2001 Mitsubishi Montero

Located in the southwestern corner of the Grand Canyon state, Tucson wears many faces but has two distinct personalities—like the state it's a part of. The region has attracted New Age visionaries and is home to old Spanish missions; miles of majestic caves meander underground, and the unsightly pilings of copper, silver, and gold mines litter the terra firma. Tucson appears barren and devoid of habitation but, at the same time, boasts a landscaped urban sprawl. Its most visible contrast is between Tucson's lowland desert and highland mountains. Each is rich with natural beauty and compliments the other. It was here that Mitsubishi brought its latest version of the Montero to give auto writers a chance to experience this full-sized SUV's many faces and two distinct personalities.

For 2001, the Montero comes in two trim levels: XLS and Limited. Standard XLS equipment includes a power package (windows, keyless entry, mirrors), a CD player, three power outlets, and a full-size spare.

After its unveiling at the 2000 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Mitsubishi officially launched its third-generation Montero in Tucson, where its on-road handling improvements and off-road capability upgrades could be evaluated in close proximity—and in beautiful surroundings.

Core Strengths
Frankly, we won't shed any tears as the current model leaves showrooms this spring. It hails back to another era, when sport-utilities were used by only a handful of trekkers and off-roaders who motored in far-off corners of the globe. In such duty, it performed flawlessly, negotiating the roughest terrain and enduring the most demanding conditions—and it has the Paris-Dakar rally victories to prove it.


The times have changed, of course, and some of the outgoing Montero's notorious strengths have become weaknesses in the current suburban SUV paradigm. The field-worthy body-on-frame architecture, for example, was unrefined and cumbersome through corners, while the tall profile and slab sides made even minor crosswinds a little too exciting.

The Limited levels adds a sunroof, a premium sound system, and separate rear climate control. The interior includes heated leather seats.

Mitsubishi's greatest challenge with this newest-generation truck was to retain the Montero's core strengths while adding the refinement and road manners expected by today's mainstream American drivers. Some automakers have simply watered down their SUV offerings or stayed away from the heavy-duty market altogether—a profitable and rational strategy, but one Mitsubishi refused to adopt. We're happy to say that the no-compromise attitude has paid off: the new Montero is every bit as tough as before and also immeasurably more easy to live with. As Land Rover and Jeep have so successfully shown with the Discovery and the Grand Cherokee, the Montero meets with equal aplomb the needs of Greenwich and Grenada, Beverly Hills and Baja, Detroit and Dakar.