A Quick Look at the Mitsubishi GTO

The first Mitsubishi to use “GTO,” which stands for Gran Turismo Omoloato, was the Colt Galant GTO, introduced at the 1969 Tokyo Motor Show as the Galant GTX-1. After its production ceased in 1977, “GTO” wasn’t used again until the arrival of the Mitsubishi GTO sports car in 1990. This model was sold as the 3000GT in countries outside Japan, so as not to confuse the vehicle with the Ferrari 250 GTO and Pontiac GTO. It also avoided the ire of motoring enthusiasts who no doubt have objected to the similarity.

In North America, it was sold as the Dodge Stealth by Chrysler, with minor differences in details and appearance. Mitsubishi and Chrysler teamed up to collaborate on the Stealth’s design. The GTO sports coupe was developed to compete with sports cars from other Japanese manufacturers: the Skyline GT-R, Toyota Supra, Honda NSX, Nissa 300ZX, Mazda RX-7, and the Subaru SVX.

The GTO was based on the concept of Whole Wheel Control, or full-time four-wheel drive. This improves performance, which Mitsubishi tags as “Running, Curving and Stopping.” In addition to the four-wheel drive, the GTO also has four-wheel control over its suspension, break, and steering parts. These technologies resulted in a high overall performance.

Another interesting feature of the Mitsubishi GTO is its Active Aerodynamics. This features exhaust modes (sport/tour), electronically-controlled suspension, and automatically-adjusting front and rear spoilers. The sporty look is capped off by pop-up headlights. The second-generation release of the GTO is identifiable by its revised front bumper, round projector fog lights, and projector beam headlights. The sporty look was upgraded; rear bumpers were modified along with the car’s side air vents.

The 1990 release had a 3.0-liter V-6-cylinder DOHC 24-valve engine that can generate 280ps. The second-generation twin-turbo VR-4 models were equipped with a six-speed Getrag manual transmission. Beginning in 1995, the GTO’s base and SL model sported 16-inch chrome or silver wheels; the VR-4 variant had bigger, 18-inch chrome wheels.

However, the features of the GTO slowly became absent in later model years: the electronically-controlled suspension was gone after the 1995 model year, and after 1996, the active aerodynamics also disappeared. Chrysler stopped selling the Dodge Stealth. The production of the GTO eventually ceased in the year 2000. The Mitsubishi GTO may have only been in the market for a decade, but it undoubtedly created an impact among motoring enthusiasts around the world.