Jalopnik: mirage

Team Cajun Jihad Makes Big Impression On Infidel Judges, Chances For World Peace Set Back Decades

Murilee Martin — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:00:00 EDT

When we heard that a team called "Cajun JiHad" was signed up for the 24 Hours Of LeMons New Orleans, we thought "Sure hope these guys have the costumes to go with that great name!"

We needn't have worried. We went through most of the day's BS Inspections, and by late afternoon we'd started to think that maybe the Cajun Jihadis weren't even going to show up. Then we noticed a commotion at the other end of the paddock: wailing music cranking from PA speakers mounted on the roof of a desert-camo Mitsubishi and a bunch of AK47-wielding, burlap-sack-wearing, fake-bearded lunatics performing some sort of choreographed dance routine... and headed our way. "It must be Cajun Jihad!" we rejoiced!

It's so incredibly wrong, on so many levels, yet how could we not love the Cajun Jihadis? From the ~~lobster~~crawfish-with-rifle stencils on their burlap sacks to the cartwheels, these guys made perhaps the best initial impression that any LeMons team has ever made upon first appearance at the tech inspection. Even when their not-so-safe roll cage failed the inspection and they were sentenced to an all-nighter of metal cutting-and-pasting, they didn't issue whine one (unlike some other teams we won't name). In fact, they went back into their assault-rifle dance routine as they headed to their pit space to get to work. We're definitely looking forward to seeing how the Jihad does on the track tomorrow morning!

Million-Dollar Porsche Gemballa Mirage GT Smacked Around At Track Day

Andrew Stoy — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:00:00 EDT

This Gemballa-modded Porsche is worth about $1 million — or was, before the owner smashed it up during a club event at the Circuit Paul Ricard in France. We hope the owner of this wrecked Porsche Gemballa Mirage GT read our post about track day insurance changes before he hit the asphalt. Fortunately he was unharmed, and the report even states he was joking about the crash after he recovered from the initial shock. Guess you can either laugh or cry.

[via WreckedExotics.com]

Woman Keeps Test Driver to Avoid Heat

Matt Hardigree — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 15:00:00 EST

In New Zealand, stealing a Mitsubishi Mirage carries only a penalty of 100 hours of community service if you've got a good excuse. A mother from Tauranga decided to test drive the Mirage after looking at a few cars and just decided to not come back because it was "too hot to walk." Having lived in Texas for most of our lives, there were times we'd have test driven an Aztec just to avoid the heat.

The car was found a day later by a salesman and the woman handed over the keys and tried to sneak away, but was found by the police with the help of personal documents she left in the back of the car. The lightened sentence was due to the fact this was her first crime and, you know, stealing an old Mirage isn't that big of a deal. [NZ Herald]

Super Mirage Potential!

Davey G. Johnson — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 20:15:00 EDT

Mitsu's Mirage Turbo was one of the forgotten hot-hatch heroes of the late '80s/early '90s. A girl we wished we'd dated in college had one. We noticed the 135mph speedo and asked, "Will it do that?" A sensible Taurus with a Lotus-7-owning dad, she simply replied, "Yes." We later had a '90 Legend that we got up to an indicated 135 with more oomph to go, which led us to believe she wasn't lying about her college-commuter hatchback. And that was stock. From what we recall, it handled pretty well, too. Stack it in the small pile of FWD cars we've got a real fondness for. [TurboMirage]

Porsche Plutocracy: Test Driving the Gemballa Mirage GT

Mike Spinelli — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 11:45:00 EDT

Sometimes we wish we were Jocke "Qvarnis" Qvarnström. Usually it's just for having a name with a Q and a V in it. This time it's for getting a crack at the 672 hp V10 Gemballa Mirage GT. His exploits made for an umlaut-heavy piece in Swedish mag StreetXtreme, but the video is up on the 'Tube for all to survey. We're so going to take Swedish lessons, and not for the language. – Mike Spinelli

[via StreetXtreme]

Related:
Try That with an Enzo: Gemballa Mirage GT [internal]

SUPER SHIFT! 1979 Plymouth Champ on eBay

Mike Bumbeck — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 14:07:00 EST

Sporting front-wheel drive and a sort of over-under transmission, we remember the Dodge Colt and Plymouth Champs as cars that defied their diminutive size with a measure of both performance and economy. A throw lever next to the standard shifter offered additional motoring flexibility by way of hi-low ratio for each gear, effectively turning the four-speed into an eight-speed. Push the lever forward? Power! Pulling it back returned economy. Dodge Colts and Plymouth Champs of this era were in reality cleverly rebadged Mitsubishi Colts, which were sold as Mirages in Japan. This particular Champ seems to have survived remarkably well given it has evidently super shifted all of its 45K miles in central New Jersey.

1979 Plymouth Champ [eBay]

Why Mitsubishi Deserves a Second Chance in America

Davey G. Johnson — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 20:30:00 EST

Yes, we all know that Mitsu is a somewhat beleagured brand these days. But they did give us the mighty Starion, the totally underrated Mirage Turbo hatchback, and of course, the nothing-short-of-obscenely miraculous Lancer Evo. Paukert drove the upcoming Lancer on some winding roads near Santa Barbara recently, and seemed to like it just fine. But that doesn't matter. Without Mitsubishi, we wouldn't have Super Active Yaw Control, Mitsubishi Innovative Valve-timing-and-lift Electronic Control or, most importantly, SUPER POTENTIAL!. There, Mitsubishi, we just came up with your new tagline: Super. Innovative. Mitsubishi. Check's in the mail? Great, thanks. Business doing potential with you. – Davey G. Johnson

We Drive The New Mitsubishi Lancer - Just Don't Ask Us About It [Winding Road]