On 29 May 2026, Mitsubishi Motors published a short press release that ended five years of rumour: the company’s all-new cross-country SUV would be called Pajero. On 2 September 2026 it was revealed to the world. The timing carries its own quiet poetry: the announcement landed 44 years, almost to the month, after the first Pajero went on sale in May 1982.
Between those two dates sits one of the great 4×4 stories: more than 3.29 million vehicles produced across four generations, exports to over 170 countries, a record 12 Dakar Rally victories, and a following in South Africa that never really accepted the 2021 discontinuation as final.
This is the complete story, every generation, the Dakar dynasty, the technology that changed the segment, why the badge went quiet, and what the 2026 return means on this side of the equator.
Before the Pajero: an idea decades in the making
Mitsubishi’s four-wheel-drive lineage reaches back to the PX33 prototype of the mid-1930s, but the Pajero’s direct ancestors appeared at the Tokyo Motor Show: a rugged concept in 1973, followed by the open-topped Pajero II design study of 1979, built on the chassis of the Forte 4WD pickup. The production model broke cover at the 1981 Tokyo show, and sales began in May 1982, replacing the licence-built Jeep wagon Mitsubishi had assembled since the 1950s.
The name came from Leopardus pajeros, the Pampas cat of southern South America. Why some markets know the same vehicle as the Montero or the Shogun is a story of its own. We cover it in full in our Pajero vs Montero vs Shogun naming guide.
Generation 1 (1982–1991): the blueprint
The first Pajero arrived as a three-door, short-wheelbase 4×4 with a metal or canvas top and the round headlights that still define the model’s face for many enthusiasts. Mitsubishi’s pitch was unusual for the time: proper off-road hardware paired with passenger-car comfort, aimed squarely at the Range Rover and Land Cruiser rather than the agricultural end of the market.
The range grew quickly. A five-door long-wheelbase model arrived in July 1983, turbodiesel power in 1984, and the plush Exceed flagship of 1987 brought two-tone paint and equipment levels that previewed where the entire 4×4 segment was heading. By the end of its run, the first generation had sold around 630,000 units.
Competition credibility came even faster. The Pajero entered the Paris–Dakar in 1983 and won its class first time out. A year later, Andrew Cowan brought one home third overall. In 1985, only its third attempt, Patrick Zaniroli and co-driver Jean da Silva took outright victory, the first ever for a Japanese vehicle, with Cowan second in another Pajero. A dynasty had begun.
Generation 2 (1991–1999): the golden era
January 1991’s second generation is the Pajero most people picture: bigger, squarer, and carrying the innovation that still defines the badge. Super Select 4WD. For the first time, drivers could shift from rear-wheel drive to full-time four-wheel drive on the move at up to 100 km/h, with a lockable centre differential and proper low range in a single system. Nothing else in the class offered that blend, and it remains the Pajero’s calling card today. Our complete Super Select 4WD guide explains exactly how the system works and how to use it.
Gen 2 also introduced Multi-Mode ABS, an optional 3.5-litre V6, a three-row seating model, and the famous dash-top Multi Meter pod with its inclinometer, altimeter and compass. In Japan it led the 1990s recreational-vehicle boom outright, spinning off the Pajero Mini in 1994, the Pajero Junior in 1995 and the Pajero iO in 1998.
Two Gen 2 footnotes matter to collectors. The 1997–1999 Pajero Evolution, a wide-arched, 3.5-litre MIVEC homologation special built so Mitsubishi could keep contesting the Dakar’s production class, was limited to roughly 2,700 road cars by Mitsubishi Australia’s count, and values keep climbing. And the 1998–99 “blister fender” facelift models carry a premium of their own among South African buyers.
Generation 3 (1999–2006): the reinvention
Gen 3 was the gamble. Mitsubishi abandoned the separate chassis for a monocoque body with integrated frame rails, fitted fully independent suspension at all four corners, dropped the floor, and upgraded Super Select to SS4-II with a rear-biased centre differential. The 3.2-litre direct-injection turbodiesel, the first appearance of the 4M41 engine family, replaced the old 2.8.
Traditionalists worried the Pajero had gone soft. The rally results said otherwise: the streak of seven straight Dakar wins began in 2001, in the era of the Gen 3-based racers. On the road it rode and steered like nothing body-on-frame could match, while wheel articulation and clearance kept it honest off it.
Generation 4 (2006–2021): the long road
The fourth generation refined the third rather than replacing it, the same fundamental architecture with sharper looks, a stronger 3.2 common-rail turbodiesel and a 3.8-litre V6 at the top of the range. On paper: 220 mm of ground clearance, and no wading depth, because Mitsubishi never published one for the Gen 4. In the real world: a 4M41 diesel that is routinely documented past 300,000 km and returns 11–13 L/100 km in mixed driving.
It stayed in production for 15 years, long enough to become the default serious family 4×4 for a generation of South Africans, before Mitsubishi called time. Two Final Editions closed it out, and they are routinely confused: 700 cars for the Japanese market in August 2019, then the genuine last 800 built in March 2021, most of which went to Australia. By then more than 3.29 million had been produced across four generations, and the dedicated plant that built them was sold to a paper company. We tell that story in where the Pajero was built. For SA buyers shopping used today, the 2007–2015 pre-DPF window remains the sweet spot; our guide to the best Pajero generation to buy covers the details, engine by engine.
The Dakar dynasty
No vehicle owns the Dakar the way the Pajero does: 12 overall victories, including seven consecutive from 2001 to 2007, a streak recognised by Guinness World Records, plus around 150 stage wins along the way. The nickname “King of the Desert” was earned, not marketed.
- 1983: Class win on debut in the Paris–Dakar.
- 1985: Patrick Zaniroli takes the first outright victory, the first for any Japanese vehicle.
- 1997: Kenjiro Shinozuka becomes the first Japanese driver to win the Dakar outright.
- 1998: Jean-Pierre Fontenay adds another Pajero victory.
- 2001: Jutta Kleinschmidt becomes the first, and still the only, woman to win the Dakar, in a Pajero.
- 2002–2003: Hiroshi Masuoka wins back to back.
- 2004, 2005, 2007: Stéphane Peterhansel’s hat-trick, with Luc Alphand’s 2006 win in between, completes the seven-year streak.
The full year-by-year record, with every winning driver and car, lives in our Pajero Dakar Rally history hub.
The five generations at a glance
| Generation | Years | Construction | 4WD system | Defining trait |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gen 1 | 1982–1991 | Body-on-frame | Part-time 4WD | Round-light original; first Dakar win (1985) |
| Gen 2 | 1991–1999 | Body-on-frame | Super Select 4WD (SS4) | RV-boom icon; Evolution homologation; blister fender |
| Gen 3 | 1999–2006 | Monocoque with integrated rails | Super Select 4WD-II | Independent-suspension revolution; 4M41 debut |
| Gen 4 | 2006–2021 | Monocoque, evolved | Super Select 4WD-II | The 300,000 km long-hauler; SA family favourite |
| Gen 5 | 2026– | Triton-based ladder frame | Super Select 4WD-II with S-AWC | The comeback flagship; revealed 2 September 2026 |
The wider Pajero family
The Pajero name travelled well beyond the five main generations. Through the 1990s especially, Mitsubishi built a whole family around the original:
- Pajero Mini (1994): a kei-class Pajero for Japan, with a 20-valve intercooled turbo and Easy Select 4WD. A second generation followed in 1998 to meet new kei-car regulations.
- Pajero Junior (1995): a 1.1-litre model for buyers who found the Pajero too big and the Mini too small.
- Challenger (1996): built on the second-generation Pajero’s chassis with a lower, more urban stance, and sold in North America as the Montero Sport.
- Pajero Evolution (1997): the 3.5-litre homologation special, covered in full in our Pajero Evolution V55W guide.
- Pajero iO (1998): the Junior’s successor, with a 1.8-litre GDI engine and Super Select 4WD-i, designed with Pininfarina, which also built it in Italy for Europe as the Pajero Pinin.
The Mini, Junior, iO and Pinin each get the full story, with specifications and photos, in The Small Pajeros: Mini, Junior, iO and Pinin Explained.
The quiet years (2021–2026)
Why did it end? Not from lack of love. By the late 2010s the Pajero’s bespoke platform needed a ground-up rebuild to meet tightening emissions and safety rules, and the business case for a heavy-duty flagship no longer stacked up. Sales had tapered globally. The decision was economics, not capability.
In South Africa the badge never left showrooms entirely: the Triton-based Pajero Sport carried it forward with the 2.4 MIVEC turbodiesel, eight-speed automatic and Super Select II. Meanwhile, clean fourth-generation wagons quietly became appreciating assets. At the time of writing, 2020–2021 3.2 Di-DC GLS examples are listed on SA classifieds between roughly R660,000 and R880,000, with low-mileage short-wheelbase cars at the top of that band. Condition and history move those numbers substantially. Treat them as a market snapshot, not a valuation.
2026: the legend returns
Mitsubishi revealed the all-new Pajero on 2 September 2026, positioning it as a new-generation flagship. It sits on a highly rigid ladder frame, the 29 May announcement confirmed it is based on the Triton’s, with model-specific cabin and suspension development, and Mitsubishi says it will lead the Pajero models that follow. As before, some markets will know it as the Montero.
The headline for owners is the drivetrain. Super Select 4WD-II survives intact (2H, 4H, 4HLc and 4LLc, with a lockable centre differential and proper low range), and Mitsubishi’s S-AWC vehicle dynamics control is layered on top of it rather than replacing it. Power comes from a 2.4-litre clean diesel with a single variable-geometry turbo, making 480 Nm (470 Nm on some specifications), through a newly developed eight-speed automatic. The classic Multi Meter returns in digital form; the backstory is in our history of the Pajero’s Multi Meter.
Production is in Thailand. The Pajero goes on sale there first, then in Japan and Australia during Mitsubishi’s 2026 financial year, which runs to March 2027, with a wider rollout to around 100 countries from fiscal 2027. South Africa was not named in the launch announcement, and Mitsubishi Motors South Africa has not yet confirmed local timing or pricing. We will update this page the moment that changes.
Still unknown: power output, which Mitsubishi did not publish, along with wading depth, towing capacity and South African specification. The full confirmed specification, and how it compares with what we predicted, is in our coverage of the 2027 Pajero reveal.
What 44 years means in South Africa
Spend an evening at any SA 4×4 club campfire and the Pajero stories surface unprompted: second-gens that have crossed Botswana’s sand year after year, fourth-gens deep into their third hundred-thousand kilometres still towing trailers up the escarpment. That accumulated, lived experience, not the brochure, is why the badge kept its following through five quiet years.
The practical case has aged well too. The parts ecosystem for Gen 2 through Gen 4 is mature, specialist knowledge is widespread, and the 4M41’s reputation was earned on our fuel and our roads. The honest caveats still apply: later DPF-equipped diesels want regular open-road running, coastal cars need a proper underbody rust inspection, and early Gen 3 electronics deserve a careful pre-purchase check.
The 2026 model inherits all of that goodwill, and all of that scrutiny. A ladder frame and Super Select 4WD-II are the right ingredients; whether the new Pajero earns its place at the same campfires will be decided the way it always has been: on the trail. Every generation. Every trail.
Frequently asked questions
When was the first Mitsubishi Pajero launched?
The production Pajero made its public debut at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 1981, and sales began in May 1982. That makes 2026 the nameplate’s 44th year, and Mitsubishi marked it by announcing the all-new, fifth-generation Pajero on 29 May 2026 and revealing it on 2 September.
How many times has the Mitsubishi Pajero won the Dakar Rally?
Twelve overall victories, the most of any vehicle in Dakar history, including seven consecutive wins from 2001 to 2007, a streak recognised by Guinness World Records, plus around 150 stage wins. The first outright victory came in 1985 with Patrick Zaniroli, the first ever for a Japanese vehicle.
Why was the Mitsubishi Pajero discontinued in 2021?
Slowing global sales and the cost of re-engineering a bespoke heavy-duty platform for modern emissions and safety rules made a fifth generation unviable at the time. Mitsubishi closed the chapter with two Final Editions, 700 cars for Japan in 2019 and a final 800 in March 2021, ending a run of more than 3.29 million Pajeros produced across four generations.
Is the Mitsubishi Pajero coming back?
Yes. Mitsubishi revealed the all-new Pajero on 2 September 2026. It goes on sale first in Thailand, then in Japan and Australia during Mitsubishi’s 2026 financial year, which runs to March 2027, with around 100 countries following from fiscal 2027. South African timing and pricing have not yet been announced.
Which Pajero generation is the best to buy in South Africa?
For most SA buyers, a fourth-generation Pajero from the 2007–2015 pre-DPF window is the sweet spot: the 3.2-litre 4M41 turbodiesel is routinely documented past 300,000 km, parts support is strong, and Super Select 4WD-II handles everything from the N1 to the Kgalagadi. Budget on 11–13 L/100 km in mixed driving.
Sources and further reading
- Mitsubishi Motors global press release, 29 May 2026, official confirmation of the all-new Pajero and autumn 2026 world premiere.
- Mitsubishi Motors, November 2023: first-generation Pajero inducted into the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame, with official production and Dakar figures.
- Mitsubishi Motors Australia: All-New Pajero. The manufacturer’s own heritage timeline, including the Pajero Evolution production figure.
- Mitsubishi Motors global press release, 2 September 2026: world premiere of the all-new Pajero, with confirmed specifications, markets and production figures.
- Mitsubishi Motors: Pajero History, the official model timeline, including the Pajero Mini, Junior, Challenger, Evolution and iO.
- Unsealed 4×4, Remembering the Dakar Pajero, detailed retrospective on the 1983–2007 factory Dakar campaigns.
- Wikipedia: Mitsubishi Pajero, general reference for generation timelines and market naming.
- Man of Many: analysis of the discontinuation and what the 2026 return needs to deliver.
Last updated 19 September 2026, after the all-new Pajero’s world premiere, and checked against Mitsubishi’s official Pajero history timeline, with thanks to Wilson in Australia for pointing us to it. South African pricing and launch timing will be added once Mitsubishi Motors South Africa confirms them.