(first posted 2/17/2014) Over the course of this week or so, we’re going to chronicle the rather complex story of the Dodge Colt. The name “Colt” is much more than just a series of Mitsubishis branded as Dodges; it’s essentially a brand of its own, somewhat comparable to the GEO brand, and more. Not only were a wide variety of Mitsubishis sold under the Colt brand, but there were also Plymouth Colts, in Europe there were Colt dealerships, and Mitsubishi’s UK distributor was called Colt Cars Co. And Mitsubishi used the name on its own cars, starting with its very first, and now again, with its Colt subcompact.
For our CC Dodge Colt series, we’re going to feature various cars sold as Colts in the US, one per day, but we’ll try to include all of their aliases too. But if we happen to miss something, don’t be surprised; Colts are horses of many colors.
The Colt arrived at US Dodge dealers in 1971, as a result of Chrysler’s pioneering investment in Misubishi Motors. The Mitsubishi history entry at Wikipedia suggests that Tomio Kubo, MMC’s President, initiated the alliance with Chrysler, which led to a 15% ownership stake (later 20%). This was years before Ford or GM invested in Japanese automakers, and in 1971, the Japanese invasion was still in its relatively early years. Was Chrysler prescient, or just desperate?
Chrysler was in a pickle for 1971, as it had been known for some years that GM and Ford would be launching their VW-killers that year (Chevy Vega, Ford Pinto), and they had nothing comparable with which to compete. The subcompact market was hot, and Toyota and Datsun were already climbing the charts; the Corolla jumped to the #2 import sales spot by 1969, in only its second year.
Chrysler decided to hedge their bets, and import two sub-compacts for the epic battle, and two rather similar ones in size and price. In addition to the Colt, Plymouth dealers were bestowed with the Cricket, a Hillman Avenger by any other name, and of course built by Chrysler’s own UK division (Rootes).
And just to complicate things further, Chrysler was already selling the excellent FWD Simca 1204 (Simca 1100) in the US, by far the most advanced small car available just about anywhere, and the runner-up in C/D’s 1971 small car comparison. In the early seventies, Chrysler had serious ambitions in becoming a major global player, which all collapsed with their near-death in 1979. So although it may have seemed curious that Chrysler would jump into bed with Mitsubishi at a time when it had two major European divisions, it turned out to be a smart move.
By 1971, the dollar was in serious decline against the European currencies, making imports expensive. And both the Rootes and Simca cars were not really up to the demands of typical American driving standards: high annual mileage and minimal maintenance.
The Plymouth Cricket quickly turned into a disaster. The Avenger was a typical old-school RWD compact, and Hillmans had enjoyed a reputation for perhaps better than average durability in its home country. But for whatever reasons, the Cricket utterly croaked in the US, and almost instantly. I will offer a prize to anyone who can shoot a genuine CC Cricket, as I haven’t seen one in many decades.
And just to confuse matters, the Dodge (Mitsubishi) Colt was sold as the Plymouth Cricket in Canada, after the Avenger was dropped there in 1973. After a couple of years, it too became a Dodge Colt.
Admittedly, I haven’t found a gen1 Colt to shoot either, but I saw them around not that long ago, especially in California. Undoubtedly, they were as salt-soluble as many early Japanese cars, but their mechanical integrity was never impugned, especially compared to the fragile Cricket.
image: BAT.com
The 1597cc SOHC four was the first in a line of Saturn-family fours from Mitsubishi, and featured a cross-flow head for better than average breathing. Initially it was rated at 100 (gross) hp, later revised to 83 (net) hp (US versions). The GSR version (not available in the US), had twin carbs and a 110 hp rating (not sure by which standard).
By way of comparison, the Cricket’s 1498cc push rod four made all of 70 (gross) hp in 1971, and then was rated at 55 (net) hp for ’72 and ’73. In other words, 30% less power for the exact same price; just one reason the Cricket got stepped on by the Colt.
The Mitsubishi Saturn four was very amenable to performance mods, and Colts soon found themselves in the hands of rally drivers: The Evo’s predecessor.
image: wikipedia
Sadly, Dodge (or Mitsubishi) chose not to import the hardtop coupe of the Galant family, modestly named Colt Galant GTO. It was well endowed just about every muscle car cliche possible, and even had a very Pontiac-esque split grille. Undoubtedly, if they had brought it over, the name would have had to change. The GTO was available with the Saturn 1600 engine in three levels of tune; with the 125 hp MR at the top. After 1972, the GTO was powered by the larger 2000cc Astron engines. The GTO was only built in RHD versions, and not exported in any significant numbers. It was succeeded by the rather tamer Lambda/Sapporo, which was sold as both a Dodge (Challenger) and as the Plymouth Sapporo in the US. (CC here).
image: BAT.com
The Colt’s interior was typical for the times, and would be hard to distinguish from a comparable Toyota or Datsun.
Based on a Google image search, the number of gen1 Colts still out there is modest. In addition to the pristine green one featured at BAT, there’s a fair number at CarDomain; some half dozen or so for each of the three years. Coupes seem to be totally predominant, as its hardtop styling was attractive, and still is.
Most seem to have been rescued and fixed up by Mitsubishi enthusiasts. Undoubtedly, upgrading with later Mitsu engines and drive train components is fairly easy, give how long their RWD platforms were built.
The first Dodge Colt solved a crucial problem for Chrysler on the short term. Eventually, Chrysler’s own Omni-Horizon twins would largely negate the need for the Colt, but the name soldiered on for quite a bit longer. And the Dodge connection helped established a beachhead for Mitsubishi, which it later parleyed into its own brand of cars in the US. Of course, that’s turned into a rough road in more recent years, but during the seventies, Mitsubishi was a rising star, thanks to its Pentastar connection.
There are still lots of Gen 1 Colts on the road in the Philippines. They must be a tough design.
As a small boy in the Philippines, I remember my Dad owning a bunch of Colts from the mid 70’s to early 80’s. I remember them as being tough durable cars. The early ones were spartan and utilitarian but the last one (early 80’s) was set up and optioned as a luxury car and was quite comfortable. My Dad even thought about taking it with us when we moved Stateside.
“…And just to confuse matters, the Dodge (Mitsubishi) Colt was sold as the Dodge Cricket in Canada, presumably because the Avenger was sold there under its own name…”
The Cricket was sold as a Plymouth in Canada and the Hillman name was gone with the introduction of the Sunbeam Arrow in 1967. What did happen is that when the Avenger- based Cricket was dropped in early 1973, the Colt was rebadged as a Plymouth Cricket for Canadian Chrysler-Plymouth dealerships. This continued through 1975, I believe, after which they became Plymouth Colts.
Thanks; I’ve amended the text.
Hi Paul. My name is Pavan Bassi and I have a 1975 Plymouth Cricket Formula S. It has the Mitubushi 4G52 Astron motor. I am in Ontario. Canada. With respect to your comment ” I will offer a prize to anyone who can shoot a genuine CC Cricket, as I haven’t seen one in many decades”. Well I am up for the challenge. You may contact me at p_bassi1@hotmail.com
Pavan: I was specifically referring to the Hillman-made Cricket that was sold in the US. I mentioned several times in the text that the Mitsubishi Colt was also sold in Canada as a “Cricket”. But that’s not what we’re talking about. There’s still a number of the Mitsubishi cars around.
Nevertheless, if you’d like to share your Colt-Cricket with us, please do. I’d be happy to do a post on your car. Send me the text, and attach images to curbsideclassic@gmail.com
The following is your entire statement as quoted per verbatim “The Plymouth Cricket quickly turned into a disaster. The Avenger was a typical old-school RWD compact, and Hillmans had enjoyed a reputation for perhaps better than average durability in its home country. But for whatever reasons, the Cricket utterly croaked in the US, and almost instantly. I will offer a prize to anyone who can shoot a genuine CC Cricket, as I haven’t seen one in many decades. In any event I would be honoured to share my rare Mopar and look forward to the “prize”, even if it is write up of this “rare extinct” vehicle that I own. Only in Canada eh !
I don’t remember these cars either in Britain or America in the early 70s.Just to make it even more confusing the whole range of Mitsubishi cars were sold as Colts,(don’t recall the Colt Colt!)in the UK.Presumably as Mitsubishi had a negative connotation being more remembered for warplanes.In the early 80s Australian Mitsubishis called Lonsdales were sold alongside Colts.
I have a 1972 dodge colt gt and the issues I’m having is find the front shocks/ struts that are all one piece, it seems that no one has them, can anyone please help me, I’m from Fresno ca PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME!
A perfect example of the Japanese nailing the design. Each variant of this model looks great.
Here’s the ’73…
I always thought the Hillman Avenger was too near the Hunter range of cars.It had a long life in the UK and was quite popular.It was probably as suitable for America as a full size American car was for the UK,most were run into the ground over here though I saw an Avenger Tiger at a show a few years ago they don’t turn up as often as BL,Ford and Vauxhalls
The Avenger in rally spec and with Andrew Cowan at the wheel blew the BDA Escorts out of the water here in the Heatway? rally, they used the same SouthAfrican spec long pinion diff head the London to Sydney Hunter used with shorter prop shaft, very fast on gravel and more sofisticated than the Escort just nowhere near as popular
I ran across an incredibly clean Dodge Colt Coupe in the local P-A-P here in So Cal. last Fall , original yellow paint and even the original hub caps still on it , must have been another Old Lady’s Car as it was covered in carport dust , not a dent / ding any where on it ~ not one part missing either =8-( .
Good little cars in their day .
I thought Ford & Mazda linked up in 1968 , non ? .
-Nate
1979 is when Ford first bought stock in Mazda. But they obviously had a relationship going back further, since Ford sold the Mazda-built Courier pickup starting in 1971. I can’t readily find info as to when that relationship started.
Mazda wasnt in financial straits until the mid-late 70s when their investment in rotaries didnt pay off, thats when Ford bought in Mazdas werent part of Ford here in the early 80s yet my BIL worked at a VW Mazda agency during the RWD 323 era.
Paul, Ford first approached Mazda during the brief time in the early 70s when the Wankel looked like the savior of the auto industry. GM was way ahead of Ford in development (Ford, like everyone else, licensed the design) so Ford decided to try to buy into Mazda. Mazda told them they’d be happy to sell them part of their piston engine business. Obviously it wasn’t what Ford wanted, but they did work out a deal to build the Courier for Ford.
By 1979, the world had changed and Mazda sold 25% of the company to Ford.
Thanks for that nudge to the old memory banks. Yes, the great rotary engine fad of the late sixties. Kind of like the hybrid and fuel cell scrambles a few years back….nobody wants to be left out of the next big thing/fizzle.
Out here OPEC killed any chance the Rotary had they performed great but gas prices went up and stayed up. Rotary engines were optional on some models of the Capella 4 door but it wasnt a popular option, in Aussie it wasnt even available unless you bought the RX2,3 coupe model.
Well, it wasn’t just a fad by that point. As soon as the feds started talking seriously about NOx standards, the rotary went from being in the “Hmm, that’s interesting” category to looking like the only practical way to meet what were then the 1975 emissions standards. That was why Ford was interested and why GM laid out $50 million just for the license to develop its own rotary engine (which of course they never used). Eventually, the feds agreed to hold off a little longer, the OPEC embargo made people nervous about fuel economy, and the three-way catalyst ended up becoming the easier solution, but there was a while there where the rotary was starting to look like The Way.
Yes, quite a lot like fuel cells, as I said.
I have somehow wondered what might have been different if the original Colt had been offered under a Plymouth brand from the beginning. This was a vastly better car than either the Pinto or the Vega, both from a durability and from a packaging standpoint. However, it seemed that the Dodge dealer network was the smaller of the two (at least in my area). In the US, I do not recall anything really taking the Cricket’s place at Chry-Ply stores after the Cricket made its final chirp.
I recall these selling pretty well in the midwest, particularly as the 70s advanced. However, they still carried that “foreign car” stigma that was still pretty common with a lot of midwesterners back then.
A very tidy little coupe. I agree that people saw them as foreign cars and the stigma hurt. Ironically, people undoubtedly trusted the Vega and Pinto over this at the time of purchase.
The Darts, Valiants and Dusters sitting across the showrooms probably were too tempting as upgrades – and seen as more sturdy.
I never realized the early Colt was a Mitsu and the Plymouth a captive European Chrysler. A moderate update of the Hillman and a U.S. assembly line might have rewritten Mopar small car history.
Good point, if the Cricket/Hillman Avenger was assembled in the US, things would had been different. In Argentina, the Hillman Avenger was sold as the Dodge 1500 and when VW buyed Chrysler’s Argentine and Brazilian operations, the Dodge 1500 continued to soldier as the VW 1500 until the early 1990s in Argentina http://www.allpar.com/model/avengertiger.html
http://www.rootes-chrysler.co.uk/Avenger/avenger-latin.html
Plymouth received the Arrow in 1976 as their Mitsubishi captive import.
In hindsight, assigning the Colt to Dodge and the Cricket to Plymouth in 1971 makes sense. The Colt, as a quasi-sporty, two-door hardtop, was a better fit for the upmarket, sports-oriented Dodge, while the more practical 4-door Cricket sedan slotted in better with Plymouth’s no-frills basic market.
Was there a Mitsubishi four-door equivalent or a Hillman two-door hardtop? If so, well, maybe it could have been different. But a solid, Mitsubishi sub-compact four-door sold at Plymouth dealerships in 1971 would surely have cannibalized Valiant sedan sales.
So, maybe it was a blessing in disguise that the Cricket turned out to be such a turd for Plymouth in 1971. Otherwise, the only conquest sales the Cricket would have gotten might not have been prospective Vega or Pinto buyers, but Valiant sedan shoppers, which were still selling strong early in the seventies.
If only the Omni/Horizon could have been gotten to market a few years sooner than 1978. By then, the dismal failure of the A-body’s poor quality replacement Aspen/Volaré had left a big chasm in Chrysler’s small car line-up.
Did you miss the ad near the top of this post? It shows the whole Colt family, including four door sedan, four door wagon, pillared coupe and hardtop coupe.
On the other hand, the Cricket only came in a four door sedan.
4 door wagon too:
My bad. And the reason I missed it is because it only came along in 1972. Now that would be a rare find….
There was a 2 door sedan in the UK,strangely it came a couple of years after the launch of the Avenger.Not sure if any made it to America
Missed it, probably because I can’t recall ever seeing one. I wonder what the sales numbers of the Colt sedan were like.
Please be careful claiming that Americans not buying a Japanese car was somehow foolish or stigmatized. There were many practical reasons to not buy a foreign car during the 1970s. We can, in hindsight, see that these vehicles were better – but that doesn’t mean that buyers during that era were dim bulbs.
VWs were huge. They were everywhere. Those are foreign cars embraced by the US market. But before the Beetle got big, it had to prove itself twenty years earlier – which it did.
Japanese products were notoriously cheap. They were embarrassingly bad. Everyone in the US was familiar with Japanese products that were small, disposable, cheap and laughable. So it should not be a stretch to understand why the American market would be hesitant over Japanese cars while they weren’t hesitant anymore with VW. The British cars weren’t expected to be a good value either. And Americans had experienced French and Italian cars too. Only the Volvo and the VW were mainstream by the 1970s.
So, it wasn’t about where the cars were from. It was about our experiences with products from that country.
And these cars weren’t all that great either. They didn’t offer what anyone couldn’t get from Detroit.
The first Colts didn’t offer buyers what Chrysler wasn’t already offering these buyers with Dusters, Valiants and Darts. Entry-level buyers wanted a car that could be easily fixed, maintained and couldn’t gamble on an entirely new brand from 12,000 miles away. Whatever the Colt offered was easily countered by a car from the same showroom floor that cost about the same, but was roomier, faster, better understood mechanically and was familiar.
I believe we put too much on believing that previous generations were too closed minded and unaccepting to pay more for a smaller car from an unknown brand. I think it is time for us to recognize that our comfort with these brand and our experiences have made us treat mid-20th Century auto shoppers unfairly as though we don’t or would never have done as they had.
I wouldn’t buy a Mitsubishi anything today. And that’s based on experience – not an ignorant cultural stigma.
Your missing the whole point. Import buyers specifically didn’t want what Chrysler (and the other Big 3) had in their show rooms, even if their compacts were bigger and possibly more rugged.
Import buyers were folks who wanted a new experience; they were intrinsically biased against Detroit, and embraced new things; and not just in cars. Import buyers were well known to be better educated and have higher incomes. They could afford bigger American cars, but didn’t want one.
You’re overlooking the fact that the Toyota Corolla was the #2 selling import by 1969. And that the Japanese were doing very well by the late sixties. Perhaps not in the “Heartland”, where buyers were more conservative.
In fact, you’re describing the mindset of just those conservative buyers, and like all conservatives, they tend to be cautious, and take their time until they embrace new things and ideas (like interracial and gay marriage, etc…)
But a large number of Americans on the coasts, as well as in university towns in the heartland, were culturally attuned to the next new thing, and embraced it eagerly, even if it did have practical shortcomings. I would go as far as to say that the Colt’s biggest obstacle to success was that it was branded a Dodge, and sold in Dodge dealers. Americans who wanted Japanese cars undoubtedly preferred to have the Japanese name on the hood. The relatively weaker sales of the Colt compared to Toyota and Datsun bear that out.
There was a junkyard in northeast Alabama I used to frequent in the early-mid 2000s full of foreign cars. I went for the Volkswagen stuff but I would wander through the rest of the varied and oddball makes. I learned a good bit about cars doing that as I saw many cars I rarely if ever saw out in the wild, Dodge Colts and Plymouth Crickets were two of those. I only wish I had taken more photos back then because much of it has been crushed out now.
There was a later two door sedan Colt that used to drive around my area at that same time. It was brown with white stripes and a white vinyl top. Very disco-chic. I wish I’d taken photos of it as well because I haven’t seen it in a few years. The old man who drove it was proud of it albeit a bit misinformed. He pulled up next to me at McD’s one day and started talking to me about my Beetle and said “I like having this Dodge since I don’t like having foreign cars like your VW.” I was in high school at the time and he probably thought I was some smart ass punk teenager when I told him his car was Japanese, it says so on the build tag.
Maybe that’s why I haven’t seen it since about the time I graduated in 2003………
Which junkyard were you talking about? I have a good friend who used to run a big yard in Hokes Bluff (Gadsden). By the way, my uncle had a cricket until his death in a tractor accident in 1980 at the age of 17. I vaguely remember the car but was a baby when he died. It sat neglected in the garage until given to a family member in need several years later.
The one I was talking about is Merrill’s in Piedmont.
I have been to a Volkswagen shop & small junkyard in Hokes Bluff on Hwy 278. Merrill’s is on 278 as well actually.
I bought a cut down VW in Attalla and loved it for the week before I destroyed it, young and stupid, actually had to buy a new front end after an unfortunate encounter with a tree from the yard in HB during that week. It had 0 brakes. Made for an interesting drive home through Gadsden on 431. I actually had to take the median several times on the way home and dodge the trees. My friend owned Firestone Salvage 1/2 mile across the Highway from the VW yard. I lived 1/2 mile down the road from that. I used to sling blade between cars on the side of the hill at Firestone’s, and then my buddy would help us on the farm in return.
Felix has since crushed most of his cars, but his yard was on the hill off of Jenkins Rd., and was probably close to 70 or 80 acres, mostly domestic.
I never knew the name of the guy who owned the small VW yard. We just called him Volkswagen man.
I was looking for a smaller car in 1971 and drove one of these Colts as well as Pinto, Vega, and Opel 1900. The American efforts didn’t measure up to the other two, and I ended up buying the Opel based on its better handling. Of course there’s no way of knowing what direction my automotive tastes might have gone if I’d gotten the Colt instead – at least I wouldn’t have acquired a lifelong distaste for anything with an Opel badge.
I shot ya 2 Crickets(well avengers actually in one day) they are on the cohort and yep the Mitsubishi was a more popular car in its day however Ive not seen one in many years, The Colt was also given a Valiantesque grille and sold as a junior Valiant in Aussie a friend had one and couldnt believe the fuel economy I tuned it for him and found the choke was jammed half on it was really economical after that.
NZ as usual got the whole range and the GTO was a favourite when I was at school the vocational guidance councellor had a 5speed in white with gold stripes and there a blue one locally I’ll shoot it next time I see it, cool little cars but there are literally none left here and I live where cars last well.
Australians tend to think the Astron is a Aussie engine designed for their Sigma released in 78, ah no it was around long before they saw them.
Ohhhh.. That GTO is nice. I don’t think we got it here.
Nah you didnt one of many cars that didnt land on that side of the Tasman, the one pictured is a JDM model the export version is next to it and looks much nicer(different grille)
I had no idea the Cricket was a Hillman. (Is it just me, or are more of the comments here on the Cricket than on the subject Colt? Have any Crickets shown up in the cohort?)
I did know even at the time (I was under 10) that Simca was a European Chrysler, but I can’t honestly recall ever seeing one.
It was also a Chrysler and a Talbot and that was just in the UK!
Theres a small colony of Simcas a couple of streets from me but none of the FWD models they dont seem to have lasted well.
Part of the Cricket’s problem was that in its advertising, Chrysler would very quietly mention “made by Chrysler UK” at the end of the ad. Meanwhile, advertising for the Colt screamed “MADE IN JAPAN!!!” as loudly as they could. By the early 70’s Japanese cars were starting to get their good reputation (hadn’t been around long enough to start rusting and the drive trains were already reasonably impressive), while anything British was getting known for quirks and shorcomings that were only tolerable in a sports car or a Jaguar. The garden variety saloons didn’t have enough to offset the growing negative image.
The 1971 Mitsubishi (Dodge Colt) shown is the first Japanese car I’d ever seen. My father drove me down to the dealer to see it. He said we’d all be driving these one day.
My grandparents had a brown Cricket in the early 1970’s. It became unreliable and they traded it for a ’78 Mercury Zephyr which my grandmother drove for over 20 years.
I just wanted to say I really enjoyed this. I didn’t know much about these and now I do. I like that.
I’ve always found the history of the Colt in the U.S. to be confusing, and I’m looking forward to this series helping sort it all out. I take it that 1973 was the last year of the first generation, and we’ll be hearing more about a second generation that appeared for 1974.
Yes, tomorrow. And then one more each subsequent day….
Friend of mine (sailor in Panama) imported one of these from the states. It was hard to impress as there were batches of Datsuns and Toyotas there but it seemed to be on a par with them. When did Mitsubishi get the reputation as junk. The early efforts were on a par with anyone else.
I guess I’m that guy. I like the looks of the Simca 1204 better than anything else on the page. Don’t remember it. Guess I must have been overseas somewhere.
I was born in 1970 and grew up in Massachusetts. I had never heard of a Simca 1204 or known that they were sold in the U.S. until reading about it on this site. It would be interesting to dig up some sales figures and see how many Chrysler sold here.
On the other hand, I distinctly remember being aware as a child that there was a car called the Plymouth Cricket.
The Simca 1118/1204 series sold 16,411 total during their 1969-1971 run here in the US.
Compare that to 97,911 First generation Colts during 1971-1973, or just 41,564 Crickets from 1971-1972 (I can’t find any 1973 figures to add).
The 1990s. Crank walk, oil burning V6s and electrical gremlins started it, then a bunch of lackluster models followed. I’m sure it didn’t help that their best selling car here, the Eclipse, was often owned by people who just wanted to mercilessly beat the piss out of them and modify their appearance to ensure they had zero resale value. Or that Chrysler wasn’t really earning a reputation for dependability when the two were still closely linked. I don’t have any experience with Colts this old, but I know Mitsubishis from the 80s were fairly solid vehicles.
I, too, love the Simca, more than almost any other small car from it’s era, in fact. They’ve got such a cool look – fairly modern shape but with more traditional details, and extremely French. Sadly, I’ve never seen one of them anywhere but on a computer screen.
The Chrysler-Mitsubishi alliance appears to have been largely the idea of Makita and his faction. The whole thing was not as out of the blue as it might seem. It came on the heels of a decade-long political battle over whether Japan would liberalize its polices toward imports and foreign capital and it followed Mitsubishi making a play to ally itself with Isuzu and Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru), an alliance that seems to have been more of a stalking horse for the Chrysler deal than a serious proposal. Isuzu did the same thing with a proposed alliance with Nissan and then immediately got into bed with GM; the Isuzu-GM deal was approved within a few months of the Chrysler-Mitsubishi deal and was likely negotiated at about the same time.
Interestingly, Toyota had had serious talks with Ford about a production alliance back in 1961-62, but Ford had backed out. Ford started negotiations with Toyo Kogyo (Mazda) around 1970 and the only reason their alliance didn’t also begin at the time of the Isuzu and Mitsubishi deals was that Ford and Toyo Kogyo couldn’t agree on terms. (The negotiations collapsed and were picked up six years or so later, when Toyo Kogyo was in a weaker negotiating position.)
The selling points for the Japanese were the chance to benefit rather than being steamrolled by a liberalization of import policies, to use established foreign networks to sell the Japanese products overseas, and of course to get an infusion of American capital. A lot of the Japanese automakers were still carrying big outstanding debt loads from their postwar reconstruction and reorganization, and while Japanese banks were accommodating about that (since playing hardball in many cases would have caused widespread economic disaster), cash is usually preferable to easy credit.
Mitsubishi also had ambitions of taking on and edging out Nissan and Toyota in Japan, which Makita realized Mitsubishi didn’t yet have the resources to do. It didn’t work out that way, but that was the dream.
There lots of “what if?” scenarios to ponder. The Ford-Toyota alliance attempt is a interesting “what if?” to imagine.
And today, Mistubishi sell some rebadged Nissan models in Asia due to tighter budgets…
How the 1961 Ford-Toyota tie-up would have played out would have depended on which side ended up getting its way; each had a different agenda. Toyota had in mind something between the later NUMMI deal with GM and Honda’s late-seventies deal with Austin Rover — joint production (with a jointly owned factory, albeit in Japan, not the States) of a product that could be sold in both Japan and the U.S. Ford wanted to ultimately take over and absorb Toyota to whatever extent Japanese law and trade policy would permit, and bowed out of the deal when it became clear the Toyota board was not willing to let that happen.
Toyota and Ford stated talking again about a deal in 1980, this time with a jointly owned U.S. factory building the FWD Camry. That didn’t happen, but a few months after the negotiations ended, Toyota and GM started putting out feelers that led to the NUMMI deal.
I’ve been looking forward to this one ever since Edward Mann mentioned it. Should be a good week, really interesting cars that are rarely seen (even the later ones) in the US these days.
I actually can’t ever remember seeing a 1st gen Colt myself, so I’m guessing they rusted pretty badly. That one on BAT looks so good with the green paint/tan seats and small bumpers. And $3,500?? Arghhhh… I’m definitely living on the wrong side of the country. The sedan and wagon are very attractive too. This was really smart styling for a small car of the era and even more impressive when you consider that Mitsubishi hadn’t even been building their own (real) cars for a full decade when it debuted in Japan.
I have to confess that I’ve always thought the Dodge Colt was the same car as the Mitsubishi Lancer during this time period, but apparently they’re entirely different. The US Dodge Colt is a Japanese Colt Galant (A50), which was a slightly bigger car than the Lancer (A70). And then there’s a whole world of earlier Mitsubishi Colts… confusing as hell!!
It’s too bad the Cricket bombed because I like those as well. They were the last Rootes/Chrysler Europe product sold in the US from what I can tell, unless the Sunbeam Rapier held on for a year or so afterwards. It’s kinda funny if you look back at the advertising from when both were launched, you can tell Chrysler was clearly expecting the Plymouth to be the more successful of the two and dumped much more $$$ into promoting them.
At least the poor Cricket was able to attain one claim to fame in the US:
The subject of this post isnt the first gen Mitsubishi Colt that arrived here in 68 this is the 2nd gen that became a Dodge the first is a whole nother animal altogether
Spot on KiwiBryce. Ist gen looks like it came off a carnival ride. Its not ugly, though
The first generation Colt was the 600, from 1962. I thought I made it pretty clear in the opening that this series was specifically about the Colts sold in the US. My apologies to those from other countries that got Colts earlier.
That’s also why I specifically added “Mitsubishi Galant” in the title. This is about the gen1 Galant-Colt.
My family has literally lived and died with these Galants and their later FWD descendants .
My eldest sister had a powder blue 1972 Chrysler Valiant Galant badged model as her first car. It survived a low speed rollover on the local Thrill Hill, driven off once it was put back on its wheels.
My parents had a baby shit yellow 1977 wagon that we all learned to drive in. It was a pretty tidy handler on the dirt roads, showing the rallying genes perhaps.
My Grandmother had a later Sigma Galant, which she traded on a FWD Mitsubishi Colt in 1980.Unfortunately she and her lover died in a crash in this car in 1981, so I have mixed feelings about these!
Found a curious entry in the ItalDesign Catalogue Raisonne (pub. Automobilia, 1987):
The unknown work of Giugiaro
The designs which have been introduced so far are all designs which have been formally announced as being the work of Giugiaro (Mazda Luce, Isuzu 117, Isuzu Piazza – my note). Japan’s auto manufacturers are generally not too keen to have it known that they asked an outside designer to do work for them, and this also applies in the case of master Giugiaro…
… Consequently, while nothing is certain, the designs introduced below may probably be considered to be Giugiaro’s work in view of the Giugiaro style as it has appeared over many years and rumors from reliable sources. We will look at them in chronological order, starting with the earliest.
Mitsubishi Colt Galant (picture of a ‘gen 1 US’ saloon as featured here – my note)
Announced in October 1969 and launched in December, this car was a sprightly four door sedan with wedge-look which totally modernized the Mitsubishi passenger-car image. Production hit 10,000 units a month three months after its launch, a record for a Japanese car in those days. While there has been no official announcement by Mitsubishi that Giugiaro assisted in its development, the rumors have never been denied. With its excellently balanced proportions and symmetrical harmony whichever angle it is viewed from, the design has much in common with Giugiaro’s work of the time.
My note – This catalogue is full of quotes from Giorgetto Giugiaro discussing various models which appear to have been given directly to this publication and are not secondhand. Bearing in mind that Giugiaro would not want to put any potential Japanese client offside with an official claim, it is entirely possible the man himself was the ‘reliable source of the rumor’ to the catalogue’s authors.
Just saying (what I’m reading)
That makes a lot of sense. There’s no question that the 1969 Galant was a very well-designed car, and rather reeks of Giugiaro. I knew they had help from Italy, and Italian designers were the hot thing in Japan in the late sixties.
This answers a big head scratcher for me. The PF catalogue features 500-odd cars up to 1990 – and not one Japanese car is amongst them. I alway thought it was the Italian design houses who were too snobby to feature ‘lesser’ Japanese creations, but now I’m thinking its the other way around, and commercial-in-confidence type issues determine official public acknowledgement.
Still, I think the Japanese are quick learners (really?) and were able to do some really accomplished designs on their own.
PF’s involvement with Nissan is certainly public knowledge. They designed their seminal 410, which undoubtedly influenced their whole line, from the pickups to the first Silvia coupe.
Yep, I think over time this stuff has got out. I also think they were involved with the ‘Fiat 2300’ version of the Cedric.
The old Mazda 1300/ Luce was a Bertone design that was rumored to be a proposal for the Alfa Guiletta…
Yep, I’d heard that too.
According to the Bertone catalogue, there was a saloon designed in 1962 with square headlights for Alfa Romeo.
In 1963, Bertone did a similar but not same body as above (with round headlights) for Mazda shown at the 10th Tokyo Japanese Motor Show.
In 1964, Bertone was commissioned by Mazda to do another saloon called the Mazda 1500 Luce. Apart from the front end (square lights and longer snout), this car is almost identical to the production version of the 1500/1800.
Giugiaro designed the 1963 and 1964 Mazda prototypes for Bertone, but its not indicated whether he did the 1962 Alfa.
Curious thing about the ItalDesign catalogue is that it features Giugiaro’s cars from his time at Bertone and Ghia, as well as from his own company. It says, for instance, that the association between Bertone and Mazda started in 1961, which the Bertone catalogue doesn’t mention.
These catalogues are chunky with info, but not perfect.
Glen.h, had a bit more of a think about the Mazda/Alfa thing.
Let me contextualise a bit.
For me, a primary source is a) the artifact, b) contemporaneous documentation about the artifact and c) specific recollections from people who were involved with the artifact at the time of its gestation.
These catalogues are very good secondary sources. By its own admission, the ItalDesign cat is selective in its choices because, as it states on its acknowledgement page, it has only chosen to feature cars and prototypes that are already publicly acknowledged. The Pininfarina catalogue does not have this caveat, and in fact includes some cars that have not yet made their way to the internet, but its still not complete.
So these catalogues are far from perfect.
There’s another thing: creative types have what’s known as ‘the bottom drawer’. This is a euphemism for good ideas that have been rejected and are hopefully to be used by the same client later or by other clients.
In the 50s and 60s Alfa saloons were not always as graciously presented as their sportier variants. In fact, some of these saloons are downright dowdy. I don’t know enough about the internal machinations at Alfa during this period, but its entirely possible that they asked Bertone to come up with some sketches and were freaked out by what they received.
So its still possible that the Luce is a rejected Alfa design, something that Giugiaro pulled out of his bottom drawer. As per the discussion above with Paul, maybe time will out the truth on this.
The coincidence of design between the 62 Alfa and the 63 Mazda prototypes, however, might be enough to have started this rumour.
Neat! I can see it too, as the 1971 Suzuki Fronte Coupe was the work of Giugiaro and fits right in with the Galant’s “Dynawedge” styling theme. Now I’m incredibly curious, are there any other Japanese cars of the era listed in the unknown works section??
Yep, the Fronte is shown, named the Cerva. Other specific cars in the ‘unknown’ section are the 1973 Toyota Starlet and 1982 Nissan March. Catalogue stops at 1987, so after this there’s likely more.
Brief mention made of involvement with the 1981 and 1984 Corolla, with which Toyota admits ‘an association’ with Giugiaro, although top management denies he was directly involved in projects.
Another brief mention: ‘Nissan unofficially admits to having sought Giugiaro’s assistance for it’s whole range of small cars’ mentioned in context with the 82 March.
Thanks for that! Indeed you are correct about there being others after 1987. A specific example I am aware of is the second generation Isuzu Gemini series. GM took his work on the project and altered it without his knowledge for the final design. As a result, he blacklisted Isuzu/GM completely, and for years denied his involvement. As a result, the third generation Gemini series is rumored to be the runner up for the final Saturn line of cars via GM Studios…
Thanks in return. Didn’t know about the blacklisting. Haven’t read the whole thing as it just landed yesterday, but I wish I had it a bit earlier because his comments on the Golf and Scirocco are good. He’s not shy about what he didn’t like in the final form of these.
Now that you mention it, there is an entry in the catalogue proper for the Isuzu Gemini (which we got as the first Holden Barina). It talks of his displeasure.
Regarding the Nissan March/Micra, it was my understanding that the first generation March was a shape Giugiaro penned for Fiat, and when Fiat didn’t care for it he sold it to Nissan and created a new design for Fiat (for the Uno).
Gots to love the Internet for its juicy nuggets. Thanks Uncle Mellow.
“I do not recall anything really taking the Cricket’s place at Chry-Ply stores after the Cricket made its final chirp.”
Someone pointed it out, already, about the ’76 Plymouth Arrow. I hope it is featured in next few postings for Colt based Mopars. There was a Fire Arrow version that had a good HP/wt ratio.
There was a gap in between where Plymouth didn’t have a small four-cylinder car, though. As I understand it, the Cricket was dropped during the 1973 model year, and C-P dealers then didn’t have a subcompact for the 1974 and 1975 model years — the first two full model years after the first Oil Crisis.
I’d love to see this series cover the whole range of “Chryslerbisihis”, either as sidebars to the Colt story, or in extra posts at the end.
“I would go as far as to say that the Colt’s biggest obstacle to success was that it was branded a Dodge, and sold in Dodge dealers.”
True, a buyer comes in for a Colt in 1972, and sales staff will try to upsell to a Dart, Charger, or Coronet. “For a little more, you can get road hugging weight!” Small car buyer walks, average buyer went for the Darts.
My first new car was a 73 coupe and I still have two 73’s, a 4 door 4spd Colt little old lady car that I bought for my daughter about 10 years ago with 28k on the clock. She didn’t like it at first but grew to love it, as did all her friends. She eventually gave it back to me. It still runs like a top. I also picked up a 4 spd Cricket coupe. It is in pretty rough shape but I know how rare they are and will eventually restore it.
I gotta hand it to you, Peter, seriously entertaining the idea of restoring a Cricket. The first car I ever bought on my own (and this gives you a clue how old I am) was a ’72 Colt, 2-door automatic. I didn’t know how to drive a manual tranny at that time, and I test-drove a number of little cars before I bought. I have a vivid, not very pleasant memory of the auto-tranny Pinto I tested. Even by the standards of small, cheap cars on the US market in 1972, the Pinto was a slug. I was so pleasantly surprised by the relatively peppy Colt that I grabbed it. It took us on a couple of cross-country moves, but not before we discovered a pretty serious production flaw: head gasket folded over on itself, causing a coolant leak and a couple of scary overheating episodes (we fixed it ourselves). The other times the Colt stranded us were purely our own fault (someone forgot to put the cap on the oil filler, and we were stuck on I-80 in Nevada; I might have frozen to death had a friendly trucker not stopped and allowed me to sit with him in his nice warm cab until we could get help…I know, I didn’t have any idea who the guy was and he could have been a serial killer or something, but I was young and trusting, and he really WAS a nice guy). The Colt lasted well into the ’80’s, finally succumbing to the rust worm with about 120,000 miles on it. I will always have fond memories. (Yes, I did eventually learn to drive a manual; in fact, that’s all we have in our household now.)
I would like to buy a 1972 Colt Wagon! Under $800 in the Johnson City,Tn. area
I have a 1972 dodge colt gt and the issues I’m having is find the front shocks/ struts that are all one piece, it seems that no one has them, can anyone please help me, I’m from Fresno ca PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME!
Hey Martin, send me an email, I may be able to help you.
Thanks Richie, I appreciate it brotha martinberber_1985@yahoo.com
The Colt was sold in Australia as a Mitsubishi in 1970-71, then in 1972 Chrysler began assembly of the Colt at their Adelaide factory and sold it as the Chrysler Galant.Chrysler in Australia had dropped the Hillman Hunter that year, and were debating whether to replace it with the Colt/Galant, or the Avenger/Cricket.
Plymouth Crickets had a bad reputation in the U.S , this is incredible ! Amazingly it was also assembled in Argentina as the Dodge 1500 , Dodge 1.8 and even Dodge Rural 1.5 in the station wagon name . This car was next slightly facelifted by local Volkswagen and relaunched as the Volkswagen 1500 , Volkswagen 1,8 and Volkswagen 1500 Rural .
It became the most durable and reliable machine of the region, it was produced ´til year 1991 . It´s mostly known as the unending engine, such a dependable car . Let´s hope some day this nice webpage Curbside Classic could catch a picture to make it to know the American readers . Apart from being so elegant and distincted under Volkswagen release, the ex Plymouth Cricket manufactured in Argentina has an incredibly record of more than 50% of ´em still driven in fit good shape .
You’re re-running this series for me, aren’t you? You know how much I miss my ’89.
The Simca 1204 looks like it should have been a next generation Rambler that was never built.
As a car-obsessed kid in a provincial NZ city in the late 80s, I remember a older small red station wagon in my street with Plymouth Cricket badges and the steering wheel on the left. Without the Internet, let along Curbside Classic, back then, it was pretty much a mystery, but it must have been one of the Canadian-only Crickets.
As to how it made its way to NZ, back in the 70s it could be more cost-effective to bring your car with you if migrating to NZ than buying here, so maybe an academic teaching at the local university brought it rather than take a chance on one of the abundant Hillman Avengers or less abundant Mitsubishis of the time.
Certainly a more mundane choice of private import than the US-market Jaguar XJS around the corner from my house or the Lincoln Mk VII that a Canadian family brought with them.
with cars like these and datsuns and toyota and mazdas… even the british offerings…. heck even the usa offerings with huge barges and pintos vegas and chevettes…. design wise i find the 70’s not malais at all. down in power perhaps, but not in style or color.
The first time this was posted, I fouled myself by focusing on the wrong thing.
This was a good car for its time, while the Cricket was not. Our neighbors bought a Cricket for their daughter to drive when she got her license and had to get rid of it almost immediately. It was a really bad unreliable little lemon. It hurt Plymouth’s image regarding cars smaller than the Duster. That wouldn’t get fixed until the Omnirizon years later.
The Colt made Mitsubishi look good. It clearly was not a Dodge, but it was a good foreign car. The entire line was rather well done. They suffered from rust, like most early Japanese cars, but mechanically, they were innovative and sound. They appealed to those of us who wanted a domestic brand, even though it wasn’t domestically made.
The second generation was even more attractive. These little rear drive coupes and sedans were very good cars. I’ve ridden in more than a few.
In my small town, there were no dealers for imported cars. These Colts were sold by the local Dodge dealer, so they were more common than other imports (except for the VW Beetle).
I always thought that the generation following this one was very attractive. If I recall correctly, the automatic transmission used on the second-generation Colt was Torqueflite, which was a definite cut above the automatics on other imports.
As for the Plymouth Cricket – it was sold by our local Chrysler-Plymouth dealer. Our neighbors actually bought a brand-new, pea-green sedan. Not surprisingly, they didn’t have it for very long. I did not see another Cricket until one popped up a few years ago in the car corral at the Chryslers at Carlisle show. I now wish that I had taken a photo if it!
Here’s an ancient one I shot in Guatemala in 1993.
I recently acquired a copy of the December 1970 issue of Road & Track. It has an article titled, “Meet the Dodge Colt & Plymouth Cricket.” It also has articles on the Pinto, Toyota Corolla and the Datsun 510 automatic. In my opinion, the magazine was always predisposed to find nice things to say about British cars under any circumstance. To that effect, they bashed the ride and handling of the Colt, which they described as long of travel, softly sprung, and under-damped.
The Cricket was praised for its lack of suspension travel, as if that made up for the five additional seconds it took to reach sixty miles per hour, 25% greater thirst for gasoline, eleven mile per hour lower top speed, or complete paucity of comfort and convenience features. Had the Colt worn a French brand name, I suspect the axle tramp when one reved the engine and dumped the clutch would have been forgiven. Neither car had been priced when the article went to press.
In sixth and seventh grade, my school bus passed a house with a Cricket in the garage under a pile of detritus. I think that’s the only one I’ve ever seen. Colts were pretty popular in my hometown, as were many of the other captive Mitsubishis.
Does anyone remember those great video road tests of the era, perhaps hosted by a man named Bud? He once tested a Cricket with twin carburetors. Unfortunately, someone reclaimed their rights to the videos and they vanished.
Love the boomerang shaped taillights.
I have a 1971 Dodge Colt sedan drag car project I am looking for parts. Such as front brakes, spring/struts. If anyone knows where to find any parts for these cars my email is DustinLafeir@yahoo.com