Silver Pigeon

Triggering the Scooter Boom

In 1946, another trend in the mode of transportation was in the making at Mitsubishi. It was the year in which the C-10 Silver Pigeon adopting the 1-cylinder, 4-cycle, 112cc NE10 engine was first introduced to the market. What made it so special was that the Silver Pigeon triggered the beginning of the scooter boom in Japan at a time when 4-wheel domestic motor vehicle transportation was in very short supply. Its popularity extended from everyday personal use to government motor vehicle pools. For three consecutive years from 1954 to 1956, the Silver Pigeon was voted best in styling by the readers of the "Motor Cyclist". For a period of fifteen years from 1950 to 1964 this remarkable scooter maintained on the average, a little over 45% of the scooter market share. Most popular among the various models was the C-200 Silver Pigeon of which over 37,900 units were manufactured from 1959 to 1961. Production of the Mitsubishi Silver Pigeon was terminated in 1965 after a span of almost twenty years and the production total of over 463,000 units.