#SpecialEditions
Rare Rides: The Sporty and Very Rare 1991 Mitsubishi Debonair, by AMG (Part III)
Today marks the final installment in our Mitsubishi Debonair saga, which began a couple of days ago. We talked origins and its eventual demise, and today we’ll cover the little AMG part in the middle.
Rare Rides: The Sporty and Very Rare 1991 Mitsubishi Debonair, by AMG (Part II)
Last time on Rare Rides we introduced Mitsubishi’s Debonair, which began its tenure as Mitsubishi’s flagship luxury sedan in 1963 and remained the same for a very long time. Upon the model’s second generation in 1986, the Debonair made the switch to front-drive and adopted more modern looks in an attempt to appeal beyond very conservative large sedan buyers in Japan.
But the changes still weren’t enough, as we’ll see today.
Rare Rides: The Sporty and Very Rare 1991 Mitsubishi Debonair, by AMG (Part I)
Today’s Rare Ride is the second attempt Mitsubishi made to build its own full-size executive car for the Japanese Domestic Market. Debonair never moved outside its home market, and always played third fiddle to competition from the likes of Toyota Crown and Nissan Gloria (then a Prince model). Today’s example goes slightly further and adds AMG flavor to the front-drive mix.
There’s a lot of information to cover here, and today we talk about the model’s beginnings.
2022 Mini Countryman Boardwalk Edition – Past Park Place?
Mini USA today proclaimed the pricing and availability of the 2022 Countryman Boardwalk Edition, a variant for those who don’t mind drawing attention to themselves with its unique, eye-catching coloration.
Rare Rides: The 2003 Ford Thunderbird That's Pink and 007 Approved
Today’s Rare Ride was a part of a very limited run of Thunderbirds that coincided with the release of the last Pierce Brosnan era Bond film, Die Another Day.
It’s a car so special it’s probably almost priceless, and should be stored in a heated garage next to a Plymouth Prowler and/or Chevy SSR.
Rare Rides: The 1992 Daihatsu Leeza Spider, It's Tearing Me Apart
Oh hi, Mark. Today’s Rare Ride is a very rare version of Daihatsu’s Leeza Kei car. It’s tiny, turbocharged, and one of only 200 made.
No more The Room jokes, I promise.
Rare Rides: A Very Limited Edition 2002 Range Rover G4 Challenge (Part II)
In Part I of this very orange Rare Ride, we covered the love child of Rover, BMW, and (eventually) Ford which was the L322 Range Rover. Today we’ll talk about just what makes this one so special, aside from the glaringly orange paint.
Rare Rides: A Very Limited Edition 2002 Range Rover G4 Challenge (Part I)
Today’s subject is the first time a Range Rover appears in the series. We’ve come as close as a Discovery badged as the Honda Cro$$road previously, but today’s truck is much more special.
It’s a 1 of 20 G4 Challenge.
Rare Rides: The 1990 Ford Mustang 7UP Edition, Get You a Cold Pop
Today’s Rare Ride hails from the last bit of the Fox-body Mustang era. And while there were only supposed to be a handful of these 7UPs ever made, the special edition ended up with a production figure in the low five digits.
Only one car is lemon, lime, Mustang, and forgotten. Let’s go.
Rare Rides: The 1998 Chevrolet Corvette Indianapolis 500 Pace Car Replica, Purple and Banana
We’ve featured a Corvette before in this series, as well as two different Indianapolis 500 pace cars, but we’ve never had a single car that combined Corvette and Indy pace car flavors together.
Turns out when that special combination occurred in 1998, it was purp drank and banana colored.
One Mini Special Edition Points to Heritage, Another Aims for Value
No brand is immune from putting out special editions to honor its heritage, and so it is with Mini. The company is launching two – the 2021 Mini Cooper 1499 GT and 2021 Mini Countryman Oxford Edition.
The former is meant to be a homage to the classic Mini 1275 GT, while the latter does not, as far as we know, come with a tweed blazer with elbow patches.
The 2021 Aston Martin CALLUM Vanquish 25, a Future Rare Ride
Aston Martin’s V12 Vanquish was the company’s heavy hitter GT of the 2000s decade. Between 2001 and 2007, just over 2,500 examples of the Vanquish were produced, composed of 1,492 standard 2+2 coupes, and 1,086 of the sportier S version that ditched the rear seats.
Now, a select few customers can have a thoroughly reengineered Vanquish S, created by the man who designed the original.
Push and Pull: 2021 Lexus ES Gains All-wheel Drive
As expected, the traditionally front-drive Lexus ES will enliven its rear axle for the 2021 model year.
Like its sister sedan, the Toyota Avalon, the ES range will see the addition of an all-wheel drive model motivated by the automaker’s stalwart 2.5-liter four-cylinder. A powerhouse it is not, but come winter, the ES 250 AWD could be a respectable motorist’s best friend.
Rare Rides: A McDonald's Edition 1986 Ford E-150 Econoline Conversion
The Rare Rides series has featured around 10 special edition cars in past, depending on how generous you are with the term.
And while every special edition presented here thus far was designed to add some padding to a manufacturer’s bottom line, today’s special edition McDonald’s van had a much more benevolent purpose.
Happy 20th, Toyota Prius
Back when your author was the (soon to be not) proud owner of a 93-horsepower Plymouth, Toyota was prepping the American populace for a new kind of driving experience. A futuristic one, and a thrifty one, to boot. Two decades ago, it debuted a model that first appeared in its home country three years earlier: the Prius.
Eighty trillion jokes later, and after selling more than 1.9 million of the things to U.S. consumers, Toyota is marking the Prius’ 20th anniversary in this country with a limited run of special edition models. And they happen to look better than the stock Prius.
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