Start with what the Mitsubishi 500 is: a 2-door sedan with 493 , built from 1960 to 1962, in the decade that gave the world the pony car and the mid-engined supercar. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Masataka Nimura, Munetaro Shigehiro, Tsutomu Ieda.
The story
The Mitsubishi 500 was the first passenger car produced after the Second World War by Shin Mitsubishi Heavy-Industries, Ltd, one of the companies which would become Mitsubishi Motors. It was built from 1960 until 1962 and formed the basis for Mitsubishi's next model, the Colt 600. It was exported in small numbers. Correspondance from 1999 indicates just eight surviving vehicles. As of 2026, four surviving vehicles remain.
Two of those surviving vehicles are in Japanese automotive museums, and one was in the Petersen automotive museum in Los Angeles. There is verified data and invoices to validate that the 4th surviving car is based in Great Britain and was purchased in 1999 for the sum of 2,400,000 Japanese Yen or £13,800 English pounds stirling. The car was described as extremely rare due to its totally unmolested original specification and roadworthy condition. That remains the case today in 2026. It's value today as a UNICORN historic vehicle is estimated to be between £40,000 and £80,000 and is considered a One of One car.
What is underneath
The engine is 493 other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. On the scales it comes to 490 kg. Drive goes through a 3-speed manual. The layout matters: the engine hangs behind the rear axle, a layout that gives ferocious traction out of a corner and a reputation to match on the way in. The wheelbase is 2065 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
In the Mitsubishi line-up the Mitsubishi 500 has a clear place: it handed the line to the Mitsubishi Colt 600. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Mini Mini, the Nissan Patrol, the Dodge Challenger. Nearby in the Mitsubishi catalogue sit the Mitsubishi Lancer and the Mitsubishi 360.
Owning one today
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Mitsubishi 500 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.