Making Cars @ Tonsley Park - The Mitsubishi Story (Pt.2)

The History Trust of South Australia commissioned Malcolm McKinnon to produce this film to document the closure of the Mitsubishi car manufacturing plant at Tonsley Park in Adelaide, Australia on 31 March 2008. The film looks at the history of the plant from its beginnings under Chrysler, through to the subsequent takeover by Mitsubishi. Interviews with employees from all levels within the company, give an insight into their memories and opinions of what ultimately led to the closure of the plant.
© Malcolm McKinnon & History Trust of South Australia, 2008

[@Dom-uf7xq]

2005 DB 380VRX 5Speed Owner-Greatest car ive owned goes great not that bad on fuel either and compared to other cars around same price this is the best Value for money

[@donamorawaka4907]

The Australian car industry will never be the same again :(

[@stevenjgrundy6765]

Yep, You got that right.

[@putonewhiskey]

Anyone who owned a Sigma Magna or 380 knew they build quality was far above the rivals. Great product always....really sad to see it go south. Still have my mint 1992 Magna Elite in the shed, will never sell it. Its a legacy to our family and the generations of Valiant , Sigma, Magna and 380 cars we have owned and enjoyed. To this day our new Camry is noisier and more uncomfortable then our beloved Elite. Well done to all the team at Tonsley Park.....You will be missed forever

[@jnthepassenger347]

Wasn’t a fan of the Sigma, the Astron motor in those was a piece of absolute SHIT. Other than that, absolutely great cars. I’m actually saving up to grab myself a 380.

[@freeagent8225]

There is nothing wrong with the 380 except it didn't sell. Well built a credit to all the workers. A great relaxed country car. Will hang into my 380.

[@GForceVRX]

I own 2 Magna's, both are manual, best cars I've ever owned! Fast, comfortable and I love the looks of them too

[@pcorf]

I have a TJ Magna Sports but with Auto. Yep, it has been reliable for many years.

[@petergracemeguide1280]

I'm proud of my late uncle who started as an apprentice mechanic at Chrysler who went on to become Mitsubishi test driver. It's swayed our broad family s purchases of car s even today many drive Mitsubishi s. I'm proud of friends and other work colleagues who did work for Chrysler and Mitsubishi it added a dynamic to SA GREAT. . I have has Vh Pacers X 2, 5 sigma turbos, I currently have 3 AWD magna s and they are brilliant on terrible country roads . And country fuel economy is good. The cars are easy to work on unlike most other modern or competition s JUNK. 17 of my 40 cars in my use and collection are Mitsubishi. Thankyou for all those who worked on them. As to the politicians you should be on treason charges for letting our manafacture industries down. This in today and age is of national security

[@trickyx12000]

sorry guys its all a too familiar story, ex rover (longbridge england ) car employee, now in adelaide.

[@SimsMovieCreater]

My mate owns a manual 380 VRX and im honestly surprised by the amount of standard equipment and materials used

[@freeagent8225]

After renting a lot of cars bought a low km 380. Eight years on still get a kick out if driving it. Brilliant country car. Nothing is perfect, weak front end styling, huge turning circle, not a lot of space to work on it. A very happy owner. 31/3 is always a sad day for me.

[@kulotzification]

@Strike86 thank you so much for appreciating our products,,,now were making here a rvr,,but asx in canada,,it is usv,,,and a colt R..

[@Rowdyeh]

Thanks for posting this, it brought back a lot of memories! Happy Xmas!

[@johnvirus01]

such a shame. i have a TJ VR-X ad love it to bits! find it funny that holden took grants to continue then closed down the factory and no one said a word, yet there was talk back in 2008 that they wanted Mitsu to pay back some of its funding.

[@maxlaughton2921]

Its hard to believe this was nearly 20 years ago now

[@perpetualgrin5804]

My 380, coming up to 19 years old.

[@kulotzification]

thank you so much for your reply...god bless

[@s8wc3]

Don't take this as a jab, but if no-one wanted a full sized sedan, then how come the BF Falcon outsold the 380 4.5 times over? I was pretty young at the time so I don't know what the public opinion of the car was. Did they not like that it was FWD? Did the competition *really* drive better to the point that it was worth the (after price drops, significant) extra cash? Was it the styling? Simply just low confidence in Mitsubishi staying afloat, which ended up causing their demise?

[@davidgriffin2918]

Build quality far better than ford and holden, its a shame there is so many euro cars now , they are so crap and expensive to fix.

[@trevorquinnell8515]

Ive got four valiants ive collected would you guys be interested in doing them up and making new videos of the valiant mopars they all run very minimal work to be done on them

[@mvnorsel6354]

380 the best car to ever close a factory.

[@rosskelly8268]

One of the big problems with the 380 in my opinion was the bland/weak styling. Whoever styled this car - or whoever decided not to Australianise that front end - bears responsibility. 380 was a good car. It's front styling said NOTHING. I am actually still angry about it.

[@rocknral]

You're very correct. To me it looks like the designers that were sacked for the AU Falcon debacle got jobs at Mitsubishi. Such a bland look it was terrible. Nice car though.

[@peterlogan706]

Probably didn’t help with their advertising, until the bend motor sport track was built and I seen it was at the old Mitsubishi test track I had no idea Mitsubishi’s were even built in Australia 🤷‍♂️ would it make a difference to me ? Possibly not but I do like to support Australian so yeah.

[@SLB4523]

Aussies in general didn’t like FWDrive cars. And the re-work procedures for production damages or replacement was woefully stupid and ill- conceived. Hugely expensive. I spent more time on overtime, 7 days a week/12 hour (or more) days than I did on the line, reworking damages. A particularly galling practice was continuing to build the car around parts that were short on supply and then later deconstructing the car to fit the missing parts, which inevitably led to trim damages necessitating replacement, often several times per car. Rank stupidity.

[@chargin48]

wow awesome dude, we not long got a 02 sport 5 speed, im very impressed, the 380 must be tops, we get good fuel out of it too, even me paj does ok

[@jx4312]

380 was never a large car compared to ford, holden,toyota,and popular 4wd of the time,but australians do prefer rear wheel drive and the sportier performance 6cyl-v8 models upgrades of the everyday base models..

[@Redblower]

bullshit JX look at 2:40 in the video

[@REPOMAN24722]

Mitsubishi should differentiate themselves and should have made the lancer or a locally designed alternative here.

[@PULSE88]

Good On Ya Mate.

[@kulotzification]

helo there,,,mitsubishi australia..is still operating?i just wanmt to know coz im working here in mitsubishi japan nagoya..and i want to know something about mitsubishi australia..

[@Strike86]

@kulotzification My car (2002 Galant) was made at Okazaki. You guys do great work! ^_^

[@AeroAngle]

What kind of training do u need to get this job?

[@AndyRRR0791]

It was a design with zero aspiration so there's no surprise noone wanted it. If the management couldn't see it coming from the design studio they were in the wrong job.

[@willross4125]

Can robots make create fuel.

[@TheNightDriver]

mitsubishi australia no longer manufacture any cars in australia

[@mebeasensei]

But SUVs are just as big and petrol-guzzling as a family sedan, are they not?

[@donamorawaka4907]

Ford is closing in 2016

[@willross4125]

Magna engine are grunty

[@MsBryton]

sell this car in malaysia ,it will sell like a crazy boy

[@sutherlandA1]

Bryton Loh they tried, they nearly made a deal with proton to sell it as a new perdana

[@petergoodwin2465]

Best car ever made in Australia was the valiant, even to this day I would take a 265 Hemi over a barra . They had the best V8 that ran forever. I've got a 360 that blows the wife's VF SS v away easy. Can't even compare a Hemi 6 to a Holden 202 or Ford 250 boat anchor. My old 77 regal se has over a million k's on it and still puts modern cars to shame . Best thing I've ever done was buy a Chrysler and get rid of my Ford's and holdens.

[@user-kd5xd8un6l]

380 is a fantastic car still.

[@Redblower]

At 2:40 is the reason the 380 failed...not that it was no good as the journos all crap on about

[@chargin48]

a piece of history gone

[@peterpiper831]

The styling was an.... acquired taste. Add that to the other reasons.

[@adrianc3743]

Should have built the ASX instead.......would still be there.....

[@user-kd5xd8un6l]

nope

[@PULSE88]

Shame