Okay, everybody, you’ve been warned: Vilner, the tuner company who decided to put more hair into a Mustang has set their sights on Mitsubishi, and are teasing something they’re calling “Mitsubishi Allroads Ronin” before its release at the Geneva Auto Show. If you miss that ex-roommate who hung a $25 fake katana he got from a mall kiosk over his bed, this may be the car for you.
Here’s the teaser trailer they made:
...and here’s what they said in their press release:
It’s not a typical Ronin, it’s not a samurai in search of his new ‘Self’. This is a Ronin on a mission to conquer every road, a Ronin who became a master of himself. Brutally effective worrier who knows no fear and who can’t be stopped. This is the new Mitsubishi Allroads Ronin by Vilner.
Vilner starts the new 2018 with an amazing project. Unbelievable amount of details never seen before in any other project, all combined to express Vilner’s individual interpretation of the Japanese traditions. Allroads Ronin will soon remove its ‘men-yoroi’ mask. Be prepared.
Men-yoroi masks were used to help secure heavy samurai helmets to less-heavy samurai heads, and often had scary noses and mouths sculpted into them. I’m not sure if Vilner is implying the Mitsubishi already has something like that? Is that how they see the Mitsu corporate grille?
So, based on this video, what can we expect?
Looks like
Purple wheels,
Very big logos,
Fun dash illumination, but still the same dated-looking monochrome matrix screen in the middle,
Ornate fabrics,
These things,
...and dirt.
The idea of a Ronin as a sort of directionless entity may just be a little bit too on the nose for Mitsubishi, at least here in America. Also, this thing still seems a bit too much like they’ve just bought a bunch of vaguely Japanese-seeming crap at the mall and stuck it on a Mitsubishi SUV.
I guess we’ll see!