Mitsubishi PX-33

The Mitsubishi PX-33 was an open four-seat touring car with four-wheel drive that Mitsubishi developed for the Imperial Japanese Army from 1933. It was meant to carry officers between command posts, and it is described as the first four-wheel-drive vehicle in Japan. The first prototype, designated Mitsubishi PSF, was built around the end of 1933 at the Mitsubishi shipyard in Kobe, and its first demonstration included a rough stretch of terrain that passenger cars had been thought unable to cross. Three more prototypes followed by 1936, and the project was stopped in 1937 when the government told Mitsubishi to concentrate on trucks, buses and military goods. The car was a right-hand-drive tourer with a folding fabric hood and long flat fenders, powered by a front-mounted Mitsubishi S6 inline six of 4.4 litres and 51 kW. Around 1988 two replicas were built in France on Pajero running gear, one for display at the Paris motor show and one for rally use.