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CUSHY-SOFT, come-hither bucket seats. Wall-to-wall, cut-pilecarpeting. A stereo sound system that’ll blast you from here todoomsday. Big aluminum wheels and a racy little engine.

That’s the 1987 Mitsubishi SPX 4WD. Mitsubishi officials call this atruck. They’ve got to be kidding.

Can you imagine climbing into this one with dirty boots? How aboutplopping down your soiled and sweaty body onto one of those deep-velourseats? Get outta here.

This ain’t no truck, Vern. It’s country music at the Waldorf Astoria,chitlins at a cocktail party. Heck, it’s diced watermelon.

But, you know what? I really like this, ahem, vehicle. It’s anunmitigated hoot, a thumbing of the nose at automotive convention. And,besides, I never liked getting dirty anyway.

Outstanding complaint: The SPX 4WD does not feel as “tight” as somecompetitive compact trucks. There are some wiggles in the rear body,particularly noticeable on rough roads.

Mitsubishi’s public relations people say that the SPX 4WD has “adistinctively macho stance.” Perhaps. But “stance” is one thing,performance is another. A little more engineering and a little lessdesigner ruggedness would be appreciated here.

Outstanding praise: This is the perfect car as truck, a marketingnotion that has sent pickup-truck sales soaring in recent years. If itweren’t for the 6-foot-long, 5-foot-wide cargo box attached to the rear,the SPX 4WD could sell as a luxury sedan.

This four-wheel-drive vehicle has a tremendously comfortableinterior. And here, Mitsubishi deserves applause for safety. The twohave headrests, and the seatbelts in this thing fit snugly and pull youback quickly in panic stops.

Ride, acceleration and handling: In planning the SPX 4WD,Mitsubishi’s engineers set out to “reduce the harshness, noise andvibration often associated with small trucks” — that is, to givetheir truck “car-like ride and handling” without sacrificing trucktoughness.

The engineers almost reached both goals. The harshness and most ofthe vibration are gone, but they have to tighten up that wiggly rearend.

Acceleration is perfect. Credit that 2.6-liter, inline, 4-cylinder,single-overhead-cam gasoline engine.

Special features: Four-wheel-drive in the SPX is “part-time,” whichmeans it can be used only on wet and snowy roads, if you like, oroff-road. Shifting into four-wheel-drive is easy with the SPX’stwo-speed transfer case and automatically locking hubs.

The SPX 4WD is also equipped with skid plates to protect vulnerableunderbody components, should you ever feel giddy enough to take thisluxo-truck into the mud or over rocks.

Head-turning-quotient: Truly flashy.

Sound system: Phenomenal. Beats some high-line German and U.S.systems. AM/FM stereo radio and cassette with graphic equalizer, all byMitsubishi.

Mileage: About 20 to the gallon (15.7-gal tank), combinedcity-highway, running with two occupants in two-wheel-drive most of thetime. No extra cargo. The test model is equipped with an overdrive,5-speed-manual gearbox, which improves fuel efficiency.

Price-as-tested: $11,906, including $2,000 in options, such as the$750 stereo system. Fancy ain’t cheap.