WANNA BE PHANTOM.

Sometimes you really don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Welcome to the courageous world of the Mitsuoka Galue Convertible, a retro wonder based off the Ford Mustang.

Launched recently in Tokyo, the Galue Convertible is themed, apparently, after Rolls-Royces of the ’60s. Company founder Susumu Mitsuoka has a soft spot for English cars of the ’50s and ’60s, which is why his outfit has already produced a whole run of replicars that look like Rileys, Jaguars, and Bentleys, with the odd Alvis tribute also thrown in for good measure.

Mitsuoka watchers will recall that the company already produces the Galue II, a big, brassy sedan based off the Japanese market Nissan Fuga V6. But with open top, LHD and FoMoCo parts underneath, this Galue II Convertible is quite a different ballgame.

Each one is hand-made and takes three-four months to build, and buyers have an important choice to make: selecting either the 4.0-liter V-6 ($56,247) or ponying up for the full-kit 4.6-liter V-8 ($65,035). Sales target this year? Glad you asked: 30 units.

Not that this is the first time that the Mustang has been taken up by the ever inventive Mitsuoka Motor Co., Ltd. Back in the ’80s, Mitsuoka produced the Le Seyde, a full-blown Liberace-style roadster that was Mustang underneath, and made an Excalibur look tame.

Yes, people sniggered, but it sold straight out, proving not for the first or last time that Mitsuoka is actually a lot smarter than a lot of people think.

Source: Winding Road