I’m not sure about the “classic” part, but it’s certainly rare. These Tredias and Cordias, the first Mitsubishis sold in the US under their own brand, have become might scarce. I asked “Last Cordia Still On The Streets?” in my CC on the coupe version. Of course it wasn’t really, but here we have a Tredia Turbo sedan, no less.
Mitsubishi set up a limited dealer network in 1982, increasingly frustrated with its relationship with Chrysler, which was of course moving into small cars very aggressively with its own Omnirizon and K-cars. Initially, Mitsus were only available on the West Coast and certain East Coast metro areas.
The Tredia and Cordia coupe were the only product, initially. They were typically 80s Japanese fare, well built, and none too cheap, during the era of Voluntary Import Restraints.
The 1982 and 1983 Tredias/Cordias came with a 82 hp 1.8 L four, and the 1984s with an 88hp 2.0 four. But in 1984, the turbo came along, which had a 116hp form its 1.8 four. Hot stuff, for the times. And it can be yours, for $600 OBO. You know you want it.
craigslist (LA) Hat tip to theProfessor
Wow…not only a Tredia, but a turbo! Rare doesn’t even begin to describe it…
I have a peculiar love for these obscure Mitsu products. Found a super-clean Sigma a few years ago and it just made my day…if it was for sale it would have been mine. The only thing that’s stopping me here is geography. if it was on the east coast I’d be on my way to go check it out!
I think these were sold as Eagle Vistas in Canada. They weren’t bad cars however replacement parts were very expensive.
New owner: Change that timing belt right away…otherwise you will likely own a $600.00 boat anchor.
I just might be the oddball here (nothing new). After I drove a Mitsu pu all over Guam I found I liked most all their product. I was sorry they didn’t make a go of it here and thought their products were at least as good as the general fare.
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen one of these in the flesh, er, sheet metal.
The turbo model tredia was my first car it was amazing to me until I got in an accident and totaled it but it held up I ran it up underneath and old school Chevy pickup truck and it held up pretty will still start it afterwards tell the fire department cut my battery cables it was a monster for only been 4 cylinder just thought I’d let you know but there are still some on the street to this day
The ’85-’87 Mitsubishi Galant as well as the subsequent Galant Signas is the model that I always loved. In fact, I almost purchased a slightly used ’86 Galant back in 1987. Being in North Carolina, Mitsubishi had not established a plethora of dealerships like Toyota, Nissan, and other Japanese makes. This particular car was found at the dealership in Florence, SC and after one test drive, I was sold. It was my dad, who came with me, who brought me back to reality. Reminding me that it was quite an advanced car with limited (and not local) dealership availability, he strongly suggested I purchase something else. I went with a new Camry instead. I’d snatch one of these Galants up in a heartbeat if I could find one (I can’t) and I’d be tempted to snag this Tredia for the price if it was local.
Mr. Bill
Hamlet, NC
My wife and I purchased a new ’86 Galant. We were on the west coast, so the dealership thing wasn’t such a big deal. After driving a Acura Integra, I was impressed with the all the nice electronic goodies the vehicle had (including an adjustable suspnsion). The car was quiet, and rode beautifully. Sadly, we didn’t keep it long. It was minivan time. Trade-in value was in the tank.
Thanks for sharing about owning the ’86 Galant. There was just something about that car to me – the design cues came together just right in my opinion. If I searched hard on the West coast, I’m sure I would come up with one eventually. In this part of the country, I can only recall seeing about 4 on the road and that includes the two that were at the Mitsubishi dealership the day I took my test drive. One of these 4 was a Galant Sigma.
Mr. Bill
Hamlet, NC
They were smart looking cars, I’ve always liked them too – especially the Galant Sigma. Both used to be pretty common here, but I haven’t seen one in years.
I almost bought a new ’86 Galant..can’t remember but we were up to signing papers, and something gave me cold feet…I reconsidered and went back to buy it, but the one I wanted was sold (must have been end of year or something) and the one they had left had all the options, which I didn’t want (special suspension, etc). Even the base model was pretty loaded, had fancy (for the time) radio, and odd “pods” to control things sticking from the steering wheel..on left side, there was an “ear” kind of like on the 1960’s Chrysler cars for turn signal (rather than an “arm”). On the left was a pod containing climate control, which seemed really odd to me, since I was used to having it in the center stack.
Anyhow, I choose a completely different type of car, instead going for an ’86 GTi, not nearly as plush, standard everything (well, power brakes) and crank sunroof…I had that car for about 15 years…wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t gotten cold feet on the Galant?
The Sigmas were definitely smart-looking cars, though always pretty uncommon. I found this one parked at a local shopping center a few years ago and was positively thrilled to actually see a car that I thought had largely disappeared from the roads.
The info I can find seems to suggest that it became the Sigma, without the Galant prefix, for 1988 to 1990. Were the ’85 to ’87 cars largely the same, except for sealed-beam lamps and a few other detail changes?
Walk away,don’t look back. $600 for a 28 year old turbo is just the deposit,it will have had a hard life.I don’t remember these in the UK at the time.
These in Colt Premier guise were damn good cars. Good handling – the first time I ever saw the Yokohama 008 on a production car. They also had multi-adjustable seats and the pass through trunk. My dear wife, who wouldn’t know a Hudson from a VW, loved driving one, which astounded me. I will admit that I have never seen a Mitsu branded one in person. Amazing product line they had in 1985 – fully competitive in all segments. Where did Mitsubishi lose their mojo? They’re a conglomerate that is successful in a very wide array of businesses, from shipping to manufacturing to banking. Why the disconnect in North America?
I had completely forgotten about these, but weren’t they slightly bigger than the Colt Premier 4-door? They seemed closer to the contemporary 4-door Accord than Colt/Corolla/Sentra-sized. In California, these were not common but certainly not rare. And like the Dodge and Plymouth-branded Mitsu’s, they always seemed sportier (even non-turbo) than similar Toyotas, Datsuns and Hondas. I have good memories of driving both RWD and FWD Colts, and of chasing FireArrows on the track in my Showroom Stock Fiesta. Once the Fire Arrow was pointing in a straight line the 2.6 “Hemi” could make it move.
You’re correct–the Colt, at least in the USA, was based on the Mirage. One size smaller than the Tredia. Tredia was indeed closer in size to the 2nd gen Accord, though the Accord went on to compete against the Galant once it got larger with each successive generation.
I think the Tredia’s eventual replacement was the Galant, but it wasn’t an exact-size sort of thing.
I think they lost their mojo about 10-15 years ago. Just going from memory here, but someone high-up in the company did something illegal involving finances, leading to massive losses, and a massive loss of honour for the company. One of the implications seems to have been their car (not SUV) product line, which seems to have had no changes for ages – unless you count those little electric thingies. No mainstream size sedan anymore, since they killed the Galant. Same Lancer for about ten years now. And who buys their smaller stuff anyway? Pretty much just an SUV and truck company these days, it seems. Sad.
I think the mid-90s financial crisis in Japan hit them hard, and then there was a big scandal involving covering-up vehicle defects in the early 2000’s. It is after the latter events that they really have seemed to not recover the way the other Japanese manufacturers have (eg Mazda).
For $600, if the thing runs at all, I’d snap it up in a heartbeat…if I wasn’t in Chicago. I’ve seen far worse cars go for 4-5 times this much up here in the post-Cash for Clunkers era.
Mitsubishi really loved using 4-spoke wheels during this period. Never looked quite right to me.
I shot a mint one owner Tredia for the cohort recently naturally aspirated though, Turbo Cordias were used as highway patrol cars in NZ but longevity wasnt their strong suit and were replaced by V3000s also with short life engines.
The Cordia had a bit of a rep for putting conrods through the engine block in the turbo model, as well as the other typical 80s turbo maladies. I imagine that did in most of the Tredias as well, as this era Mitsubishi cars were pretty well built otherwise.
Where did it all go wrong?
About the time ‘Laura Branigan’ sang about it.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CKFTPCgRs5g
Words fail me,Don… There is some serious hair action going down there. The question I have to ask is of the four people and dogs, who sheds the most?
I’m surprised Nissan hasn’t already used that song – and they wouldn’t have needed to change the title either! “♫♪Gloria (Gloria!)…♭♩♬…”
Did Nissan ever use this song? Seems perfect for a car commercial: http://youtu.be/BMZ1wZgl3m0
Also, can somebody tell me how to embed YouTube videos on here? I must be getting stupider, because I can’t figure this out…
Yea just a bad idea, they suffered from wastegate seizing, along with their stupid super shift boxes. I had one sadly.
I actually like the design of those wheels. They look high tech and like theyd fit a car that (in the 80s) used futuristic tech like turbocharging. In a 15 or 16 inch diameter, 8″ wide and with a good sized lip, theyd look good on a 4-lug Dodge Daytona or ‘4 eyed’ Mustang.
Me too, I’ve always liked most of the 4-spoke wheel designs from the 80s, and some of the weirder ones that didn’t really have any spokes (one of the Ford TRX designs, Renault’s “one spoke” wheel). These ones look cool and a factory turbo hot rod is the most appropriate home for stuff like this.
I was actually going to post this one last night until this particular article was briefly and temporarily pulled out. Well anyway the Mitsubishi Tredia which was basically a Four Door Sedan version of the Cordia would not surprise me at all especially if it shared its chassis/platform from the triumvirate of the Lancer/Colt/Mirage Subcompacts produced during the early through the mid 1980s. With the exception of the 1981-82 Mitsubishi Lancer shown on the Top Left of this photo which was still a RWD BTW, the rest including the Tredia shown on the Bottom Left used the same chassis as the aforementioned triumvirate as they are collectively known as. Not only that, but now ALL four were basically identical in size as well. After the Mitsubishi Tredia (along with its coupe companion Cordia) were discontinued after 1988, it was replaced by a significantly larger Galant (the Eclipse – essentially a shortened Galant Sports Coupe at 172.8″ long) which was a foot longer than the Tredia at 172.4″ long and this version of the Galant was basically even slightly longer (183.9″ for the former and 180.3″ for the latter) than the flagship Galant which debuted back on 1983 used its elder brethren’s chassis along with the Eclipse though.
Used to be loads of Trediae on our roads once. There’s still one here in town that the owner (a nurse) has had since at least 1995, but most have long since gone to the wrecking lot in the sky.
I wasn’t a Mitsi fan, but I did have a Tredia for a week as a courtesy car in the late 90s. It was an 1800cc/5 speed manual combo, yellow with a beige interior. When I picked it up it seemed the very definition of bleargh, but after driving it for a short while, it turned out to be a lot of fun. Willing engine, great gearbox, it felt very lithe and agile. Of course it also felt very light-weight and insubstantial, and I’d hate to crash one. But overall it forced me to confront (if not completely change) my bias about Mitsi.
I have to stop clicking on stuff like this. $600?! ughhhh…. I’m so tempted to call in sick on Monday, fly across the country and burn the rest of my vacation days for the year driving this little sucker back home. I can’t ever remember seeing one of the turbo models and it’s been over a decade since I saw any kind of Tredia here on the east coast.
The only one I ever got up close and personal with was owned by a friend in high school – a brown on brown, fully loaded (including automatic, sadly) non-turbo Tredia. She got it cheap from an old dude who never drove it, and it was in flawless condition. The interior was very nice and full of gizmos and it drove fairly well. The suspension was softer than I’d expected it would be and the automatic sucked all the life out of the engine, but I could tell it was a solid chassis underneath and it was put together far better than later MItsubishis were. Very high quality for a car of this class and it even had a power sunroof. She didn’t keep it long, though, so I don’t remember it all that well.
When the Tredia Turbo was available in the US, you could also get a Dodge/Plymouth Colt Turbo sedan. It’s kinda odd that Mitsubishi built two cars so similar for the US market, although I guess the Colt was somewhat cheaper. Which one of them was more successful? I don’t think I’ve ever seen either of them in person.
Just dreamin’……..
IIRC, the Dodge/Colt Vista was built on the same platform as the Mitsu Tredia/Cordia. I had a Colt Vista once, and I wanted to get another one, and make some changes:
1. Turbo from the Tredia/Cordia turbo, or……..(with more fabrication), drop in the V6 from the Mitsu Galant Sigma
2. 15″ spoke alloys off of the Mitsu Galant (a bolt-on change – same hub bolt pattern)
3. It would be a 4WD version, too.
There was supposedly a factory 4WD/turbo version in Japan, but I can’t find too much info on it or any pictures besides this one (showing the TURBO badge on the grille). That would be cool as hell, though!
I used to have a midnight blue 88 Tredia Turbo… those cars are pure trouble.
Although, it was FAST, believe me, very FUN to drive… it SMOKED like a mofo… typical 80’s -90’s Mitsubishi.
You guys talk about these Mitsus… like they’re the 2nd coming of Christ. LMAO
There not around, anymore, because they were less reliable than an 80’s Escort. lol
I had mine, when I was trading in my 85 Subaru RX awd Turbo, back in 95.
Hmmmmm… on second thought, for $600, sign me up… smoke and ALL. 🙂
And now, for the rest of the story: I know this Tredia actually. It had been my dad’s. The Tredia didn’t have that hard of a life. Until about a year and a half ago it had been parked in a garage. I had taken it over from my dad when he could no longer drive. The picture of the engine compartment was not of that actual car, it was taken from the net, it’s engine compartment was a lot cleaner. I just didn’t have time to work on it and I was approached by a guy that said he wanted it for himself. Tried to almost talk him out of it but he wanted it very badly, so I sold it to him. He got it going again. And he flipped it…… It is now in Compton in a storage yard ready for lien sale on 5/30/14, since the guy who bought it from him was driving it and didn’t register it, it was towed by the CHP. It has a rebuilt turbo and cylinder head, new injectors, rebuilt distributor, new exhaust including catalytic convertor, new fuel filter, half shafts replaced, rebuilt starter, new tires, new shocks, K&N air cleaner, new radiator, new fuel pump, rebuilt fuel tank (Gary’s Radiator in Fullerton, Ca.: Great place!), new Sony stereo and Alpine speakers. Sure it was a 80’s throwback, but was fun to drive, and great on gas.
Hey don’t think you’ll respond to this cus it’s not 2014 anymore but do u know how I can get my hands on one of these today?
I’ll take it!!! It’s exactly the same car I owned when I was 18.
How do I get one of these in the us?