Minneapolis Street Sighting: Dodge Colt

Monday, I started Dodge week with a Colt, so I figure its best to end Dodge week with one, too. Like one from the early 1980s, this car, too is a Mitsubishi in disguise; while it says Dodge and even has the funky Ramhead logo, it clearly is a Mitsubishi Mirage in (not quite convincing) drag. Equipped with a choice of two equally underpowered engines, these "new" Colts were not quite the "fun" car the first 1980s version turned out to be. The engine of choice was a meager 1.5L four with all of 92 horses. Honestly, that probably wasn't so bad given the fact those most economy prod didn't produce over a hundred horses.








This car was kind of a "well, it's not rust-free, at least" shoot for me. I never really liked these as a child, and I still don't. What honestly made me shoot this was the rarity factory. Obviously, a Dodge Colt of this generation is no collector car, nor does it retain any sort of enthusiast following. But--like it's much earlier predecessor, these things are quite hard to spot. I honestly can't remember the last one I saw.
For a forgotten half-import, this little coupe has been preserved quite well. I used to see these infrequently when new, and some twenty years later, this one's still kicking. I have to say, someone did a rather good job of keeping the tinworm away from this one. Yes, it has a little rust spot on the passenger door, but I suppose that's inevitable for a car of this age and purpose.
Rarely do I see any Colt, much less a base model with no frills whatsoever. It appears that under the cheap hubcaps, the base steel (aluminum?) wheels still lurk. I'd chuck these hubbies in a minute and expose the original rolling stock. This is no special breed of performance car, but I do think it needs to be kept original, if only for the sake of not having many other survivors.
The Dodge Colts marks the true end of badge-engineered Chryslerbishis, and it leaves with a bittersweet feeling. I know neither Chrysler nor Mitsubishi made stellar cars in the 1990s, but together, the joint venture spawned quite a few interesting vehicles. To many, the Colt does not make that list, but to me it does.