The Mitsuoka Orochi was named after a giant eight-headed snake and took parts from famous Japanese sports cars

In all the years we’ve existed JNC has rarely mentioned the Mitsuoka Orochi. Frankly, we think it’s pretty ugly, and back in the early days of JNC it seemed to get disproportionate attention in English-language media. We wanted JNC to focus on cars with real history and provenance rather than gimmicks, so we avoided anything Mitsuoka. But now is the Orochi’s time to shine, because today begins the Year of the Snake, and Orochi in Japanese means “giant serpent”.

More specifically, the Orochi was named after the Yamata no Orochi, a fearsome serpent from Japanese folklore with eight heads. The car features parts gathered from as many cars. The engine is a Toyota 3MZ-FE, the same 3.3-liter V6 found in a Highlander or Sienna, making 233 hp and sourced directly from Toyota. The taillights are from a kouki Mazda RX-8. The CHMSL is from a Honda S2000. The rear reflectors and reverse lights are from an FD Mazda RX-7. The steering wheel is from a Suzuki. The brakes are from a Honda Legend. There are supposedly Miata/Roadster parts somewhere on it as well, but we can’t find them.

Each Orochi was hand-made and not created by, as opposed to other Mitsuoka models, modifying an existing production car. The build run was planned to stop at 400 units from the get-go, with 300 exterior color options and 25 interior options available. However, despite its bespoke nature and mid-engine layout, it’s not really meant to be a sports car. It was only offered with a 5-speed automatic and its double-wishbone suspension was tuned for comfort. The seats are even suspended.

In Japan boutique manufacturers of high-end cars must certify their products with the government, but a manual transmission option would mean that the car would have to undergo the certification process twice. That would have been prohibitively expensive for the Orochi, so Mitsuoka opted for only one transmission, the auto, to keep prices down. As is, the cheapest Orochi cost about ¥8.5 million (around $90,000 USD at the time), with most models costing around ¥9.5 million.

There have been a few notable Mitsuoka variants, including a supercharged one displayed at their showroom (likely a bespoke build for a specific customer), an Orochi Kabuto that featured carbon fiber aero and platinum leaf touches, a tie-in with guitar-maker Rickenbacker that had a guitar tailpiece embroidered in the seats and wood trim, and a run of five Final Orochi editions before production came to an end in September 2014.

But even after the supposed end. in November 2014 Mitsuoka created an official one-off cross-promotion with the anime Evangelion and sold by lottery in conjunction with 7-Eleven stores (previous gallery above). Then in 2018 there was a collab with the manga Devilman, With each variant the car seemed to get more visually radical, but the best-looking Orochi ever created wasn’t made by Mitsuoka at all. It was a 2022 custom built by Liberty Walk (gallery above) and given their obligatory widebody treatment with the livery of Nissan’s Group 5 Silvia.

Ridicule the Orochi all you want for its looks, but not for its lack of performance. Mitsuoka never tried to market the car as a true sports car or supercar. That was the media’s fault for assuming that the engine configuration and price automatically equated to sporting intentions. The Orochi was only ever supposed to be a unique car that looked vaguely like an imaginary reptile. Japan has plenty of other true performance cars at all price points and in all sizes. Those are for the petrolheads. But if you’d rather envision yourself riding a mythical ophidian, then there’s only one game in town.

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3 Responses to The Mitsuoka Orochi was named after a giant eight-headed snake and took parts from famous Japanese sports cars

  1. Toyotageek says:

    I’ve always liked the Orochi and I’m glad that JNC has finally given it some attention this year of the snake. The Orochi is perfect for cruising the streets of Tokyo – whether your rolling through Roppongi or chilling in Ginza. What good is a supercar when you just want to dress to impress and traffic is moving at a walking pace. The Orochi is all about looks, and it does that to the T.

  2. Franxou says:

    I did not even know that it was not an all-out sports car, and just as you wrote, it is mostly because or the MR layout and the looks.
    While I still think this car is ugly as sin, the overall shape is so close to one of my all-time favorites, the Jaguar XJ-220, especially in purple, it makes one realise that the devil is in the details. The silhouette of the Oroshi is nice, the smooth flowing lines are great, but then the weird details, the airholes, the bubbly Ford Taurus front end, everything falls apart.
    It is true that the Liberty Walk one looks smashing, but it must be even less sporty.
    It still is an important part of JDM car history, and one of few boutique car manufacturer, we should truly be celebrating this kind of car!

  3. speedie says:

    First: It is certainly not beautiful. That said, the design has grown on me over time. I never knew the history of the model but your article’s explanation of why it has such a unique design makes one appreciate it more.

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