opel Mantas.
To meet this challenge, Mitsubishi used a stock body-on-frame platform with the front axle moved forward to improve weight distribution, body panels made from carbon fiber and Kevlar-reinforced plastic to cut weight, and three-link rear suspension (in place of leaf springs) to improve drivability. A turbocharged, 2.6-liter inline-four produced 222 horsepower, sent to all four wheels through a five-speed manual transmission.
A combination of speed and reliability allowed drivers Patrick Zaniroli and Jean Da Silva to take the overall win, while Andrew Cowan and Syer Johnstone finished second in another Pajero, giving Mitsubishi a mighty 1-2. This was the first Dakar win for a Japanese manufacturer, and the beginning of a golden age for Mitsubishi in motorsports. The automaker is more concerned about just surviving these days, so the restoration of the 1985 Dakar winner helps recall those more pleasant times.
The Spirit in Motion：From Dakar 1985 to Today
Despite being left to decay without any repairs post-Dakar, Mitsubishi claims the Pajero was in fairly good shape. The engine was merely overhauled, not rebuilt, according to the automaker. The original body panels were also preserved, complete with Dakar-earned dents and scratches.
We won’t see anything like the Pajero anytime soon, but Mitsubishi is taking a step in the right direction. In October it announced a new “rugged” version of the Outlander crossover with “off-road bodywork” and “off-road focused drive modes and performance upgrades” set to arrive in the U.S. by the end of next year. It might not be Dakar-ready, but it should be more interesting than the rest of Mitsubishi’s current lineup.