[by pfsm/Peter Madsen]
Have you ever had it happen that you see a car that you just couldn’t identify? I’d think that it probably happens to all of us at some time or another.
(by pfsm/Pete Madsen)
This white sedan has been showing up in the neighborhood now and then, and after looking at it I realized I don’t know what it is. It’s old enough to have nice big windows and a low beltline. The six-window styling indicates that it’s not a bottom-line car, and it’s about the same size as the Saturn coupe in front of it. It’s not exactly loaded with trim though. That Dodge emblem should offer a clue. The lettering on the door is “1.8L 16 VALVE”. Suffice it to say that nondescript white sedans aren’t exactly big on my list of exciting cars, and this one is about as nondescript as they come.
Well? And what cars do you stumble on in identifying?
Dodge Colt?
1993 or 1994 Dodge Colt (Mitsubishi Lancer), I’d say. I’ve honestly never seen a 4-door one, but the tails, shared with a 2-door Mitsu version that came with an optimistic “Coupe” decal on the rear, are a tipoff.
I immediately recognized it as produced by Mistubishi, but had no clue as to its actual nomenclature.
It says Dodge, he said. It’s a later model Colt.
They were selling this and the Duster at the same time??
Wasn’t the Mitsubishi called the Mirage here? By the badge on the hood I’d say this one is the Dodge version. The 2dr was quite popular but I’ve rarely seen the four door (maybe just never noticed!)
Count me in here…the Mirage/Colt were pretty generic…plus that white paint doesn’t do it any favors in the distinction department.
This car was also sold as an Eagle Summit for a few years.
This is a Mirage, also known in USA as an “Eagle Summit” perhaps.Based on the Lancer floorpan. I’ve seen the 2-door coupe as a grey import from Japan, but never the 4-door.
The 4 door was rare compared to the 2 door, but the dealerships had the brochure showing it as a 4 door.
And the Mitsubishi Lancer 4 door didn’t have the six window treatment, and appears to be a bit shorter in rear overhang than this car
Looks like a Canadian market Dodge Colt that got shipped over the border. I don’t think they sold those here (except under the Mirage/Summit nameplates as mentioned). I think the Dodge and Plymouth twins were only the hatchbacks, coupes & wagons?
Just what was the most badge engineered car with the biggest number of permutations? Corolla? Sprint? I’m counting what was sold in both Japan and the USA/Canada just so I can be amazed by the answer.
I’m thinking it has to be the Geo Metro+Pontiac Firefly+Chevrolet Sprint+Suzuki Forsa/Cultus/Swift … there may have been more. All at once.
Mitsubishi did get around some too, with Mitsubishi, Dodge, Plymouth and Eagle variations, but I don’t think all at once.
There was Holden badged that Suzuki as a Barina
Mitsubishi Mirage/Lancer/Colt minor styling change became a Hyundai, Proton, or any other start up car industry first attempt or a dying companies thought free model like Chrysler just phone in the badging.
Wasn’t the Mitsubishi Precis just a rebadged Hyundai Excel, or vice versa? Perhaps the least memorable car ever.
Dodge/Plymouth Colt/Eagle Summit, 4-door sedan sold in the United States. For some unknown reasons, the Canadian 4-door sedan got a different C-pillar design.
Oh, I remember it. I bought one new in ’87 and it started falling apart around 9k.
I love trying to figure out the most generic, universal, archetypal rendering of the car for an era. Until it was revamped this year, I though the Kia Optima was the one for our era. You could remove all the nomenclature from that thing and just put CAR on it, in Helvetica Medium. The punch line is that no one would notice!
So generic it’s hanging in a plastic pack at Costco.
Of course nothing can really touch the 2011 Mediocrity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPXVhpA2loI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GL1T-JVpgQ
And it’s even a Kia Optima! Ha!
Where did KiA get the panel stampings from? Mitsu,Hyundai?
Every generation of Kia Optima has been based on the Hyundai Sonata.
Those ads are great. Funny that they seem to be a little stealth marketing from Subaru. Here in New England I swear those things outnumber Chevies – even a beige Kia would provide a little relief from the wall-to-wall Outbackesters!
Olds Intrigue from the back… I see one all the time in that green metallic so many early ones came in…
These Taillights also look like the early Sebring Convertibles in 1996… but I was reminded of the Mirage Coupe We Rented In Ca To drive to NE… It Made It, but had to have AC worked on.
Impala would be generic American car ATM, unless I am overlooking something.
that’s a Eagle Summit sedan, or a Plymouth or Dodge Colt
Fun fact: according to Wikipedia, this is a “second cousin” of the first-generation Volvo S40 (via the Carisma).
The Carisma was developed to supplement this car in Europe, but was still generally based off the same platform.
So, this platform appeared in both Chrysler and Ford stables at some point. (Keep in mind, the S40/Carisma came several years before Ford bought Volvo.)
(…if, of course, I’m understanding Mitsubishi’s odd naming/rebadging conventions.)
I don’t know if “generic” and “easily misidentified” necessarily go together. There were a couple of Hyundai Sonatas, most particularly the 1995-1998 and 2004-2010 models that to me appeared extremely generic. The 1995-1998 model appeared to copy cues from the Lumina and Catera/Omega, which . . . that’s what you copied? And you could tell what it was but . . . why bother? In terms of misidentified when I was a kid there were Renaults that bore a great deal of resemblance to certain Japanese cars. The 18i resembled the Isuzu I -mark, the Alliance resembled the Mitsubishi Tredia, and the Medallion resembled a Subaru Loyale.
I remember the 1990-era Sonata being described as if they had wheeled an ice model out into the sun for a while, and nobody noticed that it had melted. I’d nominate those as the blandest, least-identifiable car – they didn’t even have a badge on the front end!
http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/vehicle-pictures/1994/hyundai/sonata/90803021990108-480.jpg
My ex GFs father had a 90 Sonata 11k cheaper than A Calais with all the fruit basiclly a V3000 Mitsu in a Korean suit he never had any problems with it but it was bland.
Yeah its a Mitsubishi built Dodge Colt, at least it is here in the Great White North.
Mitsubishi didn’t even start selling cars here until 2003 or so this was our exposure to their cars. In fact I have some very fond memories of a Mitsubishi built 1988 truck rebadged as a Dodge D50,great little truck.
That shape is very easily identifiable to me because I got one for loaners (from the mitsu dealer) for a few weeks while they rebuilt my engine. You want a totally generic car? How about a Chevy Corsica or Ford Tempo?
Well, I achieved my aim in sending this piece to Paul, which was to start a good conversation. I’m thinking Dodge Colt is correct – the decal under the right taillight isn’t in such hot condition, but the -OLT can be read.
The funny thing about this car is that I rented the Mirage coupe version of it in 2000 – drove it for a week, and didn’t remember enough about it to link it in my mind with the white sedan. I do remember that the coupe had a short turning radius – first morning coming out of the motel I inadvertently turned left into the oncoming lanes, did a quick u-turn, went back into the motel driveway, and tried again.
I like the other C-pillar better, without the lite.
Here in NZ, Land of the Used JDM Car, we had plenty of these 6-window Mitsi Lancer/Mirages floating around in years gone by (although less so now). The distinguishing feature of the 6-window ones is many came with a small V6 (1.8L or 2L maybe?), which always sounded intriguing.