Posted on 01/14/2021 1:43:13 PM PST by nickcarraway
Six years after it left production, the Orochi is starting to make an unexpected comeback.
The phrase "everyone's a critic " has never been more apt than in the year 2021. It's as if society roll plays every single day as Danny DeVito in the episode of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia where he wears a ridiculous turtle-neck and wig and pretends to be a preposterously snobbish art critic.
The Mistuoka Orochi is a car that's been absolutely beaten to a bloody pulp in forums and message boards across the internet and even on this very website. Some call it ugly, others call for them all to be crushed. That said, six years after it left production, the Orochi is starting to make an unexpected comeback. Could it be a new post-ironic generation gassing it up as the go-to car for the proud weirdo? Or maybe something more complicated than that? Either way, the fact this car is still talked about today means it at least made an impact, as polarizing as it was.
Mitsuoka is one of those Japanese brands that never bothered trying to sell cars overseas. That said, they never intended to. Mitsuoka makes cars for people with unconventional tastes in style, for the person who says "no" emphatically when given status quo choices from other sports car makers. This philosophy is the genesis of the Orochi, and there's a lot more to that story to boot.
It's not uncommon to take an existing sports car, give it a fresh change of clothes and slap a different badge on the front grille. Thankfully, the Orochi is derived from one of the all-time Japanese sports car greats. The Orochi, which is named for a mythical Japanese dragon. debuted as a concept at the 2001 Tokyo Motor Show with the same internals as the iconic Honda NSX. The response wasn't as ghastly as other "ugly" cars like the Pontiac Aztek, but to say it was polarizing was an understatement for the record books.
Interestingly, thoughts on the Orochi were largely divided down national lines. Japanese journalists applauded the car's bold and unorthodox styling. Conversely, western magazines like Jalopnik lauded the Orochi as "The Worlds Ugliest Car". Of course, that decision is always in the eyes of the beholder. And we think Jeremy Clarkson's quote sighting an old European artist Francis Bacon in his Alfa 8C review on Top Gear is fitting here. " There is no beauty that hath not some strangeness in its proportions." Bacon didn't know it, but centuries ago, he came up with the perfect metaphor to describe this quirky Japanese sports car.
I’ve seen worse done to a car, especially by some street racers. I sure wish, I wish I could get my hands on another Nissan Skyline though. I still miss that car.
Speed Racer.
Get rid of the graphics, paint it cobalt blue and I’d drive it.
Has a Toyota V6. Meanwhile, it looks like it ought to have twice as many cylinders at least.
Mach Go Go Go?
I’ll take it for 5$ dollars, with or without paint. That’s my final offer.
That was sarcasm ;)
So is the Shooting Star! Actually, in all honesty, the #9 is kinda ugly, even if the Mysterious Racer X (actually Speed’s brother, Rex) is a cool character.
Reality101: There is no "electric" car - the electricity source comes from somewhere else.
That was quite the allegorical episode of what the Democrat Party is trying to do to this country now. It didn't take sides, it just shows the endgame of all that racial hustling bull$#*+!
I love it. I am a Nissan 300ZX gal! (1985)
I’ll take the Family Truckster! The Orochi cannot take the tribe across the country.
It’s that Cartoon Car
It looks like a bug.
I like the styling, but the paint job sucks.
“The paintjob does it no favors.”
Oooooooh, I know! Do red and green, like boat lights!
You think you hate it now, Wait until you have to pay for it!
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