Mitsuoka Galue

Galue-II

The Galue-II was based on the

The Galue-III was based on the Nissan Fuga Y50, with styling once again modified to suit the new lines. The bumpers were noticeably slimmer than they had been on the Galue-II and the grille surround was thicker, making a considerable difference to the appearance of the front of the car. The interior was upgraded, though since the standard Nissan now had a comparatively luxurious interior the effect of Mitsuoka's modification was less easy to see. 2.5-litre and 3.5-litre VQ-series engines from the Fuga were used. The model was produced from 2005, at first as the Galue and from February 2008 as the Galue-III.

Galue Convertible

Mitsuoka also offered a Galue

The second Galue, called the Galue 204, is a smaller model, based on the Toyota Corolla Axio. Like the larger Galues it uses the same mechanicals (including 1.5-litre or 1.8-litre engines) and has modified styling and interior fittings. Although the grille is similar to the Galue-III's, it now has wire mesh instead of chrome slats, and thus is rather reminiscent of the Bentley Eight. The frontal styling includes circular chrome grilles beneath the headlamps, which are reminiscent of the grilles found on such cars as the Bentley R-type and the Jaguar Mark 2 behind which electric horns were concealed. The Galue 204 is intended to capitalise on the trend towards more economical cars by allowing people to buy a smaller car which is still luxurious and has some elements of classic styling. The 204 in the new model's name is Mitsuoka's internal code for the design: the 2 refers to the class of car while the 04 is the generation of the design.

Third series

The fourth generation Galue was released in 2010 and based on the Nissan Teana J32. The car was lengthened 100 mm (3.9 in) and the front styling was again modified. The interior was nearly identical to the Teana save for the steering wheel badge. In 2012 the 3.5L V6 engine was dropped and there were various exterior and interior changes. A limited edition model, the Galue Vigore, was released in 2013. Based on the 25LX trim, it had Alcantara seats and lace curtains for the rear doors as well as a BOSE surround sound radio.

Fourth series

The fifth generation was released in 2015 and is based on the Nissan Teana L33, but with tail lights from the Fiat 500. A left-hand drive version based on the Canadian-market Altima 3.5 SL was made available in this generation.^[1]

Numbering system

The numbering system of the first Galue series was affected by whether two Galues or only one were in production. If only one was being made, it was generally referred to as Galue; if two, the models were given the number of their order of introduction. Thus while the Crew-based Galue was the only one being made, it was called Galue; but when the Galue-II was introduced as well, it was renamed Galue-I. The exception to this rule is the Cedric-based Galue, which was called Galue-II throughout its life.

This is the set of names that was used for the

The convertible has always been called simply Galue, and this has not changed with the advent of the Galue 204.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mitsuoka Galue.

• Car-sensor page on Mitsuoka models (in Japanese)
• Official page for Galue-III (in Japanese)
• Official page for Galue 204 (in Japanese)
• Official page for Galue Convertible (in Japanese)