Spotted: a Mitsubishi Raider

The spotted specimen

In Hoorn, we saw this 2007 Mitsubishi Raider V8 DuroCross. The pickup has been in the Netherlands since 2012 and with its current owner since 2021. We have no further details to mention about this particular example, but the car itself is of course a peculiarity. In fact, according to the RDW registration register, this is one of only two Mitsubishi Raiders on Dutch plates!

The Mitsubishi Raider: what preceded it

Mitsubishi supplied the Mighty Max, a compact pickup known to us as the L200, in the U.S. until 1996. Because of import duties on non-US commercial vehicles (the chicken tax, a story in itself), it was not profitable to make the new generation L200 ready for the US market. Mitsubishi therefore left the American pickup market.

Surely, after the turn of the century, Mitsubishi wanted to return to that segment. To that end, it decided to breathe new life into the cooperation Mitsubishi had with the Chrysler group. In the end, the Dodge Dakota was taken as the basis. That is the “little” brother of the Ram 1500, but still a stroke larger than the L200. On the other hand: with that, it didvetailed nicely with the American competition. Since the pickup was produced in the US, the Mitsubishi version also fell outside the import duty.

Dodge Dakota becomes Mitsubishi Raider

The Mitsubishi version came on the market for the 2006 model year, about a year after the Dodge, and listened to the name Raider. A name already used in the 1980s for the Dodge Raider, which was precisely a Dodge version of the Mitsubishi Pajero. The Mitsubishi Raider was produced by Chrysler and was technically identical to the Dakota. There was a choice of a 3.7-liter V6 with 157 kW (214 hp) and a 172 kW (234 hp) 4.7-liter V8, both from Chrysler’s shelves. Although the technology was the same, Mitsubishi did provide the Raider with a completely unique design. No sheet metal part was interchangeable and even the interior was largely different.

For completeness, the DuroCross we spotted is a version with some “tougher” bumper work and a slightly lower ride height. More focused on appearance than the really heavy work, at least by American standards. In the case of the specimen spotted, the bumper work is done entirely in body color, which somewhat negates the effect of the different bumpers. Below you can see a completely standard DuroCross.

Mitsubishi Raider not a success

Unfortunately for Mitsubishi, the Raider was not a success. For the first few years, sales numbers of the Raider were only a tenth of those of the Dakota. At one point, production of the Raider was even temporarily halted because there was more inventory than dealers could get rid of. While the Dodge underwent a facelift for the 2008 model year, the Mitsubishi did not. Indeed, after model year 2009, production of the Mitsubishi Raider stopped for good, while the Dodge continued through 2011. In the end, just over 20,000 Mitsubishi Raiders were produced, which is really not much, especially for the kind of car. So the Raider is the alternative choice in the pickup segment not only here in the Netherlands, but even in the US.