The Mitsubishi Silver Pigeon is a series of scooters made in Japan by Mitsubishi between 1946 and 1963.[1] The first was the C-10, based on a scooter imported from the United States by Koujiro Maruyama, which began production at the Nagoya Machinery Works of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.[2] Along with the Mizushima three-wheeler pickup truck it represented Mitsubishi's first contributions to the Japanese post-war personal transport boom.[3] The Silver Pigeons primary competitor was the Fuji Rabbit, and in 1954, the Honda Juno.
The Silver Pigeon proved sufficiently successful to remain in production for almost twenty years. Motor Cyclist magazine voted it "best in styling" for three consecutive years in the 1950s, a decade after its introduction, while from 1950 to 1964 it maintained an average 45 percent share of the domestic scooter market.[4] By the time production came to an end in 1963 over 463,000 had been manufactured, with the 1960 C-200 proving the most popular individual model, with almost 38,000 sales.[4]
| Year |
Model |
Specification |
| 1946 |
C-10 |
NE10 112 cc, 1.5 PS |
| 1948 |
C-11 |
|
| 1950 |
C-25 |
|
| 1953 |
C-26 |
|
| 1955 |
C-57 |
192 cc single-cylinder engine |
| 1955 |
C-70 |
125 cc two-stroke |
| 1957 |
C-90 |
200 cc |
| 1958 |
C-93 |
210 cc |
| 1960 |
C-111 |
210 cc four-stroke |
| 1960 |
C-200 |
125 cc two-stroke |
| 1960 |
C-300 |
125 cc two-stroke |
| 1960 |
C-76 |
192 cc four-stroke |
| 1960 |
C-110 |
175 cc |
| 1960 |
C-300 |
125 cc two-stroke single-cylinder engine |
| 1961 |
C-110 |
175 cc four-stroke, 8.3 hp |
| 1963 |
C-140 |
125 cc two-stroke twin cylinder engine, 8 hp, three-speed transmission, 143 kg |
| 1963 |
C-240 |
143 cc two-stroke twin cylinder engine, 9.2 hp, three-speed transmission, 143 kg |
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