tbm3fan has finally found what has eluded us so far: Curbside shots of a gen1 Dodge Colt (Mitsubishi Colt Galant) that was Chrysler’s first Japanese import, starting in MY 1971. This was a big deal, Chrysler’s 15% investment in Mitsubishi, the first of its kind by the Big Three by a number of years, and still in the very early years of the Japanese invasion.
When Perry and I did our CC Dodge Colt Chronicles, the only chapter that didn’t have a curbside car was this one, as they’ve been almost totally gone from the streets for years; more like decades. But here it is, and it will be added to that chapter.
The Colt was a pretty typical Japanese mid-sized car at the times, for their standards. Here it was quite compact for the times; minute in today’s standards, with a 95″ wheelbase. It was powered by a 1.6 L SOHC “Saturn” four, a modern unit that gave it quite lively performance.
This one is sharing its location with an interesting mix of similar vintage company, but quite different in their sizes.
It also seems a bit worse for wear. It looks like it might still be driveable, but its long term future looks a bit shaky.
Check out the controls for the air conditioner! I hadn’t expected to see ac on one of these, but why not? And notice how crude this install was done at the port or dealer. And the proud Chrysler Parts badge! Welcome to the USA!
These Colts arrived at Dodge dealers the same time that the similar format Cricket arrived at Plymouth dealers. That didn’t turn out to be a long term proposition, to put it mildly. meanwhile, the Colt franchise went on for quite a few years.
Full story here: CC Dodge Colt Chronicles, Part 1
I’ve never decided if the top brass at Chrysler were geniuses or idiots for going the captive import route vs. building their own subcompacts. I kind of suspect these Colts were overall better cars than the Pinto or Vega, but I don’t believe they sold in nearly the quantities of the American subcompacts.
These things were absolute legion here in Australia. Now I know of only one owned by an old women I see (very) occasionally.
They were indeed a plague here, for years.
Evan, I’ve never driven a Pinto or Vega, but I can say that these Colts were not remotely interesting to drive. However, they were very, very tough bastards indeed, so if US folk accepted it as a Chryco car, the sheer reliability alone must have made them a good thing for the brand overall.
I was nine years old when these first came out and can clearly remember going for a test drive in a 4-door Colt sedan with my father while our 1971 Coronet wagon was being serviced at the dealership. Dad actually liked the car quite a bit, praised the slick shifter, decent rear legroom and 4-door configuration then unavailable from any of the Big Three in the subcompact class. As for me, I liked the loaded two-door hardtop on the showroom floor. About 18 months later, Dad was ready to buy, but passed on a Colt due to the fact that Plymouth had just discontinued the Cricket and he was worried that Dodge would similarly jettison the Colt, leaving him with an orphan and all the attendant parts and service problems.
Nice find! I haven’t seen one in decades, although I do remember at the time thinking the Colt and Cricket were just rebadged versions of each other.
Another fine project from the Department of Redundancy Department?
This one looks to be in serious need of attention, but at least it’s not a ball of rust!
Colt/Galants were sold as Crickets from 1973-75 in Canada.
Whoops, that’s not the picture I wanted. Here:
Ah, they weren’t the same car initially but they were later.
That looks like the Alameda Naval Air Station where the author found that batch of other cars a month or so ago. Hopper-Hammond was a Berkeley car dealer if I’m not mistaken, just a few miles away, and probably sold this one new assuming they carried the Colt line.
Great find! I love the old add-ons like the little Chrysler badge above the AC controls that’s held on by two phillips screws. And crooked, thus likely port installed here and not in Japan.
Yeah; Mitsubishi (or any Japanese automaker) would never have done that. It’s ironically perfect too: Chrysler slapping on their badge so crudely with two exposed screws.
I saw the owner this Wednesday as I was leaving NAS Alameda and wanted some photos of the Subaru Brat. He told me he found it sitting in a Berkeley garage where it had sat since 1987. Went in there when the owner removed the head for some work and never finished. The tweaked front bumper was caused by him when he towed it down and didn’t realize the bumper was such thin metal. Apparently he has already found someone interested in the car who started work by removing the bumper.
At the time I stopped in my 626 LX hatchback he was showing an older Millennial, the car owner is 43, the inside of one of the Dodge vans and then the Brat. Possible sale? Who knows. None of what he has were found on Craigslist. I’m expecting more from him over time along the same lines as that is what attracts him. Oh, and also very cheap is a consideration. However, he is a true car guy and told him his cars were up on Curbside Classic for a look.
A girlfriend had a yellow wagon like the one shown in the ad, in 1981. It was an automatic. I taught her how to drive a stick and she promptly replaced the Colt with a Pinto. I think I drove the Colt once or twice … it was not memorable. I haven’t seen one, or even a later gen RWD Colt, come to think of it any Colt, in a very long time.
We got got both Chryslers small car efforts these Mitsubishi Galants and Rootes Hillmam Avenger,
The Avengers drove better and there are more around now Galants are very thin on the ground, rust and boy racers have taken most of them out nice find.
Sold as a small Valiant in Australia they changed the grille and front lights to make it fit with the VJ/VK models
It’s pretty comical that the old Val badges were screwed on, given one of these could nearly fit in the boot of a VH!
They rusted less here ofcourse, Bryce, but even when the bodies finally began to succumb to terminal cancer, they continued to bomb along the roads unkillably right into the 2000’s. And despite bad seats, bad steering, poor ride, big noise and all, I’ve got to respect the old cockroaches for that.
My Dads reaction to the fuel crises was to trade his VH wagon in on one of these in 1974.
It let us down once on a trip with a carburettor issue, but the basic bones of the car were good. Ours was a wagon, and I remember riding in a sedan version and noticing the much nicer ride.
Even though it was a good car, I don’t think Dad liked it much, too small and tinny maybe, and it was soon traded on a Volvo 244.
My parents never threw much away, and the brochure still survives.
Chrysler was way ahead of the pack in regard to captive imports. The 60’s and 70’s were a turbulent time for Chrysler, with all of the churn in the USDM and then their operations in Europe doing their own gyrations. At first sight, the idea of importing the Rootes as a Bug killer seemed like a good idea, but the British ideas of assembly and durability were less suitable than anticipated. As a side note, how they managed to make the Simca-based Omni hatchback the success it was in the USDM is something of a mystery to me.
At least the agreement with Mitsubishi was saving the bottom end of sales for Chrysler here in the US. Chrysler US didn’t seem to care or have a plan until the 1973 Embargo and later legislation forced them to do so. I love watching old salesman training films on YouTube, there are several on the MyMopar.com channel that feature the Colts from about 1975 to 1977. The amount of features those cars had vs. their competition, both domestic, other Japanese and European, was quite impressive. Were it 1977 again, I would probably go straight to the Dodge dealer and snap up a Colt or two.
Nice find, guys.
@ evan; given Chrysler’s financial fragility, even in good times, the coat of developing something like a pinto or vega into an uncertain market very likely would have bankrupted them even earlier. It’s hard to imagine what chrysler would have come up with which would have been better and less expensive to produce than the colt. A whole new engine would have had to have been developed, unless they chopped a couple of cylinders off the slant six. It would have run into the dart and valiant pricewise and probably struggled.
I’m guessing these could have done better, especially against the atomic insect datsun, but Chrysler’s dismal reputation and iffy dealer service meant that people who wanted a japanese car bought from japanese dealers and people who wanted a colt probably got upsold to a dart or valiant.
I posted a coupe on the Cohort a while ago. Here’s the pic:
Been watching reruns of the detective series Mannix, and during the 1968-73 ‘Chrysler sponsorship’ years, He goes from a Dart GT convertible to a Cuda or Challenger convertible, while his secretary Peggy starts out with a rear-engine Simca 1000, moves to a FWD Simca 1204, finally one of these Gen I Colts.
Happy Motoring, Mark