The ninth-generation Mitsubishi Galant wasn’t anything to write home about, yet the company had to keep it on the market all the way from 2004 to 2012. The mid-size Mitsubishi got canned without a successor, which is a shame mostly because their 2007 ZT was a quite promising concept.
Although Mitsubishi is too successful to kill just yet, selling America’s cheapest car and a compact SUV that doesn’t suck might not be enough to keep them afloat on the U.S. market in the long run. The company also had a rally car that was better than a Subaru STI, but they gave that up as well pretty much without a fight.
Back in 2007, the ZT debuted at the Tokyo Auto Show to give us a hint about the next Galant. It was built around an aluminum spaceframe hiding a 2.2 turbodiesel in its nose. Think of it as a cheaper Audi A6 TDI. Of course being a concept car, the ZT was all crazy on the inside:
Still, it suggested the tenth Galant could get lane-drift warning, all-around-view monitors, parking assistance and a hood that pops up in case you still manage to hit somebody. Not bad for 2007.
Since the project got binned soon afterwards, Mitsubishi kept selling the old Galant instead of anything even remotely similar to this:
The brand has been without a mid-size sedan for three years now. Meanwhile, their compact, the Lancer debuted exactly when the ZT Concept: In 2007.
Photo credit: Mitsubishi
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