The Mitsubishi FTO is a Japanese sports car, displaying the key characteristics of a sports coupe with a front mounted engine and front wheel drive. Launched in 1994 the sporty coupe was originally designed as a Japanese exclusive, though import popularity throughout the world led to a number of cars being sold via dealerships abroad.

Over 36,000 FTO's have been created since it first launched, with 20,000 produced in the first year of manufacture, 10,000 in the second year and slowing reducing to 160 in the final year of production.

Three engine options were available for the Mitsubishi FTO. The standard 1800cc straight 4 16 valve engines gave 123 bhp at 6,000 rpm and featured in the GS model. The GR saw the introduction of a 2000cc 24 valve V6 engine, giving the driver 168 bhp at 7,000 rpm and noticeably quicker performance than the GS. An up rated version of the GR engine was introduced for the GPX with the same 2000cc engine delivering 197 bhp at 7,500 rpm and the fastest FTO produced.

The Mitsubishi FTO had the option of 3 different transmission types throughout its life. In 1994 customers had the choice of either a 5 speed manual transmission or a 4 speed semi automatic transmission. In 1997 a 5 speed semi automatic transmission was introduced for a better performance top end.

The FTO won the Car of the Year Japan award in 1994 and as a tribute, a special edition of the GPX was manufactured. Only 207 cars were produced during April 1995, of which 20 had manual transmissions and the remaining 187 were automatic.

The FTO underwent a facelift in 1997 with a number of modifications made to the exterior of the car. The Mitsubishi FTO saw modifications to the front bumper with a larger air intake and remodelled front splitter. The headlights of the car were also changed through adding side lights.

The facelift model of the FTO was treated to a special edition in the form of the GP Version R. The car was only produced in three colours white, red and black as well as featuring a unique interior. Colour coded seats were introduced to match the exterior colour of the car, as well as improved suspension and a redesigned spoiler. The model was designed as a light weight racer and as a result a number of the gadgets were left out such as electrically folding mirrors.