What is it?
Mitsubishi RPM 7000 concept
What's special about it?
Buoyed by its win at the 2000 Paris-Dakar Rally, Mitsubishi has created a sports car/ rally car crossover concept vehicle that is meant for everyday use. The aggressively styled three-door coupe features a carbon fiber hood, wing and bumpers. The front end, with its nose cone and large air ducts, is inspired by Formula 1 racecars. Interestingly, the exhaust ports are located in the rocker panels in front of the rear wheels. The 2.0-liter, DOHC, twin-intercooled heavy-pressure turbo powerplant produces a road- and track-ripping 315 horsepower at 6,500 rpm and 274 foot-pounds of torque at 3,000 rpm. The addition of a five-speed manual gearbox, fully independent suspension, a variable-torque all-wheel-drive system with four-wheel ventilated disc brakes and 19-inch alloy wheels mounted with 245/60R19 Goodyears, lend credence to its sports car claims. The designers also imbued the RPM 7000 with enough interior design refinements to qualify it as a useable city car. It features a third, reverse-opening door on the passenger side only. To access the 36-cubic-foot rear cargo area, the rear glass retracts into the drop gate, which then slides under the car. The cockpit has an integrated roll cage and racecar-inspired switchgear, seating and instrument pod with exposed door frames and carbon fiber accents. The center console features a touch-control monitor that operates the navigation system, climate control and audio system with satellite feed and MP3 capability. The whole package is finished off with a metallic-orange paint job that is meant to reflect the color of red-hot brake rotors in the heat of a race.
Why should you care?
The RPM 7000 was the last flight-of-fancy crossover vehicle concept to debut at the 2001 Detroit Auto Show. Its futuristic, angled, industrial styling and high-tech materials (such as carbon fiber body parts) is similar to the creations of other automakers, such as BMW's X coupe concept. The fact that so many brands at the 2001 show unveiled similar-looking concepts suggests that the actual production cars won't be too far removed.
Mitsubishi RPM 7000 concept
What's special about it?
Buoyed by its win at the 2000 Paris-Dakar Rally, Mitsubishi has created a sports car/ rally car crossover concept vehicle that is meant for everyday use. The aggressively styled three-door coupe features a carbon fiber hood, wing and bumpers. The front end, with its nose cone and large air ducts, is inspired by Formula 1 racecars. Interestingly, the exhaust ports are located in the rocker panels in front of the rear wheels. The 2.0-liter, DOHC, twin-intercooled heavy-pressure turbo powerplant produces a road- and track-ripping 315 horsepower at 6,500 rpm and 274 foot-pounds of torque at 3,000 rpm. The addition of a five-speed manual gearbox, fully independent suspension, a variable-torque all-wheel-drive system with four-wheel ventilated disc brakes and 19-inch alloy wheels mounted with 245/60R19 Goodyears, lend credence to its sports car claims. The designers also imbued the RPM 7000 with enough interior design refinements to qualify it as a useable city car. It features a third, reverse-opening door on the passenger side only. To access the 36-cubic-foot rear cargo area, the rear glass retracts into the drop gate, which then slides under the car. The cockpit has an integrated roll cage and racecar-inspired switchgear, seating and instrument pod with exposed door frames and carbon fiber accents. The center console features a touch-control monitor that operates the navigation system, climate control and audio system with satellite feed and MP3 capability. The whole package is finished off with a metallic-orange paint job that is meant to reflect the color of red-hot brake rotors in the heat of a race.
Why should you care?
The RPM 7000 was the last flight-of-fancy crossover vehicle concept to debut at the 2001 Detroit Auto Show. Its futuristic, angled, industrial styling and high-tech materials (such as carbon fiber body parts) is similar to the creations of other automakers, such as BMW's X coupe concept. The fact that so many brands at the 2001 show unveiled similar-looking concepts suggests that the actual production cars won't be too far removed.
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