just to add, the Mitsubishi Rosa Deluxe (the equivalent of Toyota Coaster) used to serve its duty as Metro Bus during Musharraf era in Karachi. These were airconditioned buses and very very comfy and durable too

Let me elicit that the Three-Diamond emblem will always make a car enthusiast’s heart skip a beat like no other. Short and precise: There is no comparison – absolutely not!

Mitsubishi used to be the de facto leader of offroad rallies. Their engines had some grunt and gave out a subtle whistle .. such a continuous note that kept the driver and the passengers completely engaged.

The story discussed Pajero, Lancer and Galant, I think there are 2 whose exclusion really sticks out. One is the L300, PIA used to have many many L300s which were used to shuttle pilots, air hostesses and other crew. There was the PIA logo painted on both sides. It looked like this:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Delica#Third_generation_(1986)

At that time Mazda E2200 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Bongo#Third_generation_(1983%E2%80%931999) van was also popular but people always categorize any van as Toyota “Hi-X”.

The other one is the purplish blue coloured pickups with the Sui Gas logo. There were so many and were always seen towing some equipment. And looked like this:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Triton#Second_generation_(K00/K10/K20/K30;_1986)

The Hilux at that time came with 4-gear forward, and 5-gear was as optional upgrade, but the L200 came standard with 5-sp forward, that too at a lower price! No wonder it was the first choice for fleet buyers who look to reduce fuel consumption.

In DMMC’s time, lots of Pak Army L200s could be seen on the roads in army green colour. They looked like this:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Triton#Fourth_generation_(KA/KB;_2005)

The above examples show its popularity with government customers. In the Middle East too, government companies preferred Mitsubishi L200, Nissan Patrol and Nissan Vanette over Toyota.

Some specimen of 3rd generation L200 could also be seen on the streets.

I distinctly remember a first gen Mitsubishi Space Wagon in our neighbourhood. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Chariot#First_generation_(1983). According to today’s fashion its flat surfaces look bland but at that time it was a thing compared to other designs which were even more rectangular (think 82 Corolla).

In the end I should mention again .. that the sight or even the memory of the Three-Diamond emblem will the tug at the heartstrings of auto lovers in such a special way that nothing else can be evocative of that special emotion.