The Car That Became A Colt
When you imagine a classic car maybe you envisage a Triumph or perhaps a polished well-treasured Jaguar, but it is unlikely that the Mitsubishi Colt would be number one on your mental list. However, at nearly 50 years old the Colts you are able to get completely new today are the consequence of half a century of sophisticated, smart design and style, causing them to be an unnoticed modern classic.
The very first Colt models were debuted at the 9th Tokyo Motorshow in 1962.The five-seat, 2 door Mitsubishi Colt 600 was powered by an air-cooled 594 cc twin cylinder OHV engine together with a top speed of 62mph. Produced in Mitsubishi’s Okazaki manufacturing plant the passenger sedan, a successor for the successful Mitsubishi 500 Super Deluxe, placed second and third in the under 600 cc category of the 1963 Malaysian Grand Prix.
The Colt 600’s smart sleek and stylish look was born from the necessity to take advantage of local Japanese tax and insurance limitations, and in most non-urban regions it was exempted from the prerequisite to certify that sufficient parking was available for the vehicle.
Following the success of the 600 design the larger compact Colt 1000 was created in 1963, then the Colt 800 and Colt 1500 in 1965, and the Colt 1100 in 1966. As Mitsubishi Motors started to grow internationally the English were at first treated to an completely different interpretation of the Colt brand, as all Mitsubishis were sold under that marque in the United Kingdom by the freshly established Colt Car Company.It wasn’t until 1984 that this naming method was eliminated, establishing Mitsubishi firmly as a brand name into the United Kingdom.
In the 1970s Japan was hit by a gas crisis and many car companies responded with economical revisions to their lines. Mitsubishi’s solution was the three-door front wheel drive Mirage with innovative ‘Supershift’ transmission and a unique large-windowed design. Although not called a Colt in Japan the range was released in the USA as the Dodge Colt and Plymouth Champ and the innovative Colt specifications scooped the best United States Environmental Protection Agency fuel economy rating that year. In Britain the Mirage again fell within the marque of the Colt and was distinguished from other models by engine size, with the names Colt 1200 and Colt 1400.
This was only the start of the story, a tale which persists today with the modern Colt models, including the ground breaking MiEV along with the intelligently created Colt Cleartec, giving everybody the opportunity to drive a classic piece of history that is leading the way into the future.