Mitsubishi Jeep

In 1953 Mitsubishi secured the rights to build the Willys under their own name and the Mitsubishi Jeep was born. In Japan Mitsubishi produced these jeeps untill 1998. Mitsubishi installed the 4DR5 2.7L 4 cyl Diesel these engines put out a useful 100 hp and move these Jeeps down the highway at 100 km / hr or 60 mph. They return an amazing 35 mpg.

They have full time hubs, reverse turn glow plugs and is the ultra tough 24V system. The beauty of the Willy's body style coupled with the strong and reliable Japanese engineered drivetrain using the Dana 44 out back and the Dana 30 up front, gear to gear t/case with a 2.3 low range, 4.77 differential gearing and you are ready for the great out doors.

Crawl down the steepest hill or race up the nearest dune, this gutsy miniature tank can handle it all. The very sharp approach and departure angles will be the envy of all and the superb break over angle will be hard to beat in any stock 4X4. This stock J54 can run 31" tires with absolutely NO LIFT.

This is a true turn-key off road capable unit. Ready for the rugged out doors. Pick a trail and enjoy one of the best off-road vehicles ever made. The beauty of the Willy's body style coupled with the strong and reliable Japanese engineered drivetrain using the D44 out back and the D30 up front, gear to gear t/case with a 2.3 low range, 4.77 differential gearing and you are ready for the great out doors.

The Mitsubishi J20 (produced in the 1960's) is one of over 30 different Jeep models based on the CJ-3B body style, and built in Japan under licence from Willys from 1953 through 1998.

Mitsubishi Motors announced on 4 June 1998 that it would stop production of Jeep models, 45 years after their commercial debut in Japan. The Tokyo-based automaker would make its last Jeep in August, said a company spokesman, explaining the decision was made because the vehicles don't meet new environmental and safety standards. Mitsubishi sold about 200,000 Jeeps in Japan -- many to the government -- since it was first granted a licence to make them in 1953.

The Jeeps have been built with short, medium and long wheelbases, with various gasoline and diesel 4-cylinder engines, and even in versions similar to a Willys station wagon with a CJ-3B front end.

Like Mahindra in India, on its later models Mitsubishi added a short diagonal skirt at the front edge of the front fenders. But unlike Mahindra, the Japanese firm never adopted the CJ-7 "round-fender" body style.

The original Mitsubishi CJ3B-J3 was built from 1953 into the 1970's. The illustration above will be familiar to long-time readers of The CJ3B Page, and is the cover of a J3 brochure scanned by Makoto Hirakawa, who also owns the J3 pictured below. Its engine number has a 4J prefix, suggesting that early Mitsubishi Jeeps used engines supplied by Willys. Later Mitsubishi Hurricane engines have numbers prefixed by JH4.

Other Variations

In the mid-1950's Mitsubishi began building the J10 and J11 with medium and long wheelbases, alongside the J3 and the military J4 version used by both the Japanese Army and the U.S. Army. In the late 1950's, diesel versions and right-hand drive versions were added to the line.

Mitsubishi J32 fire engine

Perhaps the most elaborate fire Jeep ever manufactured was this Mitsubishi J32 fire engine, produced by Mitsubishi Motors of Japan in the 1960's and 70's. The J32 was a long wheelbase, soft top version of the CJ-3B design, and used the JH4, 2.2 liter gasoline engine, the Japanese version of the F-head Hurricane 4. It was one of the first of the Mitsubishi Jeeps to add the diagonal "dog ears" on the front fenders.

The Mitsubishi fire engine had distinctive doors (open to the floor) and rear fenders, as well as a host of special accessories, but did not have the front-mounted PTO-driven pump found on most of the U.S.-made fire Jeeps. Although the exact arrangement is not visible in the picture, apparently the additional length of the vehicle has allowed a mid-mount pump; note the pre-connected suction line.

 

 

 

Japanese Mitsubishi Military Jeeps

Japan & Many countries used the Mitsubishi Jeep as a utility vehicle for Police and Military

See more information of Japanese Mitsubishi Military Jeeps.

Slightly larger engines were added in the 1970's -- the J54 and military J54A used a 2.7L diesel engine, the J56 had a 2.4L gasoline engine, and the J57 a 2.6L. There were also medium and long-wheelbase models available with all of these engines. From the mid-1980's until Jeep production was ended in 1998, only diesel engines were available in the J50 series.

Like the Mahindras which are still built in India, the Mitsubishi Jeeps had a lot of appeal to people wanting a new vehicle with the no-nonsense look of a flat-fender Jeep. The catalogue photo above shows some of the range available in the 1970's.