Mitsuoka Buddy SUV sold out for two years in just four days
The retro-styled crossover is based on the current generation of Toyota's RAV4.
Want a Mitsuoka Buddy? You're out of luck until 2023.
Remember the Mitsuoka Buddy? You know, the Toyota RAV4-based SUV that's been restyled to look like a classic American SUV in the vein of a Chevrolet Blazer or Suburban from the 1970s or '80s? It's cool but seems too niche to actually sell, right?
Wrong. Mitsuoka sold through its initial two-year production run of 200 units in just four days, according to a report from Motor1 published on Monday, which means that if you live in a place where the Buddy is sold and you want one, you've got quite a wait ahead of you.
The Buddy not only gets a decidedly GM-like schnozz, with plenty of chrome, but it also gets new vertical taillights and retro wheels. The whole thing is a little odd -- as is the case with all Mitsuoka products -- but it kind of works, and we're sad we can't get them here.
Mitsuoka is charging the rough equivalent of $45,000 for the base Buddy and even considering that that's a $20,000 premium over the car on which it's based, it's still not that shocking. It doesn't even seem like that bad of a deal if we're being honest.
Now, if you'll excuse us, we'll be looking at pictures of the Buddy while sighing wistfully, wearing flannel and listlessly sipping at a cheap, domestic lager as though we're extras on the set of The Great Outdoors or something.
