Mitsuoka will turn your plain old Honda Civic into this brilliant Dodge Challenger replica

Can anyone help to explain why we’re so obsessed with Mitsuoka Motors right now? Back in the days of the Orochi ‘supercar’ it was a little bit of a laughing stock, but now that every other car is an identikit, platform-sharing crossover, we’re loving the work that Mitsuoka is doing to help people stand out.

What it’s mostly doing of course is rebodying mainstream cars to create things like the MX-5-based Rock Star and the Toyota RAV4-based Buddy. And if you like your Americana with very Japanese underpinnings, then you’re in for a treat…

You see, Mitsuoka has now announced that the M55 Concept will be put into production. This is great news! Heck, just look at it in the pictures above. It’s like a baby Dodge Challenger but with four doors. Oh, and it’s based on a very normal Honda Civic if you hadn’t already guessed.

Mitsuoka actually unveiled this wonderfully niche concept late last year in order to celebrate its 55th anniversary, but it now says that the wave of positive reaction it received has convinced the company to offer it up for general sale. 

“The concept car was unveiled with the main purpose of reawakening and empathising with the events we actually experienced, the various aspirations we had, and the great expectations we have for the future,” says Mitsuoka’s press release. 

“At the time of release, there were no plans for general sale and only this one was prepared.”

Apparently, it was the comments section on Mitsuoka’s website that clinched the deal, with over 1,300 positive messages left in an outpouring of love online. See, good things can come from leaving a comment.

Mitsuoka will hand build each M55 though, so it has issued a warning that it “may not be able to deliver it to everyone who wishes to purchase it”, but plans are underway for a 2025 release and we couldn’t be happier.

Wonder if they’re able to reskin the Type R?