Mitsubishi’s automobile museum in Nagoya, Japan, gathers some of the carmaker’s best machinery

OBSCURE automotive lore has it that the company’s logo pays homage to its shipbuilding roots, the stylized three-leaf clover design actually representing a vessel’s propeller. True or not, what isn’t up for argument is that Mitsubishi’s eventual car-manufacturing business—started in 1917—has spawned a lineage of truly awesome automobile pieces, the carmaker’s Evolution series among the most delectable.

Now picture a place where a couple of the Evolution range’s rally-machine ancestors are parked side by side with early pieces of the carmaker’s Dakar winners, as well as the first-gen Pajero and a host of other ‘60s- and ‘70s-era cars, and what we have is Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s automotive museum.

The museum is situated at the company’s sprawling development facilities in Nagoya, Japan, only a little off from a proving oval, and is housed within a relatively low, nondescript building. The manner by which Mitsubishi presents its most historic models is actually quite modest when compared to the glitzy facilities that other carmakers like Toyota or Honda, not to mention the German brands, have erected to honor their best metal. Where airy, multilevel steel-and-glass structures—with the accompanying ambient lighting and interactive displays and glossy literature—are the norm in the abovementioned carmakers’ museums, Mitsubishi’s is a straightforward affair of, basically, cars parked side by side inside what could be a dealer showroom that has yet to receive the services of an interior designer, if not, at least, a window display artist. It’s not even unheard of to be greeted by the sweet scent of recently unburned gasoline, as the case was during a visit to the place a month ago.

Mitsubishi’s collection can’t be described as “extensive,” too. You might expect—rightfully so—to find examples of the hallowed Evolution range, for instance, and discover that what are displayed instead are Evo Tomica scale models. No Tommi Makinens or FQ 400s or RSs there. Nor is there an example of the last Pajero that took on Dakar before Mitsubishi pulled out from the series.

What are housed in the museum, in contrast, are far more plebian, commonplace, reachable cars—which make them far more interesting. Because majority in the collection are pieces that, at one time or another, have graced most people’s garage, the experience becomes richer as it connects on a more personal level, if not appeal on one’s kitsch sense, at the very least.

Consider; a couple of Minicas, one of which a fastback, parked in a corner. Then a line of ‘70s Celeste, Lancer, Colt and Galant coupes in another area, all examples showroom original. A vacant spot identifies its tenant as the first-gen Mirage, the car missing at the time because it was shipped out for another exhibition that hypes up the arrival of the new Mirage, the nameplate now going global. And then, just to add some racing sizzle, are a trio of genuine rally cars—two Lancers (an “L-“ and a “box-type”) and a Galant VR4—sitting on another cranny. Next to these is an 80’s blast-from-the-past Starion, also in rally racing trim. Any genuine car guy, a Mitsubishi fanatic or not, would love the place.

And then there are a couple of surprising gems in the collection; a pair of Formula Three cars from the ‘60s, small reminders that Mitsubishi at some point had interests other than off-road racing.

But the most significant piece has to be the PX33, which in the museum sits beside a diminutive, toy-like car that appears to be Mitsubishi’s first stab at car-making. Conceptualized in 1934 and intended for military-use, the PX33 has the distinction of being the first Japanese-made car to use a direct injection diesel engine, as well as—get this—being the first passenger car from the country to pack an all-wheel drive system. Conscious of the car’s significance, Mitsubishi had even used it to hype the arrival of the fourth-generation Pajero.

Certainly, however, what special place the PX33 hold in Mitsubishi’s history is serve as the spiritual ancestor to the company’s potent line of all-wheel drive passenger cars—you could say the PX33 was the first Evolution.

A true museum piece, this car is.