The Mitsuoka Galue is a series of luxury cars, based on mainstream Japanese automobiles, customized by
Mitsuoka
is a small Japanese automobile company. It is noted for building cars with unconventional styling, some of which are modern while most others are retro-styled to imitate the look of American, European and particularly British cars of the 1950s ...
to resemble classic British and American cars.
First series
The first series consists of three generations of medium-to-large cars: the Galue-I, the Galue-II and the Galue-III.
Galue-I

The Galue-I was based on the
Nissan Crew
The Nissan Crew is a mid-size sedan manufactured by Nissan between 1993 and 2009, sold only in Japan and mostly used as taxicabs, driver training, and by law enforcement agencies as police cars. Its FR layout and simple construction created a ste ...
, and shared its RB20E 2-litre engine and other mechanical parts with the Crew. The styling of the front and rear was changed to give a more classical appearance; specifically, the chrome grille resembled that found on
Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of Luxury vehicle, luxury cars and Sport utility vehicle, SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Crickle ...
models such as the
R-type
is a horizontally scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and released by Irem in 1987 and the first game in the ''R-Type'' series. The player controls a star ship, the R-9 "Arrowhead", in its efforts to destroy the Bydo, a powerful a ...
. The rear lights were taken from the Cadillac Fleetwood (Japan-Spec because of the amber indicator lens). The interior was fitted with leather seats and wood trim. Additions such as chrome on the door handles and
wire wheels
Wire wheels, wire-spoked wheels, tension-spoked wheels, or "suspension" wheels are wheels whose rims connect to their hubs by wire spokes. Although these wires are considerably stiffer than a similar diameter wire rope, they function mechanic ...
were also available. The Galue-I was made from 1996 to 1999 as the Galue, then when the Galue-II was introduced the name was changed to Galue-I and production continued until 2001.
Galue-II
The Galue-II was based on the
Nissan
is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...
Cedric Y34 and
Gloria Y34 hardtops. (The Cedric and Gloria were very similar in styling and mechanicals). Once again, the front and rear styling was modified, and the interior fittings upgraded. The Galue-II's styling was more extrovert than that of the Galue-I, including spoked
alloy wheels
In the automotive industry, alloy wheels are wheels that are made from an alloy of aluminium or magnesium. Alloys are mixtures of a metal and other elements. They generally provide greater strength over pure metals, which are usually much soft ...
instead of the disc wheels or
wire wheels
Wire wheels, wire-spoked wheels, tension-spoked wheels, or "suspension" wheels are wheels whose rims connect to their hubs by wire spokes. Although these wires are considerably stiffer than a similar diameter wire rope, they function mechanic ...
found on the Galue-I; this may well have been necessary to harmonise with the styling of the Cedric hardtop. The mechanicals were taken from the Cedric; 2.5-litre and 3-litre V6 VQ-series petrol engines were offered. Production ran from 1999 to 2005, when the Cedric and Gloria were replaced by the
Fuga; Mitsuoka then replaced the Galue-II with the Galue-III.
Galue-III
The Galue-III, initially sold simply as the Mitsuoka Galue, was based on the
Nissan
is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...
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, from February 2008 as the Galue-III.
Galue Convertible

Mitsuoka also offered a Galue
convertible
A convertible or cabriolet () is a Car, passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary across eras and manufacturers.
A convertible car's design allows an open-air drivin ...
in China, the Middle East, and South Korea from 2007. Despite the shared name, the only similarity between the Galue-III saloon and the convertible is the front and rear styling. The rest of the car is based on the
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is a series of American Car, automobiles manufactured by Ford Motor Company, Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its Ford Mustang (seventh ...
, including the car's 4.0-litre
V6 and 4.6-litre
V8 engines. In 2010, as the Mustang was revised, the engines were upgraded to 3.7-litre and 5.0-litre units for the V6 and V8, respectively.
Second series: Galue 204

The second Galue, called the Galue 204, is a smaller model, based on the
Toyota Corolla Axio
The is a series of compact cars (formerly subcompact) manufactured and marketed globally by the Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation. Introduced in 1966, the Corolla was the best-selling car worldwide by 1974 and has been one of the bes ...
. 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 Bentley Eight was Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of Luxury vehicle, luxury cars and Sport utility vehicle, SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentle ...
. 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
The Jaguar Mark 2 is a mid-sized luxury sports saloon built from late 1959 to 1967 by Jaguar in Coventry, England. The previous Jaguar 2.4 Litre and 3.4 Litre models made between 1955 and 1959 are identified as Mark 1 Jaguars.Eric Dymock, The ...
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 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.
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
saloon car
A sedan (American English) or saloon (British English) is a automobile, passenger car in a three-box styling, three-box configuration with separate compartments for an engine, passengers, and cargo. The first recorded use of ''sedan'' in refer ...
s:
The convertible has always been called simply Galue, and this has not changed with the advent of the Galue 204.
References
External links
Car-sensor page on Mitsuoka models
{{Mitsuoka
Galue
Sedans
Limousines
Retro-style automobiles
Cars introduced in 1996
2000s cars
2010s cars