If you were at last weekend's 4th Philippine International Motor Show and you happened to stop by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines' booth, you probably saw the crowd that never seemed to dissipate around the all-new Mirage subcompact hatchback.

The Mirage is MMPC's entry to the highly competitive subcompact car segment, which we've written about numerous times both in print and online. And the Pop Green Metallic-colored unit you saw on display at the show? It's actually very special since it's the very first left-hand-drive model to roll out of Mitsubishi's Laem Chabang plant in Thailand.

That's right, it's the very first--and so far, the only--left-hand-drive unit to be made at Mitsubishi's sole Mirage manufacturing facility in the world.

"We asked Mitsubishi Thailand to make a left-hand-drive unit specifically for the show so they had to squeeze it in while continuing to produce right-hand-drive units for Thailand and other right-hand-drive markets," said MMPC ad and promo manager Arlan Reyes.

Reyes added that the unit on display still isn't a Philippine-specification model, but it is "pretty close to it."   

So, if you're a serious car collector and you want to add the very first left-hand-drive, sixth-generation Mitsubishi Mirage to your collection, you could perhaps make MMPC an offer it can't refuse.

We've also been told by MMPC that, as of the motor show's closing last Sunday, August 19, it had already received over 80 reservations for the Mirage.

Photo by Marlon 'Taz' Dacumos