 It is understood that this rise in retro-styled cars in Japan was started by the success of the Mitsuoka Viewt, which was a collaboration with Nissan and based on the Nissan Micra.Similarly to the other two limited edition models which were announced in 1997, Mitsubishi had originally planned to build 1000 examples but, as the bodywork was heavily criticised by the motoring press as being ugly, this variant was such a sales flop that only 139 were ever made (built from September 1997 to June 1998).Mitsubishi's rather ambitious sales literature for the Flying Pug indicated that the vehicle "sported the classic looks of a London taxi".