Give It Up For The 2006 Mitsubishi L200, The Toy Truck That Helped Mitsubishi Conquer Dakar

The Mitsubishi Montero gets all the fanfare around here for good reason. Among other things, it would go on to become the incredible Mitsubishi Pajero Evo. But the Montero’s cousin, the Montero and Pajero Sport, comes from another forgotten Mitsubishi that deserves another look for having polarizing design that rocks: the fourth-generation L200.

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I’m unsure why the lesser known Pajero Sport and L200, which is the truck the SUV is based on, have been overlooked. I’ve seen my fair share of both on the Texas border because the small truck and SUV were sold on the Mexican market and I’m…obsessed.

I can’t stop thinking about the long standing fourth generation of the L200, which would be phased out in 2015 after about a decade. It just strikes me as the toughest truck to ever rip off-road and look so friendly doing it.

Photo: Mitsubishi

Part of the reason people likely dismiss the Pajero Sport is some generations were anecdotally terrible. We in the U.S. can recall stories of the first-gen Montero Sport being truly awful, and the Mitsubishi Endeavor that succeeded it had more in common with the Eclipse and Galant. In other words, the Montero/Pajero Sport sucked, and its replacement strayed far from its roots as the ladder-frame Triton pickup.

In other markets — including Mexico and Brazil — the L200 and Pajero Sport kept on in the tradition of Mitsubishi’s trucks, which have competed in Dakar and even helped Mitsubishi take a handful of victories throughout the aughts either as support vehicles or actual competitors in the famous desert event.

Hell, there’s even an L200 and Pajero Sport Dakar, which nod to Mitsubishis’ former glory in the world of off-road racing. The company is slowly clawing its way back thanks to the the latest Mitsubishi Triton, but I still think the design of the fourth generation L200 is bold and unique. Visionary, even.

Photo: Mitsubishi

It’s one of the the cutest ugly vehicles I’ve ever seen, and it’s about time we acknowledge the L200 as a fearless truck that wasn’t afraid to be small and lithe. It reminds me of the beloved Isuzu Vehicross: both have quirky design that went in its own direction, not being afraid to cast aside traditions of boxy, tough truck designs.

The fourth-gen L200 looks almost like a coupe-ute, in that it seems to be based on a car design at first but never loses sight of its origins as a truck, which was powered by a few versions of turbodiesel inline-4 engines making up to 200 hp, paired with manual transmissions and commonly available with 4WD.

A trucky truck, in other words. And yet look at its little face, like an early Audi TT that’s been lifted and then forced to toughen up in the dirt. A seasoned and grizzled vet of Dakar, one of the most grueling off-road races ever. But it can’t stop smiling. I love this truck.