by Mitsuoka Motor has once again revived its most mischievous project—the M55. This is that very case when a modern Honda Civic is dressed in a retro suit of a 1970s American muscle car, fitted with round headlights, composite fenders, new bumpers, and a touch of ‘old-school magic.’ On November 28, Mitsuoka officially relaunched production of the model—demand turned out to be so high that the first hundred cars sold out much faster than even the Japanese themselves expected.
The M55 was first shown two years ago, to mark the company’s 55th anniversary. In 2024, a limited batch of 100 cars, named the Zero Edition, was launched. One color, manual transmission, a maximally restrained configuration. But fans asked for ‘more,’ and Mitsuoka did what it does best: returned to the drawing board and created a new 1st Edition version—more varied, brighter, and closer to those very 70s for which this project exists in the first place.
To create the M55, the company’s engineers essentially strip down a Honda Civic and change all the external bodywork. The hood, fenders, and bumper are composite and entirely of their own design. The headlights are four separate round units, with no pretense of modern ‘boomerang-shaped optics.’ At the rear—their own taillights, their own bumper, and mandatory horizontal louvers on the rear window. In profile, it’s a Civic, but head-on—it’s a pure Dodge Challenger, only transported to 2025 and executed with Japanese meticulousness.
Unlike the Zero Edition, the new 1st Edition gets ten colors to choose from, an option with a CVT or a hybrid e:HEV version, as well as optional seat upholstery with a retro print. This is no longer a ‘joke for fans’ but a fully serious custom car, which Mitsuoka crafts with the same reverence as its classic Orochi and Viewt.
At the presentation, company president Tatsuya Mitsuoka stated that the brand is experiencing a real boom: in 2024, Mitsuoka reached a record 35 billion yen in turnover and produced 877 cars—crazy numbers for a small manufacturer that builds cars with character, not for the sake of statistics.
M55 design lead Kiyekazu Watanabe admitted that he misses the times when cars ‘simply shone’ and didn’t try to be carriers of technological manifestos. That is precisely why the M55 is created as a car that shouldn’t be explained but should evoke emotion—the very same one from the 1970s, when design was made with heart, not a cold technical specification.
The Mitsuoka M55 1st Edition in Japan costs from 8,427,100 yen—that’s approximately 2.27 million UAH for a modern Honda Civic in retro wrapping, which behaves like the most stylish muscle car from an alternate reality.
