Magna at 40

by David Burrell The Mitsubishi Magna hits 40 in 2025, and many of the car’s enthusiasts will be a gathering at Tonsley Park, South Australi...

by David Burrell

The Mitsubishi Magna hits 40 in 2025, and many of the car’s enthusiasts will be a gathering at Tonsley Park, South Australia, for a celebration on Saturday, October 18.

Supported by Mitsubishi Motors Australia and History Trust of South Australia, the event will be held on the site of the former Mitsubishi factory where the multi-award-winning Magna was designed and built.

A class creating car, Magna influenced what Toyota would do with the Camry and what Holden would have to do for the Commodore.

The motoring media loved the Magna and praised Mitsubishi for “inventing” a new category of car.

Wheels gave the Magna its Car of the Year Award.

My first company car was a 1985 TM Magna SE.

I had the choice of a Commodore, Falcon or Magna. 

The Commodore was an immediate deletion from the list because it was so narrow. 

The Falcon just seemed too agricultural. 

 Offering a 2.6 litre four cylinder engine with worthwhile fuel economy and reasonable power in a wide bodied sedan, the Magna seemed perfect.

Well, that was until the automatic transmission played up and Mitsubishi said it was not their fault.

A station wagon was added to the lineup in 1987.

It was locally designed by Mitsubishi’s design team, headed by Dennis Nicolle.

I spoke with Dennis recently.

He said that when developing the wagon he reviewed what was on sale locally and around the world. 

He believed that the angle of the rear pillar and tail gate would be critical to how the car looked and its load capacity.

Dennis said they lengthened the body by 100mm and put a forward slope on the rear pillar.

"It gave the car a bit of a sporty look without impacting load capacity too much," he said.

"We also raised the roof line by about 70mm which added to load space.”

The wagon was a big success for Mitsubishi Australia, locally and as an export.

In 1991 a V6 was added to the Magna range, called the Verada. 

In 2005 the Magna/Verada morphed into the 380.

What many forget, is that the Magna/Verada/380 was sold in Australia for 23 years.

That is four years longer than the Valiant graced us with its presence.

David Burrell is the editor of retroautos

Modern Motor

1995 Mitsubishi Verada

Successor the 380

Wheels loved it

Successor the 380

Wagon the tale

2000 Mitsubishi TJ Magna Executive

1986 Mitsubishi TM Magna SE

2004 Mitsubishi Magna VR-X AWD

 

The motoring media loved the Magna and praised Mitsubishi for “inventing” a new category of car.

 

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