Mitsuoka is one of those brands that just flies under the radar no matter what they do, and for the most part they seem to be pretty content with that.
It stands to reason that they were pretty keen on making a statement with the Orochi though, it was first displayed way back in 2001 but finally went into production in 2006. Based on the old Honda NSX, you would be forgiven for thinking this could be a supercar slayer, but alas, the changes they made, including the bold design, all made it slower.
Unfortunately it didn’t even scratch the surface with the potential it had, but if you wanted something different it certainly is that, and with a Liberty Walk body kit there is no denying the fact that it can actually be a good kind of different.
10 Unusual Build
Right from the get go this was a strange car, it had ambitions of taking on the supercars of the time but came out a little underdone. Everything from the suspension to the drivetrain seemed to conspire against the car in the most Japanese way; it was all just a little too predictable.
9 Polarizing Design
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The one area where it wasn’t predictable was its design, which was to say the least, polarizing, but if we had to nail our colors to the wall we’d have to say it is just plain ugly. The Liberty Walk kit seeks to remedy that to some degree, and we think the car is actually well suited to this kind of aesthetic.
8 NSX Origins
In truth, it is only the concept car that used an NSX chassis, the production version was extensively reworked and tailored to their desired market using bespoke components. It seems as though the aim was to produce something less aggressive and more GT oriented, and now that work has been undone, and the car looks ready to hit the track.
7 Camry Engine
Although at first glance you might sigh, there is method to the madness, as proven by the Lotus Evora that can make as much as 400 horsepower from its Camry derived V6. Unfortunately, they almost maddeningly opted to leave the Camry engine bone stock, not even bothering to add one iota of performance, so all you get is 230 horses.
6 Comfort First
With the Orochi they really leaned into the GT aspect of the car, only giving it one transmission option, an automatic. It serves to underline the fact that this, although it looks quite extravagant, is no track day monster, but something you can use every day.
5 Uninspiring Effort
Ultimately the original car turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, the combination of the stock Camry engine and the automatic transmission equated to a 0-60 time of 7 seconds. By modern standards, that is pretty average, most contemporary hot hatches would show it a clean pair of heels and pretty much any similarly priced GT car would wipe the floor with it.
4 Liberty Walk Evolution
Liberty Walk is not shy of controversy, and not everyone wants to see their favorite supercar chopped up and “stanced.” The Orochi is certainly not everyone's favorite supercar, if you can even call it a supercar at all, in fact most would agree that old froggy face is one of the ugliest cars of our time. So what Liberty Walk have done here will not actually get met with much resistance, if anything, they have improved it.
3 Purposeful Look
The low profile and the GT3 spec wing makes the car look race ready, in all honesty, it looks like it was designed to look this way. If this was the first Orochi you saw, you might even wonder why the car gets bashed so much, as it just looks to be another unusual track build.
2 Only Cosmetic
Sadly its new-found beauty, or at least, palatable looks, only run skin deep. Underneath you will find that same sad V6 mated to that same smooth, but sluggish Lexus auto transmission, but like most cars that look this way, it is only really for aesthetics after all.
1 Less Practical
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The irony of a build like this is that this particular car was designed to be a practical, every day kind of sports car, something you could literally drive to work in. What this kit effectively does is remove that one defining feature from old froggy face, indeed, that might have been the only truly redeeming feature. Now, all you have is a GT3 wannabe that still looks objectively ugly for a GT3 car, can’t deliver any real performance, and can’t realistically be driven every day.