[PlymouthShelbyCuda86]

Does anyone here still own or remember the 1982-84 and '85 Dodge/Plymouth Colt 5-door hatchback sedan? Only the '85 version used the same sheetmetal as the first-gen (USA-spec) Mitsubishi Mirage, and only the '82 Plymouth version used the Champ name.

We know this bodystyle did not return for '86, on the grounds that it might have eaten into the domestic-made Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon sales.

Still, I wonder what you folks had thought of these 5-doors. I am also curious about seeing pictures of this 5-door placed side by side with the Omni/Horizon 5-door.

Thank you,



Ben

 

[nlpnt]

Late reply, but I know the '85 only came in ultrabasic E trim in the US but I've seen at least one Canadian Colt DL 5-door. I'm surprised Mitsubishi didn't offer it through their own then-nascent dealer network.

 

[ImperialCrown]

1984 was the last of the rounded Colt body style and 1985 was the boxy look. Mitsubishi was pulling away from Chrysler at that point and going to their own dealer network.
I had a '84 Turbo Colt. It was a fun car with the twin-stick (4x2 speed). I don't think that they offered the Turbo after that.
The '82-'84 4 door Colts were OK. There weren't very many of them, but they were an alternative. The Omni/Horizon sedan had more room and may have been the better value.
They could still meet emissions with a carburetor. Some had running/stalling problems because of the carb complexity involved to still use a carb in the mid-'80's. The Turbo had the better twin-injector EFI.
These cars rusted-out quick (as did all the others) and are all gone from around here now.

 

[Fast Eddie]

I had a buddy back then who bought a yellow Dodge Colt wagon the first year it came out. It rusted away right in front of his eyes.

 

[voiceofstl]

I had a buddy back then who bought a yellow Dodge Colt wagon the first year it came out. It rusted away right in front of his eyes.

It seemed all jap cars from the 70's-80's had bad rusting problems.

 

[DrMark]

I had an 83 Colt from about 1986 thru 1996, but it was a 2-door hatch. It was a solid car. No rust at all.

At one point it started losing performance (acceleration and top speed). When the top speed was reduced to about 55 mph (accelerator floored, on interstate), I had enough. Took it to a local muffler shop, where they found the catalytic converter was clogged (their words). They replaced it with straight pipe and the performance returned to its full adequate-for-the-day level.

The week after I sold it, it began showing up in the parking lot adjacent to mine at work. Seems the guy I sold it to worked construction, and their job was doing some mods on the building across from mine.

 

[Bob Lincoln]

I had an 83 Colt from about 1986 thru 1996, but it was a 2-door hatch. It was a solid car. No rust at all.

At one point it started losing performance (acceleration and top speed). When the top speed was reduced to about 55 mph (accelerator floored, on interstate), I had enough. Took it to a local muffler shop, where they found the catalytic converter was clogged (their words). They replaced it with straight pipe and the performance returned to its full adequate-for-the-day level.

The week after I sold it, it began showing up in the parking lot adjacent to mine at work. Seems the guy I sold it to worked construction, and their job was doing some mods on the building across from mine.

This is illegal in the US except for temporary test/diagnostic purposes. They could have been fined $25,000 and shut down. Not good.