“Congratulations!” a magazine ad for the Mitsubishi 3000GT said. “You pass… everything.” The 3000GT was advertised as delivering, “Everything you could want in a sports car, masterfully integrated to deliver not only high performance, but highest performance.”
Some thirty-plus years later, finding a clean, original, unmodified 3000GT is becoming somewhat of a challenge. But you’re in luck, because we just stumbled across a Caracas Red 3000GT (in retractable hardtop form, no less) with only 20,653 miles showing on the odometer.
The Pick of the Day is a low-mileage 1996 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 Spyder listed for sale on ClassicCars.com by a private seller in North Topsail Beach, North Carolina. (Click the link to view the listing)
The 3000GT car was an engineering marvel when it came out. It launched in the midst of a heyday for Japanese sports cars in the 1990s, when vehicles like the Acura NSX, the Nissan 300ZX, and the Toyota Supra filled the roadways with cars that were well-balanced, fun-to-drive, and somehow still reliable.
Marketed as a “grand touring” sports car, the 3000GT (which was marketed as a GTO in some markets, and concurrently sold with slight revisions as a Dodge Stealth in North America), was brought to market in 1990. When optioned in top trim, it was packed with engineering innovations including a twin-turbocharged powertrain, all-wheel drive, all-wheel steering, and active aerodynamic equipment.
A facelifted version of the 3000GT was introduced in 1994, and among the changes, the car’s pop-up headlights became fixed projector beams. American Specialty Cars (ASC) got involved with Mitsubishi and created a retractable hardtop version of the car that was sold for 1995 and 1996.
That brings us to today’s featured car. “Owned since 1998, garaged, with fitted cover,” the seller says. The listing says that the car is in collector-grade condition, and the pictures corroborate the claim. Even the car’s original AM/FM/cassette radio (with a built-in equalizer) remains fitted in the dash. The car’s base price in 1996 was a jaw-dropping $65,740. That comes out to $129,892 in 2024.
Under the hood, power comes from a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter 24-valve DOHC V6 that was rated at 320 horsepower and 315 lb-ft of torque. A six-speed manual transmission puts the power to the ground via all four wheels.
Since the 3000GT was discontinued in the United States after 1999, it’s now been 25 years since this machine rolled off showroom floors. They are getting rarer by the day, so make your move now.
The asking price is $43,500.
To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, put that convertible top down and cruise to Pick of the Day.
Source: www.classiccars.com