Despite what you might think from reading my posts, I do not worship Lee Iacocca. I know my glowing praise of his marketing skills might lead you to believe that a framed photo of Lido illuminated by Mustang-shaped candles sits proudly in my living room. This is not the case, but I’ll admit that I can’t seem to say enough about his ability to read not only what the automotive buying public wanted, but what they needed and could afford. Iacocca has been gone for some time now, but does his thinking on cars hold true in today’s world?
In an interview after his retirement when Chrysler was on the ropes once again, Iacocca was asked how, if given the opportunity, he’d save them again. His response? “I’d make small cars that people want to buy.” You might think that’s absolutely not the case today, but recent turns of events make me believe the old Chrysler CEO’s statement once again. Mitsubishi might be just the company with nothing to lose and everything to gain by trying it out.
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Too Late For Too Little?
New small cars have been disappearing in America for some time now; we’ve reported on the impending death of the Mitsubishi Mirage, and the upcoming end of the Nissan Versa. There aren’t a lot of other choices either beyond something like a Hyundai Venue.
However, current factors at play seem to be making the decision to euthanize these models less than prudent. You see, the reasons for the shrinking subcompact car market over the last few decades are starting to disappear, such as:
Low Rates! Zero Percent!
If you could get 72-month low-interest financing, why not get a bigger and more expensive new car? This warmed a car company’s heart because the profit margin ain’t great on an entry-level model. Since the pandemic, much of that sweetheart financing has flat-out evaporated, and we all know that interest rates have risen as well.
Buy A Used … What?
Supply chain issues and a shift in people from leasing to buying means that the used car market is still not a great alternative to a cheap new car.
“I Remember When Gas Cost …”
Cheap fuel made tiny cars pointless before the pandemic, but now absurd gas prices are here to stay. Electric cars? They’re still too expensive, and who cares if they give you a free charger? Most low-end car buyers live in apartments or street-park, so where the hell do they plug it in?
It’s no surprise then that, as our Thomas Hundal pointed out, sales of these little cars were up in the last few months, just in time for the aforementioned Mitsubishi and Nissan models to be discontinued. Maybe Iacocca was right about small cars after all.
Ah, but look at the other part of Lido’s statement: “Small cars that people want to buy.” I seriously doubt anyone really wants to buy a Mitsubishi Mirage; it’s simply the best if not only choice in the price range for a buyer with very limited funds who wants a reliable new car (yeah, I know, as an Autopian if someone says “$16,000″ you’re thinking how much used semi-tragic Porsche you could get for that, but most people aren’t as dumb as we are).
The Mirage’s rather dopey styling screams “this is all I could afford,” and the 78 horsepower engine screams as it tries to put its meager power through a crappy CVT. No, this is a car purchased because you have no other choice.
That’s now how it used to be at Mitsubishi.
Before The dEVOlution Of Mitsubishi
Despite being a “car guy” I really couldn’t tell you if Mitsubishi was still selling vehicles other than that Mirage here in America. I just checked the website right now and realize that the answer is that they do, but it’s been three minutes since I shut the Mitsu website window and I can’t tell you what I just saw. My vague memory was crossover things that I might buy if, say, it was the only affordable Japanese option.
If you’re under thirty, you might find it hard to believe but people at one point purchased Mitsubishis because it was their favorite option. If you’re over forty these cars might be a bit like the band Duran Duran: you might have written them off as superficial flash-in-the-pans but now realize that were actually pretty damn good.
There were so many legit cars like the forgotten Z-fighting turbocharged Starions, the proto-supercar 3000GT, slick Eclipse Turbos, and the Galant VR4 with four-wheel-everything (even steering) that predated the vaunted Lancer EVO models. That’s solid performance credibility right there that Mitsubishi appears to be totally ignoring by making a bunch of milquetoast crossovers.
Even with very small cars, Mitsubishi once had some exciting products that were serious contenders for the hot hatch crown. The ultimate might have been the 1985 Colt Turbo from the time that you could buy a Mitsu at one of the seemingly countless Dodge (or Chrysler/Plymouth) dealerships in America.
The Colt was redesigned for this year with sleek sheet metal; even the front side marker lights were artfully blended into the clean design. With a roof spoiler over the hatch like the one above it was quite a snarky little devil. Under the hood, Mitsubishi offered a turbocharged version of the standard 1.6 Liter four that pumped out 103 horsepower; a zero to sixty time of 9.5 seconds doesn’t seem like much today but was competitive with benchmark VW Rabbit GTI.
In a seemingly redundant move, this Colt was actually also sold at U.S. Mitsubishi dealers as a Mirage in 1985 as well:
The Colt is just a bit longer than the current Mirage, and it’s shorter in height as well, but it’s close enough in size that the stark contrasts are staggering. While the 2024 Mirage is something that I would only choose if it were the last car on the Enterprise lot, that 1985 Colt Turbo looks terrific. In Turbo form it pushes all the buttons for Car You Want To Hoon. Given the choice of this and one of those $2.6 million McLaren P1s, you just know that the Colt would be far more fun to drive as a Real Car in the Real World, terrorizing the neighborhood under the radar.
To me, this is the model that needs to be the inspiration something new that not only makes you care about small cars once again, but that makes you give a shit about Mitsubishi. Here’s a full line of Colts to get you going.
The Hatch Becomes Hot: The GTS Turbo
Let’s start with the basic Mirage and see what we can do to make it more appealing.
I’d make it just a hair bigger to let us add wheels big enough to not be an embarrassment like the rubber-clad thimbles of the current car. We’d then add some retro sheetmetal to simulate the 1985 car, including more glass since people want windows for sunlight even with rearview cameras – do you hear me Elon? Let’s look at the animation:
Naturally, there would be a base model to go well below the $20,000 threshold but I’m focusing on the top-of-the-heap Turbo GTS model with retro “Charcoal Starion” wheels, the no-glare hood and even an electric rear spoiler that could adjust in angle as speed increases just like on that McClaren P1 (but on a vehicle that costs less than 1 percent of the price of that rather-useless-on-the-street hypercar). Notice the giant, well-integrated front side marker lights similar to the original eighties Colt.
Maybe we need to have a three-cylinder option for the Colt similar to the motor in the current Mirage, but I see a need to add a turbo even in base form. I’m certain the average buyer will be happy to sacrifice some economy to get enough performance to keep up with traffic. A four-cylinder would be optional, but the real news would be the turbocharged 245 horsepower motor in the GTS model. In a car that would tip the scales at under 2500 pounds, all the virtual calculators I’ve put the parameters into claim a zero to sixty time of around five seconds or less. Now that’s the Mitsubishi we all remember.
In back, the taillights of the 1985 car are mimicked in the hatch, with wraparound side marker lights matching the front ones holding repeater lamps for the taillamps since the main lights will be invisible with the hatch open (or rear fog lights for EU markets). Big central exhaust outlets are flanked by backup lamps.
Give It The Boot: EVO Junior GT
You can get a new 2024 Mirage with a trunk, and in the past a Colt 4-door sedan was offered by Dodge dealers even in turbo form:
We’d offer the same body style for the little Colt, including a hopped-up sedan called the EVO Junior. This tribute to the much-loved line of larger Mitsubishi Lancer performance cars could even have a trunk lid wing as on the bigger car:
I do wonder if we might even want to offer a detuned version of this with a similar look for the masses, as was done with the Lancer OZ Rally model; we can laugh at such paper tigers but some people just want the appearance of a fast car. Hell, they’re probably the smart ones and won’t die in a fiery wreck of a 245-horsepower tin can like you or I would do.
LeBaroning The Colt: The Diamante
Another entry in the reimagined car-formerly-known-as-Mirage lineup would be the Colt Diamante sedan (named for the long-ago-discontinued near-luxury Mitsubishi sedan offering) complete with retro wheels.
The Diamante is sort of a reverse Cimarron; you don’t pay for a luxury car name but you get the fancy car goods at a reasonable price. In fact, it’s a formula that American Motors tried quite successfully in their dying days when they turned the old AMC Hornet into the mini-luxury car Concord. A bit more chrome, fancy Landau-style vinyl top and wheels, plush tufty crushed velour seats and (gasp) an LED digital clock gave buyers what they would expect to find only with larger, more upscale cars but in an affordable, compact package.
You can see the rear seat of the stock Mirage, even with the fold-down rear armrest, looks like a very depressing place to be:
Like that AMC Concord fifty years ago, buyers will feel proud to take passengers in their new little car even though it only set them back about half of the $47,000 average that new car cost.
No Tape Deck Though
I tried to simulate the interior of the 1985 Colt as closely as possible, since I think it’s a great design with highly functional knobs sticking out just behind the steering wheel for wipers and lights.
On the new car, a small screen replaces the main cluster, while a smaller one is integrated into the center stack. Odd-looking right-angle-cut air vents sit at the top of the dash, with a Mitsubishi logo acting as the hazard flasher button below.
The modern parts mesh pretty well with the “futuristic” angular look. Let’s face it- if Mitsubishi had the technology back then they would have used it with that aesthetic.
You Don’t Need A $100,000 Car To Endanger Yourself
As if things couldn’t get worse for car buyers on a budget, it appears now that insurance rates are starting to skyrocket. If you thought you could barely afford that new $40,000 retro muscle car, a monthly Allstate or Geico bill that looks a payment on another car will end any thoughts of even considering such a thing.
All the more reason that people need small cars, and they shouldn’t have to make over six figures to buy a new vehicle that’s fun to drive. A car like this Colt Turbo could give you something that would be more amusing on the street than something only a one percenter could purchase, or seventy-year-old who finally has enough money to buy one.
Listen to Lido, Mitsubishi. You offered these kinds of options forty years ago, and it’s about time that you redeem yourselves by doing it again.
What It Might Look Like If Tesla ‘Gremlinized’ The Model 3 To Make A Tesla Model 2 – The Autopian
If you readjust the front lights not to be so crosseyed and close together (or old fashioned looking), and move them out to the edges where they should be, the car will immediately look more balanced and modern. It looks very dated without some modern elements. Hood is too tall also, makes it look too cartoonish. Neat idea though!
I don’t know about the gas situation at the moment. In my area (northeast Georgia) a couple of weeks ago it dropped from the $3 range which it had been at for months, down to $2.41. I say that’s fairly reasonable at the moment. Will it last? Of course not because election year, blah blah blah
I also read somewhere the other day that the overall public feels like the economy is now doing great because gas is cheap. Seriously?
God damn it. I saw the header image and thought it was a real thing. I’d be interested, obviously, but I’d be worried about my local dealer disappearing if I did actually buy a Mitsubishi.
As far as the design goes, love almost all of it, but the hood seems a tad tall where it meets the windshield. I get that you were following the Mirage lines, but I’d love to see it come down an inch or so.
Putting on my auto-exec hat…
The ’80s hatchback look is coming back around. I like what you’re going for but I think it’s kind of kneecapped by keeping so many of the outgoing Mirage’s hard points and the residual pudge they dictate. Besides, that decade-plus-old platform’s a likely lost cause as far as NHTSA and EuroNCAP going forward is concerned. Starting from scratch would allow more of the ’80s car’s proportions to be brought forward.
Duplicate lighting would be a hard sell to management on such a cheap car, especially if the hatch opening would have to be much narrower at the bottom than where your outer clamshell ends. Swallow your designer’s aversion to amber in the taillights and use the wagon 45-degree-angle ones
00l0l_g6xHciySzU2z_0Cz0t2_1200x900-768×578.jpg (768×578) (jazelc.com)
It was always rare in the US only having been sold in base E trim in 1985, but there was a 5-door hatch of the original which had a Golf-like thick C pillar with wider rear doors than the 2012-up one but still managed to be functionally much airier-looking and not much less so than your 6-light proposal would be;
1200px-Mitsubishi_Colt_1985.jpg (1200×660) (wikimedia.org)
And lastly, I don’t think the sedan would be worth the extra tooling expense in 2024. Even in emerging markets small sedans don’t carry the cachet they used to, and those who don’t want to be seen driving a hatchback can be satisfied much more cheaply (from a manufacturer’s POV) with a slightly raised ride height and a bit of plastic cladding. Call that version the Colt Vista.
Those 45 degree ones are actually pretty sweet. Good call.
You said ‘full line’, but where’s the Colt Vista? Tom & Ray are disappoint.
Great job with the Mirage morph: it goes from, ‘at least it’s not gray’ to, ‘hey, that looks fun!’
Too bad Mitsubishi didn’t offer a VR-4 Mirage. Turbo that 3-banger, add AWD, and there would be lots of fun! Dodge Attitude SRT-3 for Mexico.
Mitsubishi could also sell the Renault Kwid over here as the Mitsubishi Kwid. The Renaultsport Kwid could become the Mitsubishi Kwid VR-4.
They can also Rebadge the Oroch and call it Mighty Max. Also sell the Triton/L200 here.
Rebadge the Megane (including the wagon) as a Lancer. The RS can be sold as an Evo (again, including the wagon), and boom! The Evo is back!
Also bring back the Montero Sport, which they still make for other markets. Big SUV’s are still popular here.
Also, why the fuck don’t they sell the Eclipse Cross PHEV here?
I have a different take on the death of the small car in the US. Basically, government- and market-mandated equipment makes up a fair chunk of the costs of building a vehicle, so savings on materials don’t amount to that much.
Around 2019, I did a rental car review for another site on the Hyundai Accent. At that moment, taking into account MSRP and manufacturer rebates, the Accent only cost $1000 less than an Elantra sedan. For an extra grand, you’d get a bigger engine giving better performance, more interior room, AND better fuel economy.
When you divide that extra grand over a 60- or 72-month loan, it doesn’t amount to peanuts. It’s no wonder Hyundai quit selling the Accent in North America. It made very little sense for anyone to buy it.
That is super!!! I would for sure drive one of those!