Always quirky
Perhaps Japan’s most colorful car manufacturer has an arsenal of quirky retro models in its range, and one of them has now been refined: the Ryugi. Of course from Mitsuoka, who else.
Mitsuoka is a Japanese manufacturer that likes to give models from other brands a striking retro look. In any case, Japanese manufacturers have a thing for quirky retro models based on very regular cars. Just think of the Nissan Figaro and Be-1, or the Daihatsu Trevis, also brought to Europe, based on the then current Cuore. Nowadays, Mitsuoka focuses purely on converting cars from other brands. For example, the Mitsuoka Buddy is a RAV4 with classic American influences, the Rock Star is an MX-5 dressed up as a Chevrolet Corvette C2, the Himiko is an MX-5 with Morgan-like looks and the E a Nissan Teana or Altima with a classic nose. This retro car, based on the Honda Civic, was recently added. Then we forget one more: the Ryugi EX. It has now been very subtly refreshed.
What’s the news? Paper thin, but for us a perfect excuse to put the Mitsuoka Ryugi EX in the spotlight. The Ryugi EX with automatic transmission gets a new emergency braking system and from now on all versions have an automatically dimming interior mirror and a reversing camera. But then the question: what exactly is a Ryugi EX? Well: a Toyota Corolla. But not like you can buy in the Netherlands. A Toyota Corolla Axio (sedan) or Corolla Fielder (station wagon) is hidden beneath the sheet metal done by Mitsuoka. These Corollas of the E160 series were delivered in their home country of Japan, among others. This Corolla family was never delivered in the Netherlands, where Toyota then had the Auris (E180) in its range.
The 4.45 meter long Mitsuoka Ryugi EX is available with a 1.5 petrol engine and manual gearbox from €18,660.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl