The Mitsubishi Colt is a supermini built by Mitsubishi Motors at their NedCar plant in the Netherlands, using the same underpinnings as its sister car, the now discontinued Smart Forfour. Mitsubishi has used the name twice previously, first as the marque of a series of kei cars and subcompact cars in the 1960s, and then as the export version of the Mitsubishi Mirage hatchback. The Chrysler Corporation, Mitsubishi's longtime partner, also used the name in the 1970 when it rebadged the second generation Mitsubishi Galant as Dodge Colt and Plymouth Colt captive imports for the United States market.
[] 1960s
Mitsubishi introduced the 'Colt' name in 1962 on the Colt 600, the first of a line of small, sporty vehicles complementing their Mitsubishi 500, the company's first post-war passenger car. Powered by a NE35A 594 cc OHV two cylinder air-cooled engine. At this time, Mitsubishi Motors did not yet exist as an autonomous company, and vehicles were being produced by three regional subsidiaries of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. MHI, which had been formally dismantled after the Second World War, resumed operating as a single entity in 1964, but continued to use the 'Colt' marque until the 1970s in Asia, and the 1980s in Europe.
To complement the 600, a larger compact car was intoduced in 1963, the Colt 1000', followed by the Colt 800 and Colt 1500 in 1965.
The Colt marque was used principally in the United Kingdom, and phased out around 1984. In New Zealand, the Colt brand began disappearing in the mid 1970s in favour of Mitsubishi and surfaced as a model name only in the late 1980s and in 2003.
In the 1980s, Mitsubishi Motors Australia offered the original Mirage as the Colt, building it at its Adelaide plant. The Australian Colt was available as a four- or five-door with a 1.6-litre engine at the top of the range. It was sold as an entry-level model there and in New Zealand, where the second-generation Mirage was already on offer.
|
