Mitsubishi introduced the Pajero SUV in its home country of Japan in 1982; it made its United States debut one year later as the Mitsubishi Montero. The Montero/Pajero was eventually sold in 170 countries before it was discontinued in 2006. The vehicle had great success in off-road rally events, repeatedly winning the Dakar Rally, but its reputation was hurt by a 2001 Consumer Reports test that
...Mitsubishi introduced the Pajero SUV in its home country of Japan in 1982; it made its United States debut one year later as the Mitsubishi Montero. The Montero/Pajero was eventually sold in 170 countries before it was discontinued in 2006. The vehicle had great success in off-road rally events, repeatedly winning the Dakar Rally, but its reputation was hurt by a 2001 Consumer Reports test that rated the 2001 Mitsubishi Montero Limited as being "not acceptable" due to the risk of rolling over in certain hazardous driving conditions. This risk was again brought to the public's attention in 2002 when Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, a member of the group TLC, was killed in an accident while driving a rented 2001 Montero while on vacation.
The initial Pajero was offered as a three-door, truckish SUV with a tall body but relatively short wheelbase and no third-row seating. The Montero was available with either a metal or a canvas top. The first-generation Montero was offered in two trim levels, the XLS and the Limited, with the Limited adding a five-speed automatic transmission with manual shift mode as opposed to the standard four-speed automatic on the XLS.
The Montero offered many features not previously seen on Japanese four-wheel-drive vehicles, such as an optional turbocharged diesel engine, power steering, suspension seats, and a front double wishbone suspension with torsion bar springs. By 1983 and coinciding with the U.S. launch of the Montero, a longer four-door model with a folding third row of seats was added, increasing seating capacity to seven.
The second-generation Montero was sold from 1992 through 2000; with this generation, the two-door Montero was completely eliminated. The second-generation Montero continued the body-on-frame construction of earlier Monteros and was offered in the base model, the RS, the luxury LS, and the sportier SR.
By 2000, in the face of declining sales and an expanding luxury SUV market, an upscale Endeavor version was added to the Montero lineup. The Endeavor included wood interior trim, power driver's seat, heated leather seats, heated mirrors and a power sunroof. Also added to all Montero models in 2000 was a security system, a roof rack and keyless entry.
The third-generation Montero was sold from 2001 through the model's final year in 2006. Besides being longer, lower and wider than the previous generation, one of the most significant changes for the later Montero was a switch to a unibody construction in an attempt to lighten and stiffen the chassis. In addition, a change was made to rack-and-pinion steering from the previous recirculating-ball steering setup. A right-hinged cargo door further differentiated the Montero from other SUVs, but the Montero stayed with a V-6 engine while most competing SUVs were powered by V-8 engines. The Montero was discontinued in 2006 due to falling sales.
Close this
