Here we have a 1999 Miku Cosmo Super Mario Edition. This is one of the rarest models being a US Import. It's only done about 50k miles and has been religiously serviced to manufacturer specification.
Story
Miku is a famous Japanese conglomerate car company, competing with the likes of Toyota and Honda. They wanted a quirky car to beat the competition so they decided to partner with Nintendo to create the Miku Cosmo Super Mario Edition. In the 90s, the famous Cosmo well known for its hot hatch back in the 70s faded away to nothing but a grocery getter until Miku realised they needed a hot hatch. The Honda Civic Type R had released in 1997, so they needed to develop one fast. They took the newly released Miku Cosmo facelift from 1998 and made it with a unique paint design based on Mario. The wheels were yellow like in Mario Kart and they did a two tone design using Mario's overalls for the blue and the classic Nintendo red. They also included a higher performance engine albeit they couldn't squeeze above 140hp with the 2.0 from the LS, the highest spec they had at the time without affecting fuel economy.
In Spaceworld 1999, they revealed their new car. The Miku Cosmo Super Mario Edition. Here is a picture although it is very low quality due to 1999 crap cameras.
It sold about 1000 units in Japan. This is one of the extremely rare US imports, selling just 150. Because the US imports are so rare, everyone just imports them from Japan. This is the most sought after model of the Miku Cosmo as it’s just so rare.
The Owner
I've kept this car ever since I bought it back in 1999. It's served me well and has rarely broken down. It's all serviced with OEM parts and at the proper intervals. It's pretty fast and nippy for a small hatchback, kinda feels like I'm driving an actual Mario Kart! I'm selling this because a kid is on the way and this hatchback is just not big enough for us. I have got literally every record on this car, from service records, ads and fuel reciepts and costs. Here are some ads I have had for this car.
Here is also a pic of me and my car at the canyons.
This car is fully stock and unmolested unlike most of them which have been modified in one way or another. Hopefully this will go to a loving owner who will give this car the love it deserves and not abuse it.
The Zihatzu Apollo MEZ was a strange vehicle to begin with. A boxy family minivan from Japan, with a wraparound rear window and the aerodynamics of a double-wide in a tornado. For the 1992 model year, the refreshed Apollo was launched. Sales of the Apollo were slow and market research found that many buyers decided against a minivan as they were seen as slow and boring. Zihatzu decided to create a sporty van using their existing MEZ performance line, used on their saloons and hatchbacks. All came with a 170hp V6, through the rear wheels. This was more than enough power to move Zihatzu’s lineup of smaller cars, but not particularly fast for the heavy Apollo. Too remedy this, all Apollos of any trim had aluminum doors, hoods and trunks, to minimize weight and help fuel economy.
This particular MEZ was optioned with the somewhat rare 5-speed manual, standard on cheaper models but a dealer option on the MEZ. This car also has dual captain’s chairs in the second row, over the usual 3 fixed seats. The MEZ line also carries over the leather seats, A/C, dual sunroof and premium sound system.
Honestly, we're not quite sure ourselves, though our best guess is "it involved a lot of sake." This is based on a variant of the standard Hikari sold on the South African market as a bakkie - a FWD coupe utility made on a compact car chassis. Then someone at the performance division decided to put their high-power AWD AXRS2 package onto the vehicle, and then someone else at product planning decided to sell the resulting abomination vehicle in the United States, incurring a 25% import tax.
So it at least has some performance to back up the bizarre looks?
The 2.0L inline-five is good for 370 horsepower and 283 lb-ft of torque with the AXRS2 turbo, and its five-speed manual and AWD system is good for 0-62 MPH in 4.8 seconds and a top speed of 155 MPH. Braking and cornering are also comparatively good, and compared to other "rally cars for the road" its payload and towing capacity are in a class of their own... though that probably shouldn't be a surprise, all things considered.
How well did it sell?
Not well at all. Most Americans barely knew what to make of it, and that was before they had to pay a 25% premium over the equivalent sedan/wagon versions. Officially, Satsunai estimates that less than 500 of these were sold in 1999, the only model year it was offered.
So how do you retire a van that has been the back bone of your country for the past decade?
Well if you are HAIJU you go all out to celebrate the best model in the company’s history with a bang. Haiju took a humble K3 and almost scrapped it completely. The economical and bullet proof straight 1.5 straight was replaced by a four liter twin turbo V8 that outputs around 340 horsepower and 540 newton meters of torque, this small change now propels the van to 60 in 5.3 seconds and tops out at 260 kph.
The use of double wishbones make the K3T handle a lot better and makes it a lot more comfortable than the regular K3, however its still a van so that does not mean a lot. It’s just like a deep cut is more conformable than the bubonic plague.
The interior was completely redone having now six captains chairs, full leather, fake wood and a premium cassette player. And because we are talking luxury, a sunroof would not be enough so the K3 also sports four safari windows.
What makes this van truly special is its rarity, Haiju only made 100 of them and most of them have ended up in hedges or ditches all over the place. Although there isn’t an official number of those remaining, the general consensus is that at least half of them are gone.
A modern revival of the Shelby Cobra concept. A lighweight,V8 engined coupe that it´s also comfortable enough to ride it for 2 hours drive it on a daily basis.
The car became an icon until a few cars crashed after it´s release. Apparently, the parking brake would engage after hitting a bump due to a design flaw and apparently that wasn´t the best thing to happen on a mountain road.
All the cars were recalled and the problem was fixed, but people got too afraid to buy them, and so 3 years later production was stopped and never resumed.
Minivan market in North America was booming in late 80s. Forea wanted a place in this fast growing market. All major competitors already had their offerings in this segment, so Forea needed something that will stand out. Protostar was launched in 1989 specifically for North American market . Its aerodynamic shape combined with advanced suspension and engines made it a strong competitor in the segment, however Forea was late to the party. It needed to persuade customers to buy it.
Few months after the launch Forea embarked on a “Tour of the America”. 5 Protostars were chosen for the trip along with a team of the slickest salespeople. All Protostars were in a different trim so they could appeal to a wider audience. In a span of a few months Protostars visited most of the biggest cities in North America.
By the time the tour was over orders started to go up. Tour showed customers that Protostar was reliable, comfortable, spacious… couple that with car-like driving dynamics, responsive and fuel efficient engines, Forea had a perfect activity vehicle. Ultimately Protostar was in production until 1996 when it was replaced by the second gen which was very successful.
All models are equipped with corner lights. There is also a feature which allows headlights to stay on up to a minute after the car was turned off. Rear sliding doors have a mechanism that locks them in place when opened. Protostar allows you to open rear glass for easier grocery loading. 3.2 V6 models have leather seats and premium sound system with digital instruments. Variable hydraulic steering is an optional extra which offers 2 types of steering feel. Second row has captains chairs that can rotate 270 degrees. Airplane style reading lights and air vent in 2nd and 3rd row are standard across the range.
Here is also a pic of me and my car at the canyons.
around 1?