Kojiro Maruyama, an engineer at General Motors, had bought a scooter back with him from America. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was so impressed, we invited him to join us and start work on a Japanese-made version.

The first prototype was completed in 1946. It was powered by a 112cc 4-stroke side-valve air-cooled single-cylinder engine developing 1.5 PS. The scooter was named the Silver Pigeon and went into mass production at the beginning of 1947. Production continued for 18 years and this modest little scooter became a major contributor not only the company's success, but also to Japan's post-war reconstruction.