It's great to see you review the Diamante. In Australia that car was that trim was called the Verada and you are looking at a KF series Verada (June 1997- December 1998 builds) in the highest Xi trim level, which in Australia was around $50k new in 1998. They were the only ones exported by Mitsubishi Australia (MMAL) and if your VIN has a 6 as the first digit, it is an Australian car. That chassis was made between 1996 and 2005 (TE-TL series Magnas, each representing a facelift/change). The base spec car was called the Magna and it came in many trims from a base Executive/ES trim to the highest Sports and VR-X trims. Initially a 2.4 Sirius Engine was available between 1996 and 1998 (unpopular due to its lack of performance and the V6 costing only $1000 more), 3.0 ('96-'02) and 3.5 ('99-'05) Cyclone V6 engines. In 1998 the Magna Sports pioneered the Semi-automatic transmissions for a saloon car in Australia and the Verada was the first Australian car with traction control in that year as well. The AWD version from 2003 and the Ralliart Magna from 2002-2003 with an uprated 3.5 V6, a body kit, improved suspension and brakes and a six speed manual (very rare now) and those represent the pinnacle of the Magna before it died in 2005 replaced by an Australian version of the 2004 Galant known as the 380, which died in 2008 when MMAL's manufacturing ceased. All of them of that vintage have issues with the headliner, they used a cheap material that the workers at MMAL knew was going to be an issue but nothing was ever done about it, ditto for some of the paints. I go to university near the old factory in Tonsley Park, South Australia and I lived near the old engine plant in Lonsdale around 15km south of the factory. My mum crashed a 1989 TN Magna around the time she fell pregnant with me and bought a new 1994 MY95 BMW 318i E36, which started my love for those cars. If that hadn't happen maybe I would be collecting Magnas and other Mitsubishis instead of an assortment of Euros.
I’m onto my 3rd Mitsubishi, had 2 Pajero’s and triton. Best things ever made,, my 97 Pajero had cruise control and we drove it just about around Australia, the triton got a gut full of crap fuel , and traded it in for the new Pajero,
@@yindyamarra The Pajero is one of my favourite Mitsubishis, particularly with the petrol V6. They are very solid, reliable cars that can seriously go off road unlike many of the other SUVs around. It's a shame that they stopped production of the Pajero as it was still a great car even after 15 years of production of the 4th generation Pajero.
As an IT Manager, I appreciate JRs knowledge of networking hardware and technology. Loved the last bit of walking through the surplus auction! Good stuff!
I would watch that for sure!! the tech stuff is just as interesting, maybe even more to me than automotive. I like to go back and watch his old tech videos when he did them every once in a while
This was an impounded car that was never claimed. Happens all the time where I live. The local government holds auctions once a year with impounded unclaimed times. Everything from cars to bicycles.
I live in Sweden and got a tshirt with some armed native americans that say ”trust the government, turn in your guns”. Bought it on a roadtrip in a native casino on a roadtrip over 10 years ago 😅
These were really great cars in the day. The 3.5 was very strong and drove well. There are many Diamante's that gave up their hearts (6G74) to be used as upgrade swaps in Galants, Eclipses, and Stratus/Sebring coupes.
John Ross your channel has been about flipping cars but you have recently gone on a slightly different path in a good way, I like how you have chosen forgotten cars in America just like the made in Australia Mercury Capri.
I enjoyed seeing this video. As someone who worked for local government for 25 years I can tell you how they probably ended up with the Diamante as part of their fleet. My guess is that this vehicle was seized by the police years ago. Probably as part of a drug arrest. Local law enforcement is always looking for vehicles that can be used by their under cover officers. This would have been an ideal vehicle for them to use. In addition it would explain why the oil looked so clean. The car would have been regularly serviced by the jurisdiction that owned it. It's possible that it suffered from some vandalism and due to age they finally decided to get rid of it. Looks like a good project. I'm not sure that you'll get your money back on this, but it'll be enjoyable to see what you do with it.
Here in New Zealand, I have two of these Australian-built Diamantes. One is a top-spec 3.5 SEi sedan and the other is a 3.5 Ei wagon. Each have less than 90,000km on the clock, both are superb cars and in amazing condition. Highly underrated cars and proud to have these survivors in my collection!
G'day mate, you are bringing back memories. Twenty-plus years ago, I bought three Veradas for the family over the years. Mitsubishi Australia stopped exporting them to the US, but they kept making them here and they became a later series called the "380". I also had a 380 as a company car. They were the most reliable cars that I have ever owned or used.
It's cool to find out these are Aussie cars, I always wondered why mine said the glass was made in Australia. Sadly at 138K miles and me only driving it 1,200, the transmission gave out.
18:34 those air meters are for measuring how much the air content is in concrete. Outdoor concrete (pavement, curbs, sidewalks, etc) needs to have a certain amount of tiny air "bubbles" in it to make it resistant to freeze and thaw cycles. With no air, it tends to crack or spall. The air makes it durable. Some state employee was probably tasked with measuring the air content every time they poured curbs, sidewalks, concrete pavement etc.
Dude it'd be so fun to rebuild this thing to make it perfect. Pull apart those door panels and reglue the leather. New junker seats. Pull out the headliner, re-do the console with a junker console. I dig it. It'd be really fun.
As an Aussie, great to see this car here - still see plenty of them on the roads. As a former network admin, and current employee of your former employer.. those Cisco 3500s have GBIC ports, not QSFP :)
Man I always wanted a first gen Diamante! They are arguably better looking than the second gen. Like a Galant VR4 but bigger. The first gen also came in wagon form!
In Australia this would be called a Verada. It was the top spec model. Your vehicle may even have been built here in Adelaide, Australia, since they had an export program.
@@ilikechesseonmyballs The Verada was a fancy Magna, and formed the basis for the American-spec Diamante. Though IIRC the Diamante was loaded with even more equipment than the top of the range Verada.
I bought a 2003 Diamante from a friend in 2021. She runs like a dream. Only the headliner needs replacing and a new switch for the sunroof. The seats and body in excellent condition. 133k miles as of yesterday.
Funny not funny, that looks like my brothers old car and I think he left it somewhere in OK when it died during a road trip. He literally left it on the side of the road and walked to a dealership and bought another car to get home. Craziest story I’ve ever heard!!
A very nice car when it was available. However since Mitsubishi was always very much a niche player in the United States, they didn't sell very many of these. And of course getting it fixed could be an ordeal
I own a 2003 LS model,and I agree with you.Its a great first car if you can keep 'er running.The build quality is amazing,better than any domestic American car at the time.
Hey JR, g’day from Adelaide where these Veradas/Magmas were made. Can’t believe you found one. Has to be worth saving for its rarity there although I don’t know how you would go finding all the parts you need. Here, they are in every wreckers yard and you could find everything you needed for next to nothing.. Still see them on the roads here but they will die out eventually. There is no love for them like Ford and Holden. Being front wheel drive was a big part of that. They made great used cars though because they were mainly bought by older people and not abused or driven hard. Love the Channel!
Definitely didn’t expect to see Randy pop up in this video lol. Crazy to see two of the content creators I watch in one video. Keep up the work buddy. Great content! 💪🏼💪🏼
I did that old Panasonic Editor, my father has been in the local news world for 40 years. Back in the day, the Betacam system from Sony was setup the same way
Hey, JR! I enjoy you channel. You put out content on a regular basis that is really fun to watch. I have lived in Japan for the last 50 years so the Diamante is very familiar. It is definitely not related to a Galant. Have you ever bought such a cheap car that worked so well? I had a late 90s Mitsubishi Legnum Viento. It was black and a really cool design with its tinted windows. Not powerful, but more than enough to get you around where I live. Good torque. It's too bad that Mitsubishi lost its way and stopped producing its larger vehicles. I loved the Legnum. I see a late 90s Legnum going for around $10,000 in the States right now. A little work should get you a good flip for a $400 Diamante. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this one. Go for it!
These are a beautiful looking car, and well built too. Well done for choosing this rare and interesting beast. Here in Australia (where most of them were built) there’s a strong following for the Magna/Verada’s. I’ve owned 5 of them, but currently own 2, one of which is an Australia & New Zealand only Magna Ralliart model (255hp) that I’ve recently completely restored
The only common mitsubishi in the US is the eclipse sports car which you see less of every year as they age. Even the outlander which is Mitsubishi's best selling new model isn't very common.
Mitsubishi has always had trouble selling here in the states . They don't advertise at all and customer support is known to be iffy at best . They have lots of character, unfortunately Americans aren't really into that .
I had one as my first car in Australia. It is called the Verada XI in my country. It didn't have the memory seating but it had a lot of woodgrain in the interior on the dash, centre console and window switch area and Chrome interior door handles. Stil my favourite car to date that I have owned.
Omg, I’ve got one of the Dell sub systems - 5.1 surround sound, thx certified and still sounds amazing today! Can’t remember when I got it, it was a special offer with a new dell pc, possibly early 2000s. PC long gone, but sub system still rocking!
They are still around in plenty of numbers here in Australia known as the Magna / Verada, We had them from 1985 - 2005 and built in South Australia. Our TF Magna Sports so around 1998 had the 4 speed trip tropic auto, Which became standard around 2001. Then our KJ Verada series 2 in late 2001 early 2002 came standard with a 5 speed Triptronic auto, We also had the option of a 5 speed manual and in 2002 we had a limited release of 500 TJ Magna RALLI//ARTS. Which had the full body kit and even more poke out of the 6g74 with the base being 150kw sport / VRX being 163kw and RALLI//ART being 180kw. We even got the station wagon version and the equally as rare to the RALLI//ART a TJ Magna “Sports Wagon” which had a factory fitted body kit on a Wagon with the 5 speed trip tropic Auto. Plus we had the All Wheel Drive Model and there’s still hundreds of not thousands of the buggers on the road here in Australia, I actually just got rid of my 2000 KJ Verada V6Xi (have a couple of videos of it in the early years of my Channel). In past years it was also a thing to drop the 6G75 out of the 380 (The Galant in the US) which replaced the Magna / Verada in 2005, Then throw on a decent exhaust and tune and manual conversion and they’d absolutely fly. Love my current Mitsubishi 380 VRX 5 speed manual with the 6G75 but miss my old KJ Verada V6Xi.
Those frame-less windows though....every magna I came across has lots of sideways movement. Pretty solid car other than that......and the valve guide seals.
@@jamesr5741 I never had an issue with side movements on my windows, The only valve issues I had issues with was on my first car which was a 1990 TP Magna Elite. We both know what the 2.6 litre 4 cylinder “Astron 2’s” were like. I’m putting it down to luck that I never had any major issues in the 15 years I owned Magna’s and Verada’s from TP’s TR’s TJ’s KS’s KJ’s and my current trailer is the back half of a 1994 TR Magna Wagon. They can be solid and reliable if looked after, But like any other car lack of maintenance they can be an absolute Bitch just don’t get me started on doing a Clutch job by your self in the Garage at home. There was a lot of Effing blinding and tool throwing on that job I can tell you now.
Awesome JR! A little different vid and very interesting one at that. I really enjoyed the Diamonte tour and the behind the scenes look at the gov auction. Only on your channel can we get a broader look into different things electric or mechanical that not just car/truck related. Cannot wait for the deeper dive into that old Mitsubishi!
Probably abandoned/possible police seizure and towed by the city/police. (Happens where I live, they just end up getting auctioned off if they end up in a city lot or police lot).
I have 3 Mitsubishi Mighty Max trucks, 90 &91 4x4’s and a 94 2nd. The impressive thing about the 4x4’s is that they are 1 ton trucks, great for a landscaping business. I’ve had 2500 lbs of basalt in the bed and it handles fine. No frills but fantastically dependable.
The Veradas were a classy car back in the day, the Wagons were especially well done. The Falcons & Commodores were better suited to heavy-duty use, but the Magna/Verada was a much more refined car at the time.
its also known as a Mitsubishi Magna, now the Galant looks more like it! also, they had a sport version of the Magna it was called VRX from 2003-2005 i think.
Here in Saudi Arabia it was called Mitsubishi Sigma and then changed name in 2002/2003 to Magna. I’ve owned a brand new 1998 Galant and I remember seeing this car at the dealership and admiring the beautiful design and luxury at that time.
The Verarda was made at the Tonsley plant, the engine 3.5 v6 was made at the Lonsdale plant here in Adelaide. I worked for a company that made the 2nd gen parts. I don't think any 380 the replacement to the Magna, 4th gen, made it out of Australia. Just think, Volkswagen, Nissan, Ford Toyota, GM, Leyland, Chrysler and Mitsubishi all had plants in Australia, only a Brabham bt62 is made here in Port Adelaide now😒
I worked for a Mits dealer in the early 2000's when they were rocking and rolling.... We used to call these Dynamites the "Japanese Buick". Loved them. And just today I saw a 3g Eclipse GTS Spyder, so they're out there. Occasionally.
We own a 2002 Mitsubishi Daimante Series 2 Sport VRX, Slowly attempting to restore some of its former glory as time and money allows, although don't think any of the NZ models came with leather interiours (our is fabric). We also have the factory Service Center Manual if you want it.
I had the same year minus the VRX, I can only imagine how powerful that baby would be! Sadly the tranny gave out on mine around 138K miles and I barely drove it at all. Something to look out for.
@@ApptSolutionsNZ That is seriously impressive. I should have had that done if I knew about that. Previous owner also rebuilt the engine too so maybe he was super hard on the car, who knows. It looks nice enough to keep around, that's for sure.
I bought an Australian made 2002 Diamante in 2018 for 800 dollars, drove it for 4 years then sold it for 2400 here in LosAngeles a few months ago. I loved the car. It was fast comfortable and reliable, just needed new brakes and new injectors.
What a cool car!! In Europe we had the Mitsubishi Sigma which I believe was the predecessor of the Diamante. To bad they never were a succes. They were so luxurios and packed with state of the art technology. So nice that Randy from AAR showed up in your video. He is such a nice man. Watch his videos everyday especially the IAA and Copart walkarounds. Some time you should do a project together with Randy. Greetings from Holland!
The Diamante was a pretty popular car when I was younger. Lots of Mitsubishis on the road in the 80s and 90s. I have two Dodge Ram 50s which are Mitsubishi trucks. Also have a Plymouth Colt Vista and have an Eagle Summit ESI. All these are Mitsubishi rebadges. Yes I do like Chrysler cars and own a lot of them. The Eagle I have been pulled over in because the cop thought is was a fake car because he never heard of them.
The Eagle Talon TSI was the “poor kids” Eclipse GS-T/GSX in the 90s haha. Great looking car, always preferred their version of the rear spoiler coming off the rear window. I believe one of the fastest drag cars in the US is an Eagle Talon TSI?
I bought a 2002 Mitsubishi Diamante LS brand new in 2002. Pearl white with the beige leather interior. Most comfortable car I ever owned. Don't try running it on anything other than premium or you'll start getting a rough running engine. Mine had the instrument cluster that was blacked out until you started the car and then was fully illuminated. Miss that car, but owning one nowadays would be so difficult to keep serviced and repaired if ever in a wreck.
Back about 15 yrs ago when I was a manager for an auto parts store in the hood those cars were popular with the wanna be hustler, dealer types who weren't very good at it so they couldn't afford the other japanese or european luxury brands so they bought them. They would roll up in them, bass booming, side windows buzzing like a jar full of pissed of hornets from the volume, trailing a cloud of smoke, either from the exhaust, from bad valve guides and seals or oil burning off the exhaust manifolds from leaky valve covers all notorious mitsu v6 problems. They usually either bought a couple of quarts of oil or half a dozen black ice little tree air fresheners to try and hide the overpowering weed smell. The funniest thing was one day a woman came in with her small son, driving one of them and she named her son after it, I guess it could be worse, she might have fallen in love with a Daewoo and named him after it.
I am driving a 2003 LS. I had a 1995 liked it so much I bought the 03. Comes standard with all wheel anti-lock disc brakes, heated power mirrors, heated power leather seats with memory seat setting. Full climate control system, one touch sunroof. Stock 8 speaker Infinity stereo system with cd player. Keyless remote (FYI key is chipped to the ignition). Fog lights, built in garage door opener.
That pressure text you where looking at at the end of the video is an air pot. It measures air in concrete. It is put in concrete for flexibility in exposed concrete
Ralliart Magna engine swap time! 🙂 If it's like the Magna/Verada sold in Australia it'll be blowing blue smoke after 200,000km. Valve stem seals are a well known issue.
I remember vividly my father back in the 90’s mentioning how much he liked the Diamanté when we got one on vacation as a rental. He was impressed with it and mentioned it which somehow solidified that impression into my young brain at the time. Haven’t heard of them since or seen them really. Thanks for the memory!
Man I love your videos. I wish you add more details regarding diagnosis/repair in general May I ask how these government auctions work? Like are they online (at least pictures & mileage)? Do you need a dealer license or something to participate? Is their a universal website or do you have to check your local state/town? Thank you in advance
Amazed to see this, NO ONE knows about these cars. I really liked mine ($2,350) the two years I owned it, but sadly the tranny gave out (138K miles) I put maybe 1,200 miles on it so it left a sour taste in my mouth. The interior is quite plush and the gauge cluster looks absolutely modern plus it has quite a bit of power. It really excels in the looks department outside though.
These magna export models were built fully optioned and were slowed down on the production line so the workers could spend more time on them to get the quality top notch
Even here in Brazil these cars haven´t been seen on the streets in a long,long time.... Glad to see one in your channel....Hope you can be able to restore it to a running condition!
As a few comments already, it's known as a Verada here in Australia so I won't bang on about that, but I will point out also here in Australia, we have cars that run on compressed gas. We call it LPG over here. Manufacturers started installing them factory on the 90s. They sell it at the pump, at around 99c a litre where as petrol and diesel is around $1.60 a litre. The government even went through a phase where they were paying people to install the systems on their cars via a rebate but that was stopped when people stopped taking it up when the fuel prices steadied. Every single service station had LPG pumps up until recently where now new servos aren't install LPG pumps as it's getting rarer for a car to be running on it.
I am from Australia and I have a car similar to this, same 6G74 3.5L V6 engine, but it is named the TJ Magna. Built in July 2000. 2000 TJ Magna Sports, it has the 5 speed auto with manual mode (P R N D and - +). Yep the V6 is pretty bulletproof if well maintained, but can suffer from oil leaks and use oil due to worn valve stem seals so regular oil top ups are important.
I remember the Diamante, actually negotiated to buy a new one but could not put the deal together. The dealer only had two of them and would only discount it $250, when most cars have 4-figure discounts at the time.
Our family had a ‘95 Diamante that we bought used in ‘01 with 270k+ miles. I learned how to drive in that car, it was quick, and I loved it. Sadly, it died in an accident, but it was still going strong at 321k miles.
9:35 If the Mitsubishi is like a Honda, there might be a Master Window Toggle Switch on the dash that turns on & off the use of the Power Windows for the Right Front, Right Rear & Left Rear.
Not only have I seen one, I OWNED one! Had a '98, nice car but I couldn't afford to keep it on the road at the time. Wasn't impressed with it terribly.
The Homelink System by U.S. company Johnson Controls was invented around 1953/55. Expanded to automobiles in 1993, but officially introduced in 1995 for the automotive market. Sometime after the economic crash of 2008 Johnson Controls moved to Ireland too avoid U.S. taxes. They were either merged into, or bought by another company. Controversy arose when they moved because the U.S. government had given them a bailout. Before I retired I was a Chevrolet Commercial Truck finance manager. Johnson Controls was a major GMAC financee at the time. In fact the last deal I financed was to Johnson Controls.
The Mega Group dealer I worked for sold these and let me say when they were new they were spectacular . One of the best "Luxury" cars my company sold at the time. Me being a GM guy was shocked at the quality and the ride. It is a shame it never caught on.
Always thought of Mitsubishi as 2nd rate compared to Toyota/Honda/Nissan, at least in their boring compact/midsize sedans. Their SUV's were nice, a bit 2nd rate to Toyota or the old hardbody based Nissan Pathfinder, but about equal with Isuzu and the Jeeps, leaps and bounds better than the 90's Explorer and Chevy S dime Blazer. The 90's Eclipse and 3000GT, holy crap were those something special IMO. Yeah you paid $$$$ to get the hot performing, high horsepower ones, but even the base models looked like a million bucks and gave you much of that same feel.
We had them on fleet back in the day, the only comment from our mechanics is they came "pre rusted" off the boat but never heard a peep about actual driving issues.
Notorious oil burning Mitsubishi v6, they don’t tolerate dirty oil. Big throw back to the 90s and 00 getting stuck behind one with full on blue smoke, ah the old days
It's great to see you review the Diamante. In Australia that car was that trim was called the Verada and you are looking at a KF series Verada (June 1997- December 1998 builds) in the highest Xi trim level, which in Australia was around $50k new in 1998. They were the only ones exported by Mitsubishi Australia (MMAL) and if your VIN has a 6 as the first digit, it is an Australian car. That chassis was made between 1996 and 2005 (TE-TL series Magnas, each representing a facelift/change). The base spec car was called the Magna and it came in many trims from a base Executive/ES trim to the highest Sports and VR-X trims. Initially a 2.4 Sirius Engine was available between 1996 and 1998 (unpopular due to its lack of performance and the V6 costing only $1000 more), 3.0 ('96-'02) and 3.5 ('99-'05) Cyclone V6 engines. In 1998 the Magna Sports pioneered the Semi-automatic transmissions for a saloon car in Australia and the Verada was the first Australian car with traction control in that year as well. The AWD version from 2003 and the Ralliart Magna from 2002-2003 with an uprated 3.5 V6, a body kit, improved suspension and brakes and a six speed manual (very rare now) and those represent the pinnacle of the Magna before it died in 2005 replaced by an Australian version of the 2004 Galant known as the 380, which died in 2008 when MMAL's manufacturing ceased. All of them of that vintage have issues with the headliner, they used a cheap material that the workers at MMAL knew was going to be an issue but nothing was ever done about it, ditto for some of the paints. I go to university near the old factory in Tonsley Park, South Australia and I lived near the old engine plant in Lonsdale around 15km south of the factory. My mum crashed a 1989 TN Magna around the time she fell pregnant with me and bought a new 1994 MY95 BMW 318i E36, which started my love for those cars. If that hadn't happen maybe I would be collecting Magnas and other Mitsubishis instead of an assortment of Euros.
Made in Adelaide the former Chrysler plant
More than l ever wanted to know about a Mitsubishi... 😜😜😜
@@briansd6 we love our Mitsubishi Magna/Diamante and Pajero/Montero here in Australia.
I’m onto my 3rd Mitsubishi, had 2 Pajero’s and triton. Best things ever made,, my 97 Pajero had cruise control and we drove it just about around Australia, the triton got a gut full of crap fuel , and traded it in for the new Pajero,
@@yindyamarra The Pajero is one of my favourite Mitsubishis, particularly with the petrol V6. They are very solid, reliable cars that can seriously go off road unlike many of the other SUVs around. It's a shame that they stopped production of the Pajero as it was still a great car even after 15 years of production of the 4th generation Pajero.
As an IT Manager, I appreciate JRs knowledge of networking hardware and technology. Loved the last bit of walking through the surplus auction! Good stuff!
As a former IT guy myself the surplus part was close to home. He should open a channel just to talk about that stuff.
I would watch that for sure!! the tech stuff is just as interesting, maybe even more to me than automotive. I like to go back and watch his old tech videos when he did them every once in a while
If I remember correctly, his push into youtube stardom was his firing from a large network storage company. Luckily, he had something else... on tap.
This was an impounded car that was never claimed. Happens all the time where I live. The local government holds auctions once a year with impounded unclaimed times. Everything from cars to bicycles.
Usually that is handled by towing companies unless it was involved in a crime. The removed back seat indicates to me they were looking for something.
Nope, these cars weren't sold in the United States unless it was probably to a government
@@samholdsworth420 Where did you get that idea? Yes they were sold at all Mitsubishi dealers when they were new in the US.
@@samholdsworth420 yeah they were. I see Diamantes all the time in Oklahoma.
Yes honestly those cars were chose by drug dealers back in da 90s n probably was impounded lol hot car that didn't last lol
"The Government would never lie....ask a Native American!" I seen this statement on a bumper sticker recently.
I live in Sweden and got a tshirt with some armed native americans that say ”trust the government, turn in your guns”. Bought it on a roadtrip in a native casino on a roadtrip over 10 years ago 😅
If they're talking they're lying. Unles they say they're raising taxes. You can believe that.
@@nowhereman7398 This side of the pond it's if they're breathing they're lying
These were really great cars in the day. The 3.5 was very strong and drove well. There are many Diamante's that gave up their hearts (6G74) to be used as upgrade swaps in Galants, Eclipses, and Stratus/Sebring coupes.
John Ross your channel has been about flipping cars but you have recently gone on a slightly different path in a good way, I like how you have chosen forgotten cars in America just like the made in Australia Mercury Capri.
I enjoyed seeing this video. As someone who worked for local government for 25 years I can tell you how they probably ended up with the Diamante as part of their fleet. My guess is that this vehicle was seized by the police years ago. Probably as part of a drug arrest. Local law enforcement is always looking for vehicles that can be used by their under cover officers. This would have been an ideal vehicle for them to use. In addition it would explain why the oil looked so clean. The car would have been regularly serviced by the jurisdiction that owned it. It's possible that it suffered from some vandalism and due to age they finally decided to get rid of it. Looks like a good project. I'm not sure that you'll get your money back on this, but it'll be enjoyable to see what you do with it.
Here in New Zealand, I have two of these Australian-built Diamantes. One is a top-spec 3.5 SEi sedan and the other is a 3.5 Ei wagon. Each have less than 90,000km on the clock, both are superb cars and in amazing condition. Highly underrated cars and proud to have these survivors in my collection!
G'day mate, you are bringing back memories. Twenty-plus years ago, I bought three Veradas for the family over the years. Mitsubishi Australia stopped exporting them to the US, but they kept making them here and they became a later series called the "380". I also had a 380 as a company car. They were the most reliable cars that I have ever owned or used.
It's cool to find out these are Aussie cars, I always wondered why mine said the glass was made in Australia.
Sadly at 138K miles and me only driving it 1,200, the transmission gave out.
18:34 those air meters are for measuring how much the air content is in concrete. Outdoor concrete (pavement, curbs, sidewalks, etc) needs to have a certain amount of tiny air "bubbles" in it to make it resistant to freeze and thaw cycles. With no air, it tends to crack or spall. The air makes it durable. Some state employee was probably tasked with measuring the air content every time they poured curbs, sidewalks, concrete pavement etc.
Interesting! thanks for the info
That’s got to be a keeper as apart from the broken window and the trashed interior it looks quite straight and rot free..
Dude it'd be so fun to rebuild this thing to make it perfect. Pull apart those door panels and reglue the leather. New junker seats. Pull out the headliner, re-do the console with a junker console. I dig it. It'd be really fun.
As an Aussie, great to see this car here - still see plenty of them on the roads. As a former network admin, and current employee of your former employer.. those Cisco 3500s have GBIC ports, not QSFP :)
If you restored this thing, that would be amazing! I always thought these were so cool
Did you really get this video out from today?? Dang you move fast man!! Good seeing you man!
Thanks for lunch... and I work fast! 😂
Good to know Randy can feed UA-camrs but can't feed his own kid.
@@WatchJRGo you should have gotten that red Impala!!!!!!
That's a quick sale
he dont waste time whining and Bing
@@chipfukmaster5928 Merry Christmas 🎄 and happy New Year!
The smoke rolling off that engine was from the huge family of mice you roasted by firing up the engine. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!
How cool! These were really impressive cars back in the day, especially the first generation. Love they way they look
Congratulations JR, Your numbers have rounded up again. 👏 👏 👏
Man I always wanted a first gen Diamante! They are arguably better looking than the second gen. Like a Galant VR4 but bigger. The first gen also came in wagon form!
I had a 1993 Diamante and I miss it so much! Desperate to find another to restore!
I have an Outlander Sport. They are all over the place in the east. They are cheap and go in the snow. The new Outlanders are all over the place too.
In Australia this would be called a Verada. It was the top spec model. Your vehicle may even have been built here in Adelaide, Australia, since they had an export program.
Magna?
@@ilikechesseonmyballs The Verada was a fancy Magna, and formed the basis for the American-spec Diamante. Though IIRC the Diamante was loaded with even more equipment than the top of the range Verada.
i knew it looked familiar....
I bought a 2003 Diamante from a friend in 2021. She runs like a dream. Only the headliner needs replacing and a new switch for the sunroof. The seats and body in excellent condition. 133k miles as of yesterday.
Funny not funny, that looks like my brothers old car and I think he left it somewhere in OK when it died during a road trip. He literally left it on the side of the road and walked to a dealership and bought another car to get home. Craziest story I’ve ever heard!!
More over here of those in Australia - called Verada
A very nice car when it was available. However since Mitsubishi was always very much a niche player in the United States, they didn't sell very many of these. And of course getting it fixed could be an ordeal
I own a 2003 LS model,and I agree with you.Its a great first car if you can keep 'er running.The build quality is amazing,better than any domestic American car at the time.
Yeah I was lucky enough to get one for my first car, loved it
@@chazzcoolidge2654 ayyy that was my first car, loved it
Hey JR, g’day from Adelaide where these Veradas/Magmas were made. Can’t believe you found one. Has to be worth saving for its rarity there although I don’t know how you would go finding all the parts you need. Here, they are in every wreckers yard and you could find everything you needed for next to nothing.. Still see them on the roads here but they will die out eventually. There is no love for them like Ford and Holden. Being front wheel drive was a big part of that. They made great used cars though because they were mainly bought by older people and not abused or driven hard. Love the Channel!
Definitely didn’t expect to see Randy pop up in this video lol. Crazy to see two of the content creators I watch in one video. Keep up the work buddy. Great content! 💪🏼💪🏼
I did that old Panasonic Editor, my father has been in the local news world for 40 years. Back in the day, the Betacam system from Sony was setup the same way
Hey, JR! I enjoy you channel. You put out content on a regular basis that is really fun to watch. I have lived in Japan for the last 50 years so the Diamante is very familiar. It is definitely not related to a Galant. Have you ever bought such a cheap car that worked so well? I had a late 90s Mitsubishi Legnum Viento. It was black and a really cool design with its tinted windows. Not powerful, but more than enough to get you around where I live. Good torque. It's too bad that Mitsubishi lost its way and stopped producing its larger vehicles. I loved the Legnum. I see a late 90s Legnum going for around $10,000 in the States right now. A little work should get you a good flip for a $400 Diamante. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this one. Go for it!
These are a beautiful looking car, and well built too.
Well done for choosing this rare and interesting beast.
Here in Australia (where most of them were built) there’s a strong following for the Magna/Verada’s.
I’ve owned 5 of them, but currently own 2, one of which is an Australia & New Zealand only Magna Ralliart model (255hp) that I’ve recently completely restored
I never really considered how uncommon they would be over there, they're literally everywhere here in New Zealand. Interesting to see :)
Very rare. Surprise there's even any left. Mitsubishi was always very small in the United States and this was about the top of the lineup
The only common mitsubishi in the US is the eclipse sports car which you see less of every year as they age. Even the outlander which is Mitsubishi's best selling new model isn't very common.
Mitsubishi has always had trouble selling here in the states . They don't advertise at all and customer support is known to be iffy at best . They have lots of character, unfortunately Americans aren't really into that .
I've seen three in my entire life and one of them was the one I briefly owned until the tranny gave out.
@@rushnerd A while back a friend of mine bought one secondhand. Fortunately for him he had a good extended warranty. But eventually he got rid of it
Kind of cool actually! We never got Mitsubishis in Canada until the early 2000s I think 2004 or something.
Finally made it 32 secs after you posted, great time. Love the channel man!!
I had one as my first car in Australia. It is called the Verada XI in my country. It didn't have the memory seating but it had a lot of woodgrain in the interior on the dash, centre console and window switch area and Chrome interior door handles. Stil my favourite car to date that I have owned.
Omg, I’ve got one of the Dell sub systems - 5.1 surround sound, thx certified and still sounds amazing today! Can’t remember when I got it, it was a special offer with a new dell pc, possibly early 2000s. PC long gone, but sub system still rocking!
Looks big enough to lift the roof off your house haha!
I've got a 2020 Outlander PHEV and am pretty happy with it. Nice car.
They are still around in plenty of numbers here in Australia known as the Magna / Verada, We had them from 1985 - 2005 and built in South Australia. Our TF Magna Sports so around 1998 had the 4 speed trip tropic auto, Which became standard around 2001. Then our KJ Verada series 2 in late 2001 early 2002 came standard with a 5 speed Triptronic auto, We also had the option of a 5 speed manual and in 2002 we had a limited release of 500 TJ Magna RALLI//ARTS. Which had the full body kit and even more poke out of the 6g74 with the base being 150kw sport / VRX being 163kw and RALLI//ART being 180kw. We even got the station wagon version and the equally as rare to the RALLI//ART a TJ Magna “Sports Wagon” which had a factory fitted body kit on a Wagon with the 5 speed trip tropic Auto. Plus we had the All Wheel Drive Model and there’s still hundreds of not thousands of the buggers on the road here in Australia, I actually just got rid of my 2000 KJ Verada V6Xi (have a couple of videos of it in the early years of my Channel). In past years it was also a thing to drop the 6G75 out of the 380 (The Galant in the US) which replaced the Magna / Verada in 2005, Then throw on a decent exhaust and tune and manual conversion and they’d absolutely fly. Love my current Mitsubishi 380 VRX 5 speed manual with the 6G75 but miss my old KJ Verada V6Xi.
Those frame-less windows though....every magna I came across has lots of sideways movement. Pretty solid car other than that......and the valve guide seals.
@@jamesr5741 I never had an issue with side movements on my windows, The only valve issues I had issues with was on my first car which was a 1990 TP Magna Elite. We both know what the 2.6 litre 4 cylinder “Astron 2’s” were like. I’m putting it down to luck that I never had any major issues in the 15 years I owned Magna’s and Verada’s from TP’s TR’s TJ’s KS’s KJ’s and my current trailer is the back half of a 1994 TR Magna Wagon. They can be solid and reliable if looked after, But like any other car lack of maintenance they can be an absolute Bitch just don’t get me started on doing a Clutch job by your self in the Garage at home. There was a lot of Effing blinding and tool throwing on that job I can tell you now.
and looks beter than most mangas in tamworth mate
@@nukenuked5749 Not much does look good in Tamworth, Even after a few Beers.
@@TheAussieBusman this is all so true
i think my mate Neil grayson would post a funny pic from the manga fb page to lol
Awesome JR! A little different vid and very interesting one at that. I really enjoyed the Diamonte tour and the behind the scenes look at the gov auction. Only on your channel can we get a broader look into different things electric or mechanical that not just car/truck related. Cannot wait for the deeper dive into that old Mitsubishi!
Probably abandoned/possible police seizure and towed by the city/police. (Happens where I live, they just end up getting auctioned off if they end up in a city lot or police lot).
I have 3 Mitsubishi Mighty Max trucks, 90 &91 4x4’s and a 94 2nd. The impressive thing about the 4x4’s is that they are 1 ton trucks, great for a landscaping business. I’ve had 2500 lbs of basalt in the bed and it handles fine. No frills but fantastically dependable.
They actually built a wagon version available here in the states.
Must be rare as hens teeth
I have a jump pack like the one shown at 20:34. Those power sockets have saved me during power outages a couple of times!
The Veradas were a classy car back in the day, the Wagons were especially well done. The Falcons & Commodores were better suited to heavy-duty use, but the Magna/Verada was a much more refined car at the time.
My boy Randy showing up for the cameo..... #Legend
its also known as a Mitsubishi Magna, now the Galant looks more like it! also, they had a sport version of the Magna it was called VRX from 2003-2005 i think.
Cracked me up seeing those 2900 series Catalyst switches. We still have a TON of them in use at my company.
Always Awesome Seeing Randy From Auto Auction Rebuilds! On you Channel JR. !👍👍
Here in Saudi Arabia it was called Mitsubishi Sigma and then changed name in 2002/2003 to Magna. I’ve owned a brand new 1998 Galant and I remember seeing this car at the dealership and admiring the beautiful design and luxury at that time.
The Verarda was made at the Tonsley plant, the engine 3.5 v6 was made at the Lonsdale plant here in Adelaide. I worked for a company that made the 2nd gen parts.
I don't think any 380 the replacement to the Magna, 4th gen, made it out of Australia.
Just think, Volkswagen, Nissan, Ford Toyota, GM, Leyland, Chrysler and Mitsubishi all had plants in Australia, only a Brabham bt62 is made here in Port Adelaide now😒
I worked for a Mits dealer in the early 2000's when they were rocking and rolling.... We used to call these Dynamites the "Japanese Buick". Loved them.
And just today I saw a 3g Eclipse GTS Spyder, so they're out there. Occasionally.
We own a 2002 Mitsubishi Daimante Series 2 Sport VRX, Slowly attempting to restore some of its former glory as time and money allows, although don't think any of the NZ models came with leather interiours (our is fabric). We also have the factory Service Center Manual if you want it.
I had the same year minus the VRX, I can only imagine how powerful that baby would be! Sadly the tranny gave out on mine around 138K miles and I barely drove it at all. Something to look out for.
@@rushnerd we already up to 230+k the workshop guide recommends regular trans flushing (has step by step process)
@@ApptSolutionsNZ That is seriously impressive. I should have had that done if I knew about that. Previous owner also rebuilt the engine too so maybe he was super hard on the car, who knows. It looks nice enough to keep around, that's for sure.
There are leather ones in NZ, it was a factory option you could get in all of them.
I bought an Australian made 2002 Diamante in 2018 for 800 dollars, drove it for 4 years then sold it for 2400 here in LosAngeles a few months ago. I loved the car. It was fast comfortable and reliable, just needed new brakes and new injectors.
I owned one here in Australia, one of the best cars i've had
I learn so much from your videos, yet what I learned per minute will not be beat by those last five minutes.
It likely wasn’t a city car, probably a vehicle the police seized
What a cool car!! In Europe we had the Mitsubishi Sigma which I believe was the predecessor of the Diamante.
To bad they never were a succes. They were so luxurios and packed with state of the art technology.
So nice that Randy from AAR showed up in your video. He is such a nice man. Watch his videos everyday especially the IAA and Copart walkarounds.
Some time you should do a project together with Randy.
Greetings from Holland!
The Diamante was a pretty popular car when I was younger. Lots of Mitsubishis on the road in the 80s and 90s. I have two Dodge Ram 50s which are Mitsubishi trucks. Also have a Plymouth Colt Vista and have an Eagle Summit ESI. All these are Mitsubishi rebadges. Yes I do like Chrysler cars and own a lot of them. The Eagle I have been pulled over in because the cop thought is was a fake car because he never heard of them.
The Eagle Talon TSI was the “poor kids” Eclipse GS-T/GSX in the 90s haha. Great looking car, always preferred their version of the rear spoiler coming off the rear window. I believe one of the fastest drag cars in the US is an Eagle Talon TSI?
Worked at a Mitsubishi dealership in 2001-2002, saw LOTS of Diamanté’s ..and the Evo launch
@@ryanm4319 the Talon had a way better looking rear end in my opinion, the eclipse was very round and ugly haha.
I bought a 2002 Mitsubishi Diamante LS brand new in 2002. Pearl white with the beige leather interior. Most comfortable car I ever owned. Don't try running it on anything other than premium or you'll start getting a rough running engine. Mine had the instrument cluster that was blacked out until you started the car and then was fully illuminated. Miss that car, but owning one nowadays would be so difficult to keep serviced and repaired if ever in a wreck.
Back about 15 yrs ago when I was a manager for an auto parts store in the hood those cars were popular with the wanna be hustler, dealer types who weren't very good at it so they couldn't afford the other japanese or european luxury brands so they bought them. They would roll up in them, bass booming, side windows buzzing like a jar full of pissed of hornets from the volume, trailing a cloud of smoke, either from the exhaust, from bad valve guides and seals or oil burning off the exhaust manifolds from leaky valve covers all notorious mitsu v6 problems. They usually either bought a couple of quarts of oil or half a dozen black ice little tree air fresheners to try and hide the overpowering weed smell.
The funniest thing was one day a woman came in with her small son, driving one of them and she named her son after it, I guess it could be worse, she might have fallen in love with a Daewoo and named him after it.
I am driving a 2003 LS. I had a 1995 liked it so much I bought the 03. Comes standard with all wheel anti-lock disc brakes, heated power mirrors, heated power leather seats with memory seat setting. Full climate control system, one touch sunroof. Stock 8 speaker Infinity stereo system with cd player. Keyless remote (FYI key is chipped to the ignition). Fog lights, built in garage door opener.
Been a while since I've seen a Diamante on the road, and that's probably for the better.
The only one I've ever seen was a friend had one in 2010 and the trans blew up on it
Lmao
That pressure text you where looking at at the end of the video is an air pot. It measures air in concrete. It is put in concrete for flexibility in exposed concrete
Adaptive Cruise was actually the 1st Gen Diamante in like 1991 - in Japan only of course :) The 1st gen was also the platform the 3000GT was based on.
Shout out to a fellow Supernatural fan 😀
@@johnl3230 Still sucks it's over :(
@@deanwinchester7179 couldn't agree more! Wish it would come back haha.
It was a very expensive luxury car back in 90’s when I was about your age. Good to see it again in your channel.
Ralliart Magna engine swap time! 🙂
If it's like the Magna/Verada sold in Australia it'll be blowing blue smoke after 200,000km. Valve stem seals are a well known issue.
I think that's what the smoke is now. Big job.
I agree.. my bud's old 6G72 V6 started smoking around those km's too!
I remember vividly my father back in the 90’s mentioning how much he liked the Diamanté when we got one on vacation as a rental. He was impressed with it and mentioned it which somehow solidified that impression into my young brain at the time. Haven’t heard of them since or seen them really. Thanks for the memory!
Man I love your videos. I wish you add more details regarding diagnosis/repair in general
May I ask how these government auctions work? Like are they online (at least pictures & mileage)? Do you need a dealer license or something to participate? Is their a universal website or do you have to check your local state/town?
Thank you in advance
Amazed to see this, NO ONE knows about these cars. I really liked mine ($2,350) the two years I owned it, but sadly the tranny gave out (138K miles) I put maybe 1,200 miles on it so it left a sour taste in my mouth.
The interior is quite plush and the gauge cluster looks absolutely modern plus it has quite a bit of power. It really excels in the looks department outside though.
Randy 300 bucks is way too much for it 🤣
These magna export models were built fully optioned and were slowed down on the production line so the workers could spend more time on them to get the quality top notch
That was a car from a drug or some kinda bust and they ripped it apart, found whatever they wanted and just left it to die.. now it's yours!
Even here in Brazil these cars haven´t been seen on the streets in a long,long time....
Glad to see one in your channel....Hope you can be able to restore it to a running condition!
You should grab one of those soda machines for the shop
As a few comments already, it's known as a Verada here in Australia so I won't bang on about that, but I will point out also here in Australia, we have cars that run on compressed gas. We call it LPG over here. Manufacturers started installing them factory on the 90s. They sell it at the pump, at around 99c a litre where as petrol and diesel is around $1.60 a litre. The government even went through a phase where they were paying people to install the systems on their cars via a rebate but that was stopped when people stopped taking it up when the fuel prices steadied. Every single service station had LPG pumps up until recently where now new servos aren't install LPG pumps as it's getting rarer for a car to be running on it.
JR should go get all those vending machines. Bet he'd make more per day than he does with Turo....
I am from Australia and I have a car similar to this, same 6G74 3.5L V6 engine, but it is named the TJ Magna. Built in July 2000. 2000 TJ Magna Sports, it has the 5 speed auto with manual mode (P R N D and - +). Yep the V6 is pretty bulletproof if well maintained, but can suffer from oil leaks and use oil due to worn valve stem seals so regular oil top ups are important.
We used to build those in Elizabeth South Australia. We called them Magnas they came in FWD or AWD, the luxury versions where called Veradas.
They were built in Tonsley Park.. Elizabeth built the Commodores.
@@aussmash correction noted 👍🏻😂
Sounds like a 4 door Mitsubishi 3000GT / Dodge Stealth
I remember the Diamante, actually negotiated to buy a new one but could not put the deal together. The dealer only had two of them and would only discount it $250, when most cars have 4-figure discounts at the time.
Missed opportunity - you need at least one vending machine bro
Our family had a ‘95 Diamante that we bought used in ‘01 with 270k+ miles. I learned how to drive in that car, it was quick, and I loved it. Sadly, it died in an accident, but it was still going strong at 321k miles.
At the time these were on the road, it never occurred to me that these were particularly rare.
Probably rare in Kansas or Oklahoma, but there were plenty of these driving around in SoCal.
Mitsubishi sold 180K or so of these over a 15 year period. They aren't seen daily on the road, but they are still seen around every so often.
9:35 If the Mitsubishi is like a Honda, there might be a Master Window Toggle Switch on the dash that turns on & off the use of the Power Windows for the Right Front, Right Rear & Left Rear.
Not only have I seen one, I OWNED one! Had a '98, nice car but I couldn't afford to keep it on the road at the time. Wasn't impressed with it terribly.
I could literally watch a whole video of JR going through an auction talking about useless facts. Best part of the video tbh
The government would never lie 😂
Oklahoma government lies all the time. And then says something like God bless you to cover it up
The Homelink System by U.S. company Johnson Controls was invented around 1953/55. Expanded to automobiles in 1993, but officially introduced in 1995 for the automotive market.
Sometime after the economic crash of 2008 Johnson Controls moved to Ireland too avoid U.S. taxes. They were either merged into, or bought by another company. Controversy arose when they moved because the U.S. government had given them a bailout.
Before I retired I was a Chevrolet Commercial Truck finance manager. Johnson Controls was a major GMAC financee at the time. In fact the last deal I financed was to Johnson Controls.
Interesting, I worked for Johnson Controls for one shift. It sucked. They built the interiors for Suburbans and Tahoes.
Perfect car for a eBay turbo kit experiment 🤣✌️
nice content, love the car, it's nice to see you with AAR Randy after a long time, Merry X mas and happy holidays man
Almost certainly a seized vehicle!
Quad cam they go well with a manual . In aus its a magna
Fun. Nice change. Time to get back to the crusher!
I think you mean get this car back to the crusher 😂
The Mega Group dealer I worked for sold these and let me say when they were new they were spectacular . One of the best "Luxury" cars my company sold at the time. Me being a GM guy was shocked at the quality and the ride. It is a shame it never caught on.
Can I get the cams from that car? It’s an upgrade for my 3.0 Daytona.
Sure, $400 plus shipping. I'll crush the car after I pull the cams. 😂
@@WatchJRGo You’ll crush it anyway. Help a brotha out!
It may not work for mine I’m not certain. I think I’d probably need one from the first gen with just the 3.0 6g72.
JR and Randy are the reason why I bought a KTM Duke. Great bike!
Always thought of Mitsubishi as 2nd rate compared to Toyota/Honda/Nissan, at least in their boring compact/midsize sedans. Their SUV's were nice, a bit 2nd rate to Toyota or the old hardbody based Nissan Pathfinder, but about equal with Isuzu and the Jeeps, leaps and bounds better than the 90's Explorer and Chevy S dime Blazer. The 90's Eclipse and 3000GT, holy crap were those something special IMO. Yeah you paid $$$$ to get the hot performing, high horsepower ones, but even the base models looked like a million bucks and gave you much of that same feel.
The early Pajros were one of the best 4x4 you could get, by far the best 4 wheel drive system.
We had them on fleet back in the day, the only comment from our mechanics is they came "pre rusted" off the boat but never heard a peep about actual driving issues.
That is most likely a drug dealers car. I noticed fingerprint dust on drivers door.
Notorious oil burning Mitsubishi v6, they don’t tolerate dirty oil.
Big throw back to the 90s and 00 getting stuck behind one with full on blue smoke, ah the old days
"tickticktickticktick....."
Ah yes the magna Over here. I think they where even built here ( aussie )
I drove a Diamante to the Florida Keys.
It's an amazing car, you will enjoy it.