The Mitsubishi 380 is a 4-door sedan from Mitsubishi, built from 2005 to 2008, in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. Under the bonnet: 3.8 . Olivier Boulay drew it.
Where it came from
The Mitsubishi 380 is a mid-size car that was produced between 2005 and 2008 by Mitsubishi Motors Australia. Available only as a sedan, it marked the end of Australian production by the Japanese manufacturer. The 380, given the model designation DB, was the successor to the Mitsubishi Magna / Verada line of vehicles first introduced in 1985 (1991 for the Verada). The company spent over A$600 million developing and producing the car, being heavily based upon the ninth generation Mitsubishi Galant designed in the United States. The 380 continued Mitsubishi Australia's established habit of producing front-wheel drive sedans for the Australian market, and along with the Toyota Aurion, competed against traditionally well-established local rear-wheel drive Ford Falcon and GM Holden Commodore vehicles.
Even before the car's launch in October 2005, the 380 was stigmatised as the "make or break" model for Mitsubishi Australia. After a slow sales start, the line-up was updated with the Series II in April 2006, with the entry level model attracting a price discount of nearly 20 percent. To generate further interest in the car, a Series III revision came on 29 July 2007 with mainly cosmetic changes. These updates failed to lift sales, and with production still unprofitable, Mitsubishi ceased manufacturing of the 380 in March 2008 after just short of three years in production. A total of 32,044 were produced over the three year production, of which 30,195 were sold in Australia.
Under the skin
Power comes from 3.8 . It weighs 1625 -. It shifts through a 5-speed manual / 5-speed automatic. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The wheelbase is 2750 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Mitsubishi Magna/Verada; assembly was at Adelaide, South Australia (Clovelly Park), Australia. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Bugatti Veyron, the Kia Sportage, the Audi Q7 — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Mitsubishi catalogue sit the Mitsubishi Lancer and the Mitsubishi 360.