TheSamba.com :: View topic - Help me NOT buy this Mitsubishi L300 Van...

Sun Feb 23, 2014 1:30 pm

So I've been driving by this field for a year now and eyeballing a clean looking Mitsubishi Van from the mid 80s that appeared one day. Friday I had a couple hours to kill and happened to drive by it. I slowed, I braked, next thing I know I am finding out that the people have it parked there for an elderly man who no longer has a license. Yes, he's interested in selling it. I get permission to open it up and look at it, mumbling to myself "What am I doing?..." Caught in the orphan car mystique - again. I have bought cars out of snowbanks, out of barns, sold a car at a stop light (Fiat X1/9), etc. It's a sickness.

Anyhow, it's a 1987 or 88. They were so unpopular there is nary a forum or any information (type "1987 Mitsubishi L300 specifications" in Google and you'll see only diesel 4WD Vans in Canada) out there. This is a gasoline 2.4L rear wheel drive chassis and word is it is commercial grade tough. Capacity plate says it can carry 1500lbs. No NADA resale info, no forums, nothing. I will probably be ordering tie rods from Latvia, shock absorbers from Italy, and my long suffering NAPA counter man will probably start locking the doors when I pull in. I know, I know.

It's quite clean, has 175K miles on it, and there is literally not a dent or scuff in the body. Completely unmolested. Couple cracked interior panels literally are the only things I could find. It's remarkably clean and even sitting in a field for a year I opened it and nothing smelled stale.

On the other hand it is ugly - often a good thing in my book. So ugly that it is kind of a parody of the not quite as ugly Toyota Van of the same era that most people mistake it for in their memories. You've perhaps never seen one of these but think you have. Its so ugly it looks like the designers took the box it came in and put a Ford Aerostar dustbuster-looking front end on it, broke for saki and never came back to the styling studio.

But there is this. Open the slider and you'll see a rear air conditioner unit in the side wall (mind you its about 30" from the dash unit, so uh??). Window curtain tracks around the side windows. Snaps across the roof to isolate the rear seating area. The 2nd row seats are individual bucket seats with armrests. They recline. They slide fore and aft almost 2 FEET in a track independently. They swivel 360 degrees! The third row is a bench that reclines flat, or folds rearward vertically up against the rear hatch to open the flat floor all the way to the front seats. Not big enough to sleep on. It's an automatic and the engine is a sluggy 108hp straight 4 under the floor midship that is bulletproof and was used in trucks and cars literally by the millions - up to the 210hp turbo sports cars.

Biggest bummer is that it is small. If you have the misfortune to also own a cavernous Vanagon, the interior in the back will feel cramped by comparison. If I built a bed back there it would need to come to within a couple feet of the front seats, and I'm guessing here but it would be about 6 inches narrower.

SO. What should I do? I don't need another vehicle that will hold 7 people or sleep 2 in comfort as I already have THREE like that. However, this thing would be a bulletproof road trip mini camper. And its an orphan. And it might be ridiculously cheap. And for comic relief, believe it or not, while looking it over I had 3 lambs bleating and pressing against my legs, a half dozen sheep following me around the Van, and the big ram stood 20 feet off staring. The lady told me if he starts nodding his head at me to jump toward him and he will leave me alone. For about 4 minutes and I'll have to do it again. I chose the cowards way out and after a quick lap hopped in the slider and toured the rest of the vehicle with steel between me and the ram.

Collective wisdom please. Somebody stop me.

DougM

Sun Feb 23, 2014 1:44 pm

Hey, cars are your hobby! If you can pick it up cheap and have a bit of fun with it, why not?
Practically speaking you don't need it, since it won't do anything for you that your other vehicles already do better.
There's lots of the 4WD versions up here, diesel and gas, and they're pretty cool rigs. My brother was running a couple of Mitsubishis for his business, a mini-pickup and a mini-crane truck, but he ended up selling them because the maintenance was killing him.
Personally I think they're too small for campers, especially if you already have a westy. Might be good for a cheap runabout to pick up parts, supplies etc. without trashing your other vehicles.

Sun Feb 23, 2014 1:44 pm

Doug,

There are lot nicer jdm vans out there, well maybe not out where you are. Around here its sort of seems like the peak of popularity for them has passed, still fairly common on the road but not quite the same as a couple of years ago.

What is interesting is that there are probably 5 times as many jdm vans, kei trucks etc than vanagons in the wrecker i frequent.

Alistair

Sun Feb 23, 2014 1:46 pm

ragnarhairybreeks wrote:
What is interesting is that there are probably 5 times as many jdm vans, kei trucks etc than vanagons in the wrecker i frequent.

Alistair

..and their resale value seems to be tumbling too. Vans that sell from the importer for $12-15K are up for sale a couple of years later asking $7-8K.

Sun Feb 23, 2014 2:26 pm

parts

Sun Feb 23, 2014 2:42 pm

I know someone around here with one of the mitsubishi vans, and was thinking about converting it to the delca 4wd system. This is all second hand knowledge. but.. he said it's the same chassis as the delca, and you can order those parts. Big project that never materialized. Delca's are cool, but we can't import them to Murica, but you can import the parts to put one together. make it a 4wd diesel? nice!

Sun Feb 23, 2014 4:24 pm

We met this couple in Mexico and they had been living in theirs for 13 years.

http://www.viajeros4x4x4.com/

IIRC, they indicated that the drivetrain was basically the same as a Mitsubishi Montero. Theres was the 4x diesel varaity, but I would imagine the 2x would be fairly compatible with other Mitsubishi platforms that have readily available parts.

Sun Feb 23, 2014 7:02 pm

You guys aren't helping. I should have known the Van DNA was too strong to critique another steel box on wheels. :lol: I think I will go back and make an offer when there are heaps of snow on the ground.

On the 4X models, what little I found indicated they were somehow this body dropped atop the Montero frame - indicating a lot of differences underneath. That would be a cool conversion. I've had two full size Monteros over the years and loved them. It's funny that even here with Van enthusiasts, nobody's got much to say about the humdrum 2X version. They must have been hard to sell in the US.....

Sun Feb 23, 2014 7:48 pm

shouldnt this be in the off topic area?

Sun Feb 23, 2014 9:19 pm

Buy it already. You know you want to.

Mon Feb 24, 2014 6:16 am

vw7266 wrote: shouldnt this be in the off topic area?

Hello :roll: ...Vanagon content :?:

Great topic for a Mitsubishi forum.

Mon Feb 24, 2014 7:16 am

x2 Buy it!

Mon Feb 24, 2014 7:16 am

kbeefy wrote: We met this couple in Mexico and they had been living in theirs for 13 years.

http://www.viajeros4x4x4.com/

IIRC, they indicated that the drivetrain was basically the same as a Mitsubishi Montero. Theres was the 4x diesel varaity, but I would imagine the 2x would be fairly compatible with other Mitsubishi platforms that have readily available parts.

As far as I remember, that is correct. The Diesel 4x4 L300 shares a lot of the drivetrain With the Montero (or Pajero in Our part of the world).

I remember particularly the dipstick on the engine to be nearly inaccessible on the L300 being on the very front of the engine. Easily accessible when the engine was in a Pajero, when you open the Hood, but from the Hatch beneath the seats in the L300 you need to know exactly where it is to Reach it.

Other than that I remember the 4x4 to have a very bumpy ride, probably because the short wheelbase.

Other than that, it seemed like a very sturdy design.

Mon Feb 24, 2014 7:45 am

One of my former co-workers had one for years and liked it.

Save it, get it going, and pass it on if you do not need it. I understand the temptation, so get it if you want. You need not keep it.

Mon Feb 24, 2014 7:52 am

If cars are your hobby why are you asking us? You already know what you are going to do......Oh and keep us updated lol.

Mon Feb 24, 2014 7:55 am

Doug, This is like someone asking their buddies at the bar to help them stop drinking... :D :lol:

Mon Feb 24, 2014 8:00 am

Yeah, as I tell my friends about bike and motorcycle deals, if you want to be talked out of it don't talk to me.

Mon Feb 24, 2014 8:19 am

vw7266 wrote: shouldnt this be in the off topic area?
Yes.
No vanagon content.

Mon Feb 24, 2014 11:21 am

You know what would be awesome in this thread? PICTURES of the van in question or similar ones........

Mon Feb 24, 2014 11:45 am

Keith wrote: You know what would be awesome in this thread? PICTURES of the van in question or similar ones........

Delica 4x4