Japanese Car Auction Finds: Mitsuoka Orochi

Jun Tanaka | 1月 14, 2011

Mitsuoka is a small car manufacturer in Japan, and this is what they refer to as their “fashion car”, the Orochi. Unlike most Mitsuoka models which are simply re-bodied versions of such cars as the Nissan March, the Orochi is a much more comprehensive Mitsuoka product with even the chassis being of their own design.

The original concept car was based on Honda NSX underpinnings, but the production version uses the 3.3 liter 3MZ-FE Lexus RX330 engine and drive train. As such, I would expect the overall driving experience to be fairly good, but you have to wonder how an odd-looking V6 Lexus engined sports car can really expect to compete in the same price range as European exotica. This is particularly true when you look at the interior, which is hardly luxurious or sophisticated.

If you are interested in an Orochi, expect the price to be pretty high. This one is a grade 5 first registered in December 2007, but bidding starts at a lofty 4.18 million Yen, which is not far below what you could buy a nice 2007 GT-R. The GT-R may not be as rare, or look quite as crazy, but I suspect it would eat Orochi for breakfast. I think I would choose the performance car over the “fashion car” myself. (Click the images below to see the detail.)