Project Premiere/World Class, Day 4: The Forgotten One

Hold your horses.

There's one more. The Big Three is actually a Big Four. The fourth member is another iconic (subjective!) 90's Japanese sports car that no one ever talks about. It's from the brand with the triple diamonds. It's the Mitsubishi 3000GT.

It's called the GTO in Japan and even has a twin in the Dodge Stealth. Whatever the name, people always seem to forget about it. Most wouldn't bat an eye if they saw one on the road. I used to think it was the ugly duckling in the group. When I played all those Need For Speed games back in the day, it was the one Japanese sports car I didn't want in my garage. Didn't look good, didn't drive well. Even though it still doesn't have the appeal that the other three titans do, it's grown on me since. The factory bodykits may be a bit much, but it's design, big and wide, is very super-car like. I'm sure they get mistaken for Ferrari's all the time, especially in the 3000GT's signature red paint.

Matchbox's casting is the convertible version, or "Spyder". Interestingly enough, they call it the Mitsubishi Spyder and not the 3000GT Spyder, which would be the more appropriate and defining name. Nonetheless, the Spyder is a rare form of the 3000GT that you won't be seeing on the streets every day. Your best chance at owning one might be these here, and you've got five options.

The Mitsubishi Spyder, as it's called, comes in five different colors in the Premiere line: the four you see here, and a yellow one that would look great in the group shot I posted yesterday with the Supra, RX-7, and 300ZX. Which means I need to quit slacking and pick one up already. The silver one is the rarer variant, coming only in the JCPenny-exclusive set that I alluded to in the Supra feature. And it's got a bit of a problem, if you haven't noticed.

The windshield has been flattened. Long story short, blame the packaging. The set comes with a display stand (which requires self-assembly) and the 8 cars, all of which are packaged tightly together in a compact cardboard box. I purchased the set, mint-in-box, and was a bit bummed when I pulled the 3000GT out, immediately noticing the defect. At the end of the day, it's best not to get too caught up with things like this. It shouldn't (and doesn't) take away from how much I love these models.

The interior detail is much like what we've seen with all the previous models from the Premiere line. This one has a little extra with the painted A/C vents. More is better.

So, which color is the best? 

I'm leaning towards the white.