$1,000 Per Foot: 1969 Mitsubishi Minica LA23
Fitting in the back of almost any full-sized pickup bed with the tailgate down, this rarely-seen-in-the-U.S. 1969 Mitsubishi Minica Super DeLuxe (LA23) is just under 10 feet long, 51 inches wide, and weighs 1,170 pounds. In case you’re wondering, that side pipe is most definitely not a factory original piece. The seller has this rare and almost perfect car posted here on craigslist in “FresYes” (Fresno), California and they’re asking $1,000 per foot: $9,950. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Rocco B. for finding this one!
This has to be one of the – dare I say it? – cutest cars ever made. There, I said it. The 3/4 angle of the first photo makes it look like a station wagon but it really isn’t, it’s a sedan, a very short one, with an extended rear roof to allow two semi-normal-sized humans to fit back there. Shaq is not fitting in this car unless the front seats are taken out and a sunroof is installed, but I mean anyone in the five-foot range, maybe, possibly. A ¥380,000, give or take, Japanese Yen price in 1969 = $21,200 today, just as a reference.
I’ve wanted one for years and this one is already here so there are no import fees, no shipping fees from Japan, and no paperwork nightmares. It already has a clean California title so zippy-ding, “Hello, DMV? Yes, I have a 1969 Mitsubishi Minica LA23 Super DeLuxe and…” (insert dial tone here) The first-generation Minica was made from the fall of 1962 until the summer of 1969. Ahhh… the summer of 1969… Sorry. The Super DeLuxe (whistles) (I stole that from Howard) is, as you’ve already guessed, the top model for this generation.
Being a Japanese market car, the steering wheel is on the WRONG SIDE. Just kidding, it’s on the right side, so that may take some getting used to for us ham-fisted Yanks. I’m not sure what the dark spots on the top of the dash are, but the interior looks outstanding otherwise, both front and rear. The trunk looks nice and it may be big enough for some actual luggage for an actual road trip! I’d want to trim it out with a fitted piece of carpet for sure. With “no rust” and new tires, this car is hard to beat, and that asking price really isn’t bad since all the shipping, import fees, and paperwork have been done and this car has a clean title. This car won’t appeal to a massive audience here on Barn Finds, I know that. But for those of us who like these unusual Japanese market cars, there isn’t a muscle car around that’s even half as appealing.
The engine is not an SBC, LS, or Hayabusa (yet), it’s a Mitsubishi 2G10, a 359-cc two-stroke water-cooled inline-twin with 23 horsepower and 24 lb-ft of torque. It’s somewhat similar in spec to the famous Subaru 360 engine, or a lot of Kei car engines in that they had to be under 360 cc, but this one is water-cooled. It sends power through a column-shifted four-speed manual to the rear wheels and the seller says it “runs absolutely pristine!” I love the unique way the engine-mounted spare tire flips up for servicing the engine. Very nice work, Mitsubishi designers and engineers. That “custom expansion chamber” sounds unique, according to the seller, but it would go away the first afternoon I owned this one. Have any of you seen a Mitsubishi Minica?
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Comments
The site must give exclusive rights to the unusual to the author. Try as I might, I can’t find this stuff anywhere else. What’s interesting is how different countries do things differently. I’ve always had a hankerin’ for an Asian woman, but culture differences put the ka-bosh on that. Same with cars. Looky here, those fender mirrors, seemingly an Asian car exclusive, look like a hassle, the suicide doors, and not only the steering wheel, but the column shift is wrong too.Try teaching someone on this one. And a motor that powers our motorized wheel barrows, but again, application. These are the cars you see floating in a monsoon and horribly inept for our kind of travel. I all but guarantee, you’ll be the only one in the Wallyworld parking lot with one. I’d still go with the King Midget, but it is a neat find.
This is an amazing find. Wish I had the garage space.
I think a storage locker might do,,
Really cool find. And other than that silly exhaust it looks to be in an incredibly nice original condition. Should be a lot of fun for the next owner.
I can’t understand the passion for Japanese import “kei” cars here. Has anyone ever driven one on a freeway? I passed one once, the poor thing was would out, doing all of 55 in the slow lane. They’re not engineered for the American traffic infrastructure. Besides that, what about parts? They’ll go for a premium if you can find them. As car #2 I suppose they’d have their use, but to pay that much when a good used Civic would cost less and be much more practical, doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Terrry, I’m confused by your comments. Of course, these cars were never made for the American market so driving at 75 mph on a freeway wasn’t a thought then and it shouldn’t even come up now. I’m not sure why this comes up every single time a little car is shown on Barn Finds. It’s an unusual, vintage microcar for another, smaller country with tight roads and crowded cities, it’s not for driving 30 miles to work each way on a U.S. freeway.
Can you imagine the comments if we showed a late model Honda Civic because it was a more practical commuter car than this 1969 Mitsubishi microcar? The torches and pitchforks would come out.
Do people commute with their Hemi Cudas? Most likely not. I don’t understand your thinking on this one at all. It’s a vintage microcar made for another country, it’s not for the U.S. market and especially not for freeway commuting. 99% of the cars shown here don’t make practical sense, they’re not daily commuter vehicles. This site is supposed to be a fun escape, a way to see unusual old vehicles, they’re not supposed to be practical commuter vehicles. I’m stumped as to how or why you think the vehicles shown here should be daily drivers.
Needless to say a Suzuki RG 500 Gamma square 4 cylinder 2 stroke would help it achieve 55 mph with authority & fit in the engine bay with 4 little exhaust tips popping blue smoke out back!
Can you even find one of those motors? I’m thinking Hayabusa instead..
Us “ham-fisted” Yanks usually don’t go for Clown Cars. But people bought Smart Cars, and the original Prius, so you’re not alone in your desire to be seen in this oddity.
I’d be like….
Please note, this thing must be S-L-O-W-!! That Speedometer is in Kilometers and the red zone starts at 80 – about 50 MPH in Americanspeak! But, like the Bugeye Sprite that also appears today, a fun although not much faster, alternative to commuting by golf car!