Mitsubishi Pajero - The "King of the Desert" - My Car

If you’re a fan of Dakar, this car will need no introductions. Desert-specific versions of it won the rally in 1985, then went on to win seven times on the trot between 2001 and 2007, with the Evolution version going on to be called the “King of the Desert”.

For the uninitiated, this is the Mitsubishi Pajero - or the Mitsubishi Montero if you’re from North America, Spain or Latin America, due to “pajero” having a rather… unfortunate translation in Spanish. UK versions went by the name Shogun (“General” in Japanese).

This is a 1990 model, complete with a 2.5L turbo diesel engine and Safari roof - something important for owner Aiden. We caught up with him at The Motorist in Leeds, UK, and spoke about his car - and why he likes it.

“It’s just one of those types of motors where if it breaks down in a field, you can fix it in a field with a spanner,” he tells us. “It’s just simple, but for its time - it’s got full electric windows, power steering, pneumatic seats, climate control. It’s a 90s model, and for [the time] you were still on wind up windows”.

Being able to fix it in a field with a spanner does sound Dakar-esque, however the modern comforts are more surprising. Even through to the 2000s, some Ford Fiestas still had wind-up windows, while the contemporaneous Jeep Wrangler still had manual steering through the 1990s.

The interior accessories aren’t restricted to climate control or comfier seats either. Being a true off-road vehicle, it comes with an altimeter (showing the height above sea level), clinometer (showing the steepness of a slope) and several other buttons, switches and dials you won’t see on any regular vehicle. They’re all housed in suitably robust-looking square surroundings too - very utilitarian.

With so many parts of the car being focused on terrain that’s anything but tarmac, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s not easy on the roads. You’d also be wrong as, per Aiden, the off-road capability doesn’t come with many drawbacks for on-road driving either: “It’s not too bad [on normal roads] to be fair. It’s got a bit more roll - it rolls all over because it’s been lifted and it’s got big wheels.

“It drives like a car, in a sense. It’s not quite a car, but it’ll still do 70mph on the motorway and be comfy doing it.

“It does take a while to get up to [that] speed though! It’s not too bad when you’re setting off around urban roads as it’s on an auto box. It’s pretty quick for what it is, and while it did do motorway speeds, it might have taken a while to get there”.

For an off-road-specific car with 35 years and over 140k miles on it, it’s also in surprisingly good condition, as mentioned by Aiden: “It’s not too bad inside - it’s missing a few covers, and there’s no door card in the boot, but it’s just waiting for someone to break one so I can get the parts for it”. 

Parts are tricky to come by and, with another red Pajero on his drive at home, he’s always on the lookout for parts. But, as a car that can be fixed in a field with a spanner, it looks like it could easily last another 35 years.