Would You Drive This? 1991 Mitsubishi Montero LS 4×4

This was the Mitsubishi's response to the smash success of the now classic Range Rover. And as it turns out, the Mitsubishi was far more reliable. It has a 3.0L V6 with about 141 horsepower and a 4 speed automatic. That engine is fairly easy to work on and had a tendency leak from the valve cover gaskets as well as from the rear main seal (typical Japanese truck), but was otherwise dependable and cheap to operate. It has 4 wheel drive with a two speed transfer case, and some had a locking rear diff.

Not bad for a 1990s family SUV if not for the propensity to roll over. The Montero (along with the Isuzu Trooper and Suzuki Samarai) was called out in both Consumer Reports and on Dateline NBC for their unusually high rollover risk. Sales cratered after that and the Mitsubishi Montero was canceled, but not before a cheaper version called the Montero Sport hit the market.

But it does look cool as hell despite it's safety concerns. I wish Mitsubishi would build trucks again for the US market - they are currently rumored to be kept overseas b/c of the chicken tax.






This one sold in 2022 for about $9600. I like the color and the setup of this trim and body style a lot. Bring a Trailer

Mitsubishi's Montero/Pajero was gaining a reputation for being a budget Land Cruiser competitor in the 1980s and 1990s. It had won a lot of high profile off road rallies with the Montero. It had gained a strong following while Nissan was fumbling with how to market their Pathfinder. Then the whole thing sort of went haywire when the Americans found out that it rolled over too easily and was actually extremely dangerous.

I owned a 2004 Montero, luckily it got totaled in a grocery store parking lot because it was a piece of junk.

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was called out in both Consumer Reports and on Dateline NBC for their unusually high rollover risk

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This is what I remember about them.

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the Montero Sport hit the market

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I had this version. Really liked it

I'm looking at a 2018 Pajero right now.

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This was back when Mitsubishi and Chrysler were somewhat affiliated. So there was a Dodge version called the Raider.



And both were related to the Dodge Ram 50 compact truck (which was a direct rebadge of a Mitsubishi Mighty Max pickup).



The Montero Sport was actually based on the old Mitsubishi Mighty Max, which at the time was a near 20 year old design. The Montero Sport was a hot seller.

Clearly Mitsubishi had the design and marketing talent back then, but not the budget to do it all properly. Now they don't have much of anything. They are a floundering car company and they are rumored to be exiting the US market soon.

Yes times a thousand.

This is what they were going for with the design.



And before anyone says that the Montero was a piece of shite and you should just buy a 4Runner.....it was competing against what was possibly the most unreliable car of the 1980s and 1990s (Range Rover). And there were a lot of bad cars on the market then.

Yes the 4Runner was more reliable than both of them, but at the time it was more closely related to the old and very basic Toyota pickup. And it drove just like it.

As stretched as Mitsubishi was with their R&D budget, Range Rover NEVER had the cash to execute their vehicles properly until they were sold to Tata. Range Rover has a well earned reputation for being a piece of shite that rusts (which is impressive because most of the body is aluminum).

I once saw one of their truck tailgates that had the “Mitsubi” part duct taped over and they painted on a “t” after the remaining “shi” letters.

I used to love the Acura SLX