The Mitsubishi Pistachio is a three-door sedan introduced 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...

 in December 1999, based on the platform of their 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...

 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...

. Only 50 Pistachios were sold in either Citron Yellow and Loire Green colour schemes, priced at ¥

Japanese yen

The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S. dollar, the euro and the pound sterling...

959,000, to local authorities and public corporations working to protect the environment

Environment (biophysical)

The biophysical environment is the combined modeling of the physical environment and the biological life forms within the environment, and includes all variables, parameters as well as conditions and modes inside the Earth's biosphere. The biophysical environment can be divided into two categories:...

.

Specifications

Powered by a 4A31 1094 cc DOHC 16v engine capable of 54 kW at 6000 rpm and 100 newton metre of torque at 4000 rpm, the car was designed to maximize fuel economy

Fuel economy in automobiles

Fuel usage in automobiles refers to the fuel efficiency relationship between distance traveled by an automobile and the amount of fuel consumed....

 and minimize emissions. It had a 700 kg (1,543.2 lb) kerb weight, slim 135/80R13 tyres, electric power steering

Power steering

Power steering helps drivers steer vehicles by augmenting steering effort of the steering wheel.Hydraulic or electric actuators add controlled energy to the steering mechanism, so the driver needs to provide only modest effort regardless of conditions. Power steering helps considerably when a...

, lightweight stainless steel

Stainless steel

In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....

 exhaust manifold

Exhaust manifold

In automotive engineering, an exhaust manifold collects the exhaust gases from multiple cylinders into one pipe. The word manifold comes from the Old English word manigfeald and refers to the folding together of multiple inputs and outputs.In contrast, an inlet manifold is the part of an engine...

, lightweight aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

 wheels, aluminium hood, thin-gauge glass, and an aluminium seatback. Under the hood, it utilized both gasoline direct injection

Gasoline direct injection

In internal combustion engines, gasoline direct injection , also known as petrol direct injection or direct petrol injection, is a variant of fuel injection employed in modern two-stroke and four-stroke gasoline engines...

 (GDI) and Automatic Stop-Go

Start-stop system

In automobiles, a start-stop system or stop-start system automatically shuts down and restarts the internal combustion engine to reduce the amount of time the engine spends idling, thereby improving fuel economy and reducing emissions...

(ASG), a system which turns off the engine while the vehicle is stationary and automatically restarts it when the clutch

Clutch

A clutch is a mechanical device which provides for the transmission of power from one component to another...

is depressed. So equipped, the Pistachio recorded fuel consumption of 30 km/L (70.6 mpgU.S.), unprecedented for an exclusively gasoline-powered vehicle.