The Mitsubishi Pajero Mini is a kei car

Kei car

Kei cars, K-cars, or , are a Japanese category of small vehicles, including passenger cars, vans, and pickup trucks. They are designed to comply with Japanese government tax and insurance regulations, and in most rural areas are exempted from the requirement to certify that adequate parking is...

 produced by Mitsubishi Motors

Mitsubishi Motors

is a multinational automaker headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. In 2009 it was the fifth-largest Japan-based automaker and the 17th-largest in the world measured by production...

 since December 1994.
Based on the platform of the Minica

Mitsubishi Minica

-Minica Sedan:The first Minica was first introduced in October 1962 as a two-door sedan based on the Mitsubishi 360 light truck, sharing its front-mounted ME21 359 cc twin-cylinder air-cooled engine driving the rear wheels, transverse leaf springs in front and beam axle/leaf springs at the...

, the Pajero Mini was styled as a miniature version of the company's successful Pajero

Mitsubishi Pajero

The Mitsubishi Pajero is a sport utility vehicle manufactured by Mitsubishi Motors. It was named after Leopardus pajeros, the Pampas Cat which is native to the Patagonia plateau region of southern Argentina. However, since pajero is an offensive term for "wanker" in Spanish, alternative names have...

 sport utility vehicle

Sport utility vehicle

A sport utility vehicle is a generic marketing term for a vehicle similar to a station wagon, but built on a light-truck chassis. It is usually equipped with four-wheel drive for on- or off-road ability, and with some pretension or ability to be used as an off-road vehicle. Not all four-wheel...

, in response to the SUV craze of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Compared to the full-sized original, the kei vehicle featured a shorter wheelbase, four-wheel drive

Four-wheel drive

Four-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4×4 is a four-wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four wheels to receive torque from the engine simultaneously...

, and a choice of naturally aspirated or turbocharged 660 cc four cylinder engines.

The popularity of the vehicle inspired Mitsubishi to create several limited editions, including the "Iron Cross", "Desert Cruiser", "White Skipper" and "Duke".