Retroautos^® can reveal the secret styling proposals for the Australian designed Mitsubishi Magna/Verada station wagon.

A local and export success, the three generations of the Magna/Verada wagons demonstrated, once again, the ingenuity and the can-do attitude that ran deep in our local car industry.

Who better to share with us the wagons’ progress from design to driveway, and take us behind the security door of the Mitsubishi Australia (MMAL) design studios in Adelaide, SA, than the wagon’s designer, Dennis Nicolle.

Dennis began work at Chrysler Australia in 1963 as an apprenticed pattern maker, moving to the design studio in 1973. From 1983 to when he retired in 2002, he led MMAL’s design efforts. It is the longest design leadership tenure of an Australian car company, and one of the longest in the world. He is also one of the seven designers featured in Shannons Design to Driveway video series. There is a link at the end of this story.

The wagon story starts with the original Magna sedan program. Once the wide body idea was approved, Dennis’s small team, which included Richard Holden, John Winter and Ross Slape, worked closely with Mitsubishi’s design team in Japan to bring the car to the market.

Work on the wagon commenced in early 1984 when MMAL’s chief engineer, Mike Stacy, walked into the design studio. Recalls Dennis:

“He casually asked me if I could do a few concept sketches of a Magna wagon. I said ‘Yes! When do you want them?’”

Dennis reviewed the wagons on sale locally and around the world. The angle of the rear pillar and tail gate would be critical to how the car looked and its load capacity.

“The Volvo had an almost vertical rear end, which was boxy looking and we did not want that. However, the marketing team wanted a load carrier to compete with Ford, so we made it about 200mm longer than the sedan. But it just did not look right. It was unbalanced. I pondered for a couple of days about what to do.In the end I lengthen the body by 100mm and put a little more forward slope on the rear pillar. It gave the car a bit of a sporty look without impacting load capacity too much. We also raised the roof line by about 70mm which added to load space. I then did various sketches from a three-quarter rear perspective and side views. Mike then took them to Japan.”

As soon as Mike returned from Japan, he went to see Dennis, and explained to him that:

“You're going to Japan next Friday night to present the sketches to their design studio managers and answer any questions about the wagon.”

Two days after Dennis’ presentation, approval was given for separate full sized exterior and interior clay models to be built in the Adelaide design studio. Says Dennis:

“When the clay models were finished, Mitsubishi’s chief designer, Shinichi Kobayashi, flew to Adelaide for a review. After a few minor changes were made, a final review meeting was held by senior management and the wagon received full approval.”

The 1985 TM Magna sedan created a new category of locally built car—a wide-bodied, internally spacious front wheel drive family sedan with a large (2.6 litre) four-cylinder engine. It won the Wheels Car of The Year Award.

The wagon appeared in 1987 as part of the TN model upgrade. It almost equaled the Falcon for load capacity. The narrow-bodied Commodore, Toyota Camry and Nissan Pintara wagons could not match the Magna.

The motoring media hailed it a success as did the buying public and fleet buyers, who appreciated the large load space and four-cylinder economy. It won an Australian Design Award in 1988. That was very gratifying for the design team.

Just as rewarding was Mitsubishi’s request for the wagon to be sold in Japan. This confirmed MMAL’s ability to build cars to the same high-quality as Japanese built vehicles. As Dennis says:

“Mitsubishi could see we knew what we were doing in Australia, and we could be counted on to deliver. It was the start of a wonderful period of co-operation and sharing of ideas for all departments, not just styling.”

Second Generation

The first-generation wagon established MMAL’s credentials with Mitsubishi’s most senior executives. As a result, Australia was chosen as the only factory for the Magna/Verada wagon worldwide, in left- and right-hand drive. Styling would be the responsibility of Dennis and his team.

There were three ambitious targets for Gen2 Magna/Verada wagons. The first was to continue the success in the Australian market. The second was export success, with a focus on the USA. The third idea was a third row of seating.

The third seat caused many issues, as Dennis recalls:

“We had to accommodate a third seat and a sunroof. To do that we developed some alternatives. On one alternative we increased the length and raised roof line. Another proposal featured a roof line with a hop up over the rear section to make room for the third seat headroom. We did many sketches and tape drawings, working closely with the drafting team. trying to fit everything inside the car. We used crash test dummies to work out the ergonomics. In the end we did not go with the third seat concept so we cut back on the length a little to get the balance back into the car. Then we did a full-sized see-through clay model.”

The Gen2 sedan was released in April 1991 and the wagon in May 1992. From MMAL’s perspective the wagon was an exports success, with shipments to the USA, Canada, New Zealand, UK, Middle East, Puerto Rico and Japan. The exports added much production volume and revenue to MMAL.

Badged as the Mitsubishi Diamante in the US, the wagon competed against the Toyota Camry, the locally built Honda Accord and Ford's Topaz. On a business trip to the USA, Dennis saw “his” wagon on a suburban street in South Carolina. It was a proud moment.

“It was a bit of a shock to see a car made in Australia in South Carolina. I was so proud of it and I really wanted to walk up to the owner and say, ‘Hey you know what, my team and I did that car in Australia’… But I didn’t.”

Third Generation

Production of the Gen3 Magna/Verada ran from 1996 to 2005 and comprised many model code changes, styling tweaks, equipment upgrades and warranty extensions to keep sales moving in a market that had seen the arrival of the VT Commodore and BA Falcon.

During the planning for the Gen3, three-row seating was considered again. Dennis and his team worked on higher roof line designs including the “hop up”, and made many visits to Mitsubishi’s global design studio, located within the company’s technical center in Okazaki near Nagoya.

The sedan’s frameless door glass provided the opportunity to create an almost seamless expanse of glass from the front to the rear pillars on the wagon. It gave the impression that wagon was a hardtop.

Of the Magna/Verada sedan, Wheels editor Phil Scott wrote in the November 1996 edition that it was:

“…the best quality piece our car industry has ever produced, a model which requires not an ounce of apology or the hint of a cringe on the world stage.”

In May 2001 Olivier Boulay, was appointed global head of Mitsubishi design. One of Boulay’s first decisions was a new front end for the 2003 TL/KL Magna/Verada. This was imposed on MMAL by Boulay during a series of meetings in Adelaide and Japan in June 2001, after Dennis and his team had created their own new “face”.

At the launch of the TL/KL sedan, GoAuto reported in its 23^rd June 2003 edition that Boulay said of the new front end:

“I think it will polarise opinion…(if) people say 'I love that or I hate that', then that's good, because you have provoked them and created a discussion, something to talk about.”

GoAuto was more cautious, warning:

“In the conservative Aussie large car market, challenging styling can lead to sales disappointment - the most recent example being the AU Falcon. It's a risk Mr Boulay is aware of and prepared to take.”

Boulay’s front end alienated potential buyers. He left Mitsubishi in 2004. Commented GoAuto in its 16^th June 2004 edition:

“Mr Boulay’s first attempts at the new style…has received few positive reviews. The downturn in Magna sales has in part been blamed on the car’s styling.”

Our Loss

The Gen3 was the last of Mitsubishi’s station wagons. With the increasing popularity of SUVs, such as Ford’s Territory and Toyota’s RAV 4, wagons were no longer Australian families’ preferred mode of transport.

For me, the Magna/Verada wagon, and its export success, is yet another reminder of what the Australian automotive industry was capable of achieving with minimal resources and smart thinking. It is a success we should be celebrating.

So, next time you see a Magna/Verada wagon, please stop and recall the effort which went into taking it from Dennis’s drawings in a styling studio in suburban Adelaide to driveways across the world.

Special Thanks

The sketches and photos used in this story are part of a collection at the National Motoring Museum in South Australia. A special thanks to Matthew Lombard, the museum’s curator, who championed our access to the collection, and to Dennis Nicolle and former Chrysler/Mitsubishi designer Paul Blatch for their work, insights and comments. MMAL also granted us permission to publish the visual content.

This is the fifth in a series which traces the design to driveway development of Chrysler/Mitsubishi cars in Australia. The previous Retroautos^® editions showcased never before seen photos of styling proposals of the Valiant, Charger and Drifter. A future edition of Retroautos^® will feature more secret styling proposals for the Magna, Verada, 380 and a “Chrysler” Verada.

Here are the links:

Design to Driveway, Never seen Valiants, Never seen Chargers, Drifter Van, More never seen Valiants

Retroautos^® is written and published by David Burrell with passion and with pride. A very special thanks for Dennis Nicolle and Paul Blatch for their insights and recollections. Retroautos^® stories and images are copyrighted. Reproducing them in any format is prohibited. Retroautos^® is a registered trademark. Reproducing it in any format is prohibited.