It's About Time For A New Mitsubishi Sport-Ute

Jun. 17, 2019 6:01 PM ET by Noah Joseph / 17 Comments

This design looks like it'd do the trick.

Off-roading, body-on-frame sport-utility vehicles tend to stick around the market longer than most cars and trucks. But even by SUV standards, the Mitsubishi Pajero is growing a little long in the tooth – the current fourth-generation model having been around now since 2006. So sooner or later, the Japanese automaker will have to replace it – just as Mercedes has the G-Class, Jeep the Wrangler, and Land Rover soon will with the Defender.

Fortunately Mitsubishi – now part of the Renault Nissan Alliance – has the new corporate partners and the resources to develop fresh models.

Enoch Gabriel Gonzales via Behance

The question (or one of the questions at least) is what a new Pajero might look like. And this is a pretty good idea. It's an independent design done up with Enoch Gabriel Gonzales, who's no stranger to speculatively redesigning Mitsubishis on the company's behalf.

Gonzales' latest looks unmistakably like a Pajero, but thoroughly modernized with design cues similar to those we've seen on recent Mitsubishi concepts (of which there have been many). Maybe a bit of Volvo and Toyota Land Cruiser is in there too, from certain angles at least, which is no bad thing.

Enoch Gabriel Gonzales via Behance

Never heard of the Pajero? It's been a good baker's dozen years since Mitsubishi last sold it in North America, where it was called the Montero. There was a smaller Montero Sport as well, just as there is now an Outlander and Outlander Sport. But these days Mitsu's lineup is almost all crossovers, with a couple of little economy cars thrown in – but no old-school SUVs. The old Pajero still soldiers on elsewhere, though. And looking at this design especially, we think it's about time it is put to pasture and replaced with something new.