Japanese Mitsuoka has turned the Honda Civic into an “American muscle car”

Externally, the M55 concept, built in honor of the company’s 55th anniversary, resembles the Dodge Challenger. The hatchback has an original body, but the interior and power plant are the same as the original. The car is driven by a one and a half liter turbo engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission.

The M55 concept celebrates the 55th anniversary of Japan’s Mitsuoka Motor, and its similarity to the Dodge Challenger is no coincidence. The hatchback serves as a reference to the company’s formative period, the 70s of the last century, and recalls the impact that the Americanization of Japanese society had on car design. In general, looking for inspiration in the overseas auto industry is not unusual for modern Mitsuoka. Its first crossover, Buddy, created from the Toyota RAV4, is very reminiscent of the old Chevrolet SUVs.

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Well, the donor for the M55 was the five-door Honda Civic. Her body was thoroughly redone and the once fashionable “blinds” were added to the rear window. The interior remains virtually unchanged: the only new features are the vintage-style seat upholstery and the signature logo on the steering wheel. It was not difficult to guess the technical stuffing, since only the Civic LX with a 1.5 turbo-four (182 hp, 240 Nm) has a manual transmission. And hatchbacks with the e:HEV hybrid system based on the Atkinson cycle 2.0 petrol engine are equipped with a push-button selector.

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Whether the M55 will remain a concept or be transformed into a commercial model is unknown. The Himiko roadster based on the Mazda MX-5 remains in production at Mitsuoka; four-door Viewt (Toyota Yaris); Ryugi sedan and station wagon (Toyota Corolla); Rock Star roadster (Mazda MX-5) and Buddy crossover (Toyota RAV4). The latter turned out to be so successful that the company had to attract partners to assemble it. The crossover costs from 5.2 million yen, which corresponds to three million rubles.

Seem older: modern cars in the guise of classic ones