Super Clean 1 Previous Owner 1987 2dr Montero 141 Orig. Miles; Very Rare Find! on 2040-cars
Tucson, Arizona, United States
Body Type:SUV
Vehicle Title:Clear
Engine:2.6L 4 cylinder
Fuel Type:Gasoline
For Sale By:Private Seller
Number of Cylinders: 4
Make: Mitsubishi
Model: Montero
Trim: LS
Options: Sunroof, Cassette Player, 4-Wheel Drive
Drive Type: RWD/4WD
Power Options: Air Conditioning, Power Windows
Mileage: 141,350
Exterior Color: White
Interior Color: Brown
This is a very rare find. This is a one owner 1987 Mitsubishi Montero 2.6L engine with 5 speed manual transmission. Literally owned by a little old lady who could no longer drive and this was purchased from the original owner just a few months ago. I intended to keep this Montero for my own personal use but I am now selling all of my manual transmission "toys" due to recent right shoulder surgery and recommendations from my surgeon to no longer use a standard transmission. I will also be selling a one owner 1977 Land Cruiser in the coming weeks for the same reason. This Montero was always garaged kept here in Tucson, although it was purchased in Concord California area. The original lady was a Nurse specialist I believe in the neonatal field. She lived in Tucson but spent much of the year in the Bay Area of Northern California where she had a very high paying job. She did drive the Montero back and forth from Tucson to California several times but the car spent most of it's life garaged in Tucson with very little mileage accumulating over the years due to her being away from home most of the time (average annual mileage is just over 5k miles per year). She has a file of work being done over the years including a $1,984 bill from the local dealership here in Tucson for a bunch of work including the engine valve job, head gasket replaced, entire upper engine gaskets replaced, new fuel pump, new catalytic converter etc. This was all done at 119k miles. I spoke with her maintenance man who took care of her home for over 30 years and he said that she would take it in every year to the dealership and just have them do whatever the recommended needed to be done. She had a love for this car and it shows in the way she cared for it. I will outline the car in more detail below.
EXTERIOR: The Montero still is wearing all of it's original paint and stripping. The paint still is in very good condition and shines very well. I took one picture while it was in the garage so you could get a better idea of the shine it has. There is no fading or thin spots in the paint. There is no rust anywhere on this rig and you will likely never see one as corrosion free as this one. All glass is clear and in excellent shape. Original wheels are all in mint condition with no chrome peeling or corrosion, including the factory chrome spare rim. All doors line up perfect and open and shut as they should. All the chrome is in excellent shape but there is a small ding in the front bumper on the driver's side and a larger dent on the rear bumper also on the drivers side. These are kind of hard to notice but they are there. All lights and lenses are clear and in excellent shape. Weatherstripping is also in excellent shape all around and doors and window seal very good. This is a 26 year old rig and even though it was taken care of very well, there are still some scratches and small dings on the body but nothing that would require any body work to make look presentable and I think it could be made perfect through a paintless dent removal in all areas if the new owner were that particular. Overall the exterior is in excellent shape and is by far the best looking Montero I have seen in person and I have seen and owned many of these rigs.
INTERIOR: Here is where you really get the WOW! factor. The interior on this thing is in GREAT condition! All original seats, carpets and panels that are all in excellent condition. All the plastics are in great shape with no fading or cracking. Seats are firm and comfortable. Original sound system still sounds great. I cannot confirm if the cassette deck works because I don't have any cassettes but it looks brand new so I would guess it would be working just as well as everything else on the car. The original speakers have been replaced with new speakers in the factory locations with no modifications and they sound great. All dash lights and gauges work as they should including the cluster on the dash. The AC blows ice cold and will freeze you out even here in Tucson where it's been at least 105 degrees for the past two weeks. Power windows go up and down as they should. Heater is HOT!. The driver's seat has the adjustable shock absorption system from the factory. Passenger's seat tilts all the way forward to allow rear passengers in to the rear seat. Rear seat does not look to have ever been sat in. No pets or smoking ever in the interior. The glass had tinting put on it back in 1987 on the two front windows and that has some scratching and distortion in areas and could stand to be replaced but it still keeps the sun out and hasn't bothered me much. Steering column will tilt. Has a factory installed sun roof. I personally did not think these came with a sun roof option but the lady was adamant that she bought it from the dealership this way and did not have it put in aftermarket and her maintenance man confirmed this. I researched this because I am a purist and don't like modifications of any kind and, although I found many that did have sun roofs in the pictures I saw, I could find nowhere where that said they did or did not offer a sunroof as a factory option, so maybe if someone out there has information about this they could help out. I have checked everywhere I can think of including all the Mitsubishi forums and blogs. In any case, the sunroof looks factory installed and it doesn't have any types of leaks of wind or water and is a very nice option.
MECHANICAL: The Montero runs and drives perfectly as you would expect from a over maintained car. Everything functions as it should. It has no smoking or leaks of any kind. All 4WD components work as they should and these little Monteros have a reputation for tremendous off road prowess. Search these on the internet and you will see the documented history of award winning off road performance. This one has the 2.6L 4 Cylinder engine with the 5 speed manual transmission. It starts right up, tracks straight and true and stops on a dime. It drives very smoothly and comfortably. It has new Michilen tires filled with nitrogen with less than a thousand miles on the tires. 5 speed trans shifts perfectly through all the gears. Clutch was replaced recently with documentation to prove it. These are not the fastest cars in the world and it does take time to get up to speed but it will cruise at 75 mph with no issues on flat terrain but will struggle a little on steep hills and you will need to downshift to maintain respectable speed. Does not use any oil. Just in great mechanical condition and I would not hesitate to drive it anywhere.
SUMMARY: These little two doors are getting hard to find in any condition, much less in this kind of condition. They will become increasingly harder to find as the years go on so I am hoping that this will go to someone who respects that and is not looking to modify and turn this into a wheeler. This is a rare opportunity to find one in this condition with the one owner history that is documented. It will not disappoint. I do reserve the right to end the auction early at any time as I may be advertising this in other media as well and it could sell at any time. Check my feedback and the pictures and bid with confidence. Good luck!!
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Auto blog
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