That Montero was boxy even by 1980's standards. My sister and I rode in the backseat (I have no idea where my brother was for this) and drove our parents nuts by loudly and obnoxiously coming up with different ways to pronounce "Mitsubishi" during the car ride. I recall my sister and I directing my dad to drive over some railroad tracks along a gravel road that my dad used to call his "super secret spy route" back to civilization from the outskirts of town. These tracks were rather prominent in the roadway, and when my dad would drive over them in our old station wagon, my siblings and I, who would often sit in the way back section of the wagon unsecured in any way, would go tossing up into the air, our heads brushing or sometimes even bopping the ceiling of the station wagon. It was awesome fun. Of course, nowadays, parents wouldn't dream of letting their kids ride in the cargo area of a vehicle without safety restraints. -And that's probably a good thing, but I do pity kids nowadays for never being able to know the fun of riding in an old Chrysler station wagon complete with faux wood grain siding while blasting 80's rock over a tape deck and sailing airborne over a railroad crossing on the Super Secret Spy route. Yes, kids these days have sure missed out, but I suppose they all have iphones and slick video games that blow the super sweet Atari 2600 console I had as a kid out of the water, so there's some consolation for them.
Anyway, my dad did comply with our pleading for the spy route and took the brand new tan Montero over those tracks, though he went slower than usual, perhaps not wanting to inflict any undue wear and tear on so-new-it-didn't-even-have-an-owner-yet vehicle. It was a rather lackluster experience due to this, and my sister and I did not give the Montero glowing reviews based entirely upon that railroad bump. We did, however, spend the rest of the day goofing around saying "Mitsubishi" until we mangled it into sounding like "Miss Sue Bitchy", which turned out to be our favorite iteration of the vehicle maker's name. I suspect the prospect of having to deal with my sister and I incessantly cracking jokes and giggling like the little girls we were over the name of the vehicle may have had a lot to do with why my parents did not purchase that particular SUV back then.
So, I don't know if it was childhood nostalgia or what, but when I spotted this Montero in that used car lot, I cornered hard into the lot to take a look at it. Granted, this one is 20 years newer than a certain "Miss Sue Bitchy" that my family took out for a spin back when I was 7 or 8 years old, but I couldn't help but giggle all childishly when I thought back to that test drive my sister and I went on.
What we're looking at today is a 2006 Mitsubishi Montero. It turns out that elementary school aged versions of my sister and I aren't the only people who find fun with names in the Mitsubishi lineup. In some other parts of the world, the Montero is known as the Pajero, which is a name for a small Columbian wild cat. The name Pajero also used as Spanish slang for a chronic masturbator/wanker. You can see how this might not translate well into strong sales figures, right? So, here in the states and many other places as well, the Pajero is known as the Montero, which means Huntsman, but as far as I know, has no affiliations with any type of embarrassing sexual activities. Montero it is, then.
The Montero lasted from 1982-2006 and this one is an example of its last model year and 3rd generation version of the nameplate. This last generation featured a 3.8L single overhead cam V6 that created 215 HP and 248 lb-ft of torque while getting 15/19 MPG. None of those stats are particularly impressive, but the Montero was appreciated as a good off road vehicle with decent handling. This, the last generation Montero, was a bump up in size from the previous two iterations of the vehicle, which were both mid sized SUVs. This 2006 model is considered a full sized SUV, though if you park it next to something like a Lincoln Navigator, it would look a tad tiny, I think.
Anyway, it's not the boxy, brown Mitsi from Militello Motors back in the 1980's, but I do think this is a nice looking vehicle. It's 8 years old already but I really like the lines created by the flared curve worked into the front fenders, stretching from the vehicle's vertical planes to its horizontal hood plane. It takes the rig away from its awkward boxiness and gives it a muscular, flexing feel to it. I tend to find vehicles with accentuated fender flares attractive because they remind me of older car designs. I'm not wild about the gas mileage, but I've owned SUVs before and know that's what to expect. It would be nice to see more power, but this is about on par for the time this vehicle was made.
To see the Mitsubishi lineup now, this Montero puts their looks to shame. The stuff I saw on display in the Mitsi booth at the Auto show was all so smoothed over and boring. This one has some flare -literally, with those fenders! I like the looks of it, and better yet, I like that its name plate brings to mind a fun memory from childhood.
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