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Mitsubishi 3000 GT Spyder Goes South for '98 . . . But We Don't Know Why

11 November 1997

For some reason or other Mitsubishi has decided not to build and market the swoopy swift 3000GT twin turbo spyder for 1998, and we don't know why this is happening. Slow sales obviously. Cantankerous mechanics in the retractable hard top in the early models, harsh ride, and a price of $65,140--which was way up there for a two seater, but hey some Corvettes, Lotus, Acura NSX are in that price range, and they are still around.

We took the retractable spyder to a concours d'elegance and it caused a stir. People left the Dusenbergs and Packards and glommed onto the pretty red/red Mitsu, and asked if it was custom made and who did the work on the car?

The car could have been a barn burner for Mitsubishi but with the popular Eclipse convertible racking up good sales figures, they probably thought they had that area pretty well covered.

The 3000GT VR-4 is Mitsu's ultimate grand touring sports car, and its V6, twin turbo, 24 valve, 3.0 liter motor churns out 320 hp. It has everything... all wheel drive, limited slip diff, 4-wheel steering, and a six- speed gear box. It goes like stink . . . under 5 secs 0-60 mph.

To keep it on the ground, the car sports massive 18 inch chrome wheels and Z rated high performance tires. To stop, it has 4 wheel disc brakes with 4 piston calipers. Inside the cockpit you sit almost as snugly as you do in the NSX and you have all the electronic goodies you would expect to find in a car costing 65 grand. The only option available is a 10-disc compact disc changer

We could get poetic about the way the car behaves, responds and turns heads, but now that you've read the list of super trick performance features that come with this road rocket, we think you get the idea. It's a gas to drive and Mitsu should have kept it around. Fun city.

Bill Maloney -- The Auto Channel