Mitsubishi Galant 1st generation (A51/52/14/16/17L)

When Mitsuhashi returned from his studies in the United States, Managing Director Kubo ordered him to design a new passenger car, saying, "Whatever it takes, I want a car with good style." The plan was to also commission a proposal from Giugiaro in Italy and have it compete with the in-house designers. After meeting Giugiaro himself in Turin, Mitsuhashi felt a strong sense of rivalry and drew a beltline that rose smoothly from the low front and kicked up sharply just ahead of the rear pillar. It was the beginning of what would later be called the wedge shape. At the review held in January, almost all the executives said Giugiaro's proposal should be the basis of the final design. Kubo, however, overturned everyone's opinion, saying it would be enough to take the in-house model as the base and add the good points of the Italian model.

Even after the basic shape was decided, the team kept patiently refining the details. Many front grille proposals were made and examined, and the one finally chosen was based on vertical bars, put forward by Hideaki Yoshizawa, a young designer in his third year at the company. The vertical-bar pattern was carried over to the area around the tail lamps, giving the whole car a sense of unity. The Colt Galant, launched in December, became Mitsubishi's first hit, helped by the catchphrase "Dyna-Wedge Line", which put "dynamic" in front of the designers' term "wedge".