As a relative newbie, who reads all the 30-spline Dana triple hurt-locker full-floating live solid 37s comments like the Slovenian section of an IBM server install, I'd like to share a picture.



We all like to point a smug finger at the soccer moms and mall crawlers, but fact of the matter is, THEY are the ones buying NEW SUVs these days. At least, in any kind of volume. Just as 98% of all DSMs sold were the non-turbocharged, FWD models (much to the turbo, AWD guys' chagrin), I'd venture the numbers for the light truck market aren't so far off.

SO, I'm thinking light, simple, durable.
BUT, make sure it's got a couple possible upgrade paths - one for comfort, one for the crawling, with anything in between.

The reason for the 'Zuki picture is to remind everyone of the importance of simple elegance. As I was shopping for my Gen I, I spent an afternoon checking out Samurais for the heck of it. Good condition Samis seem to sell for double or even triple that of Monteros. Why? They're iconic, simple, PURE.

Whatever this new machine may become, I hope it will immediately convey a sort of blank canvas to anyone who sees it at the dealership. Yeah, they're going to have loaded models with leather, satnav, and polished rolling stock next to lifted models with lockers, winches, and exocages, but for this thing to be huge, I think anyone who likes them should also see that they can buy the simply-equipped, base model for New Mirage money and gradually upgrade as their budget permits.

My FIRST Mitsubishi was a BASE MODEL Mitsubishi. I put over 210,000 miles on that car over 14 years and, though I finally sold it years ago, I still miss Daisy a lot. Mitsubishi needs - and deserves - a big win. I want to see that happen. Maybe they could even fit one of their iMiEV motors to the prop shaft with a series of capacitors to act as a simple hybrid system to further improve MPG through acceleration assistance?