(first posted 5/14/2013) Obviously, when folks think “Dodge Challenger”, they tend to think of the original and the current one. But in between was the gen2 Challenger, a rebadged Mitsubishi Galant Lancer sold as the Plymouth Sapporo and this Dodge Challenger from 1978 through 1983. And there were two versions of this car; the pre-’81, and the ’81 and on, like this one. We covered the Sapporo here, but let’s give this second series Challenger a spin.
These Mitsu coupes were pretty garish in their first incarnations: padded half-vinyl roofs; bright landau bands, carriage lights, garish colors and over-stuffed interiors; they were trying way too hard to be down-sized Chrysler Cordobas or Dodge Miradas. But the second series, like this ’81, took a decidedly sportier turn: cleaner flanks, a “normal” roof, and lots of graphics to suggest a sporty demeanor. Did it work?
Now here’s an interesting thought: all three generations of Challengers came with “hemi” engines, although only the first two were true hemis. We all know about the legendary 426 hemi available in the ’70 and ’71 Challengers; in reality very few were actually built that way. And the current Chrysler “hemi” isn’t really a true hemi; its combustion chamber is best described as a modified pent roof, since a true hemispherical chamber runs too dirty for smog regs.
But the Mitsu 2.6 four, like so many fours back then, had hemispherical heads; not that it resulted in anything too dramatic in terms of actual performance. But why didn’t they put big HEMI badges on this little puppy? Or at least little ones?
I liked these when they came out, if for no other reason that someone was STILL making pillarless hardtops.
Unfortunately, we needed the room our K-Car afforded for the family…
True, but the pillarless effect was offset by the fact that the rear quarter window glass wouldn’t retract all the way to be flush with the window sill.
We recently purchased an 81′ Challenger and need referral sources for parts etc.
Please advise if there are any parts dealers or individuals near you that we could reach out to.
W Hill
Triad North Carolina
Hi, when sourceing rember Mitsubishi use allot of common parts on all of their line up. I know for fact this car and the starion had meany parts in common even used the same sub frame. I owned a 81 challenger and aeven conquests. If you can find a Mitsubishi dealer that has been in business since the 80’s they usually still have the parts sheets available on micro fish. Try discount Mitsubishi parts online for the Sapporo it is the same car. For actuators and parts of this nature napa can source generic parts from their catalog that are close. Good luck and have fun with it reguards, mike
I have recently acquired a 1981 Challenger and a 1981 Sapporo. Please let me know if you are still interested in purchasing parts or the whole vehicles.
I have a full set of chrysler dealer parts books for the mitsubishi built imports. From 1971-1988 or 89. Taking up a LOT of space. Willing to let them go to a good home for a very reasonable offer.
dan at minicks-ks dot com
Hey Tim, Do you still have your challenger and supporo kicking around? Thanks,
-Randy
randytw@telusplanet.net
does the car run? i realy want one
Loved those Sapporo’s!
My friend and neighbor and I just purchased one of these recently. Many ideas popping around in our heads as what we will do with it. But we have hit a road block in sourcing parts for these vehicles. Also would appreciate any help in finding parts. Thank you.
Some time between 1979 and 1981, one of my high school friends bought a new one of these. He was the first of my buds who went out and bought a brand new “real” car. It was quite a step up from the 72 Pinto he had driven through high school.
Todd had delayed going to college for a bit and had a decent job. His Challenger was nicely equipped, and I remember liking it quite a bit. I was, however, in the most hard-core portion of my Mopar fanboy curve, and this car, though purchased from a Dodge dealer, was just not “pure” enough for my tastes.
I would be quite happy with one of these now, as I always considered it one of the best looking of the Japanese coupes of those years.
i need a few parts for a 81 challenger
I always liked the look of these. Shame this one is an automatic but it probably isn’t too bad with the big four though. They didn’t seem to last too long around here.
I see an Arrow truck as well as a Toyota LE van there too.
Talk about real debasement, I am sure it pained the dealers to sell each and every one of these. A Japified Challenger when there were still nearly new V8 Challys coming into the dealership for servicing… Especially seeing as the name decal looked as though it was lifted right out of the parts bin.
In its defense, the car did look a lot better than what we were used to seeing coming out of Asia in the 1970s, and the 2.6 engine was nifty with its balance shafts that made its way into other Chrysler products in the 1980s. Decent as long as you did not mess with the carburetor or the EGR valve.
According to Wikipedia, they sold about 12,000 or so of them a year, so no it was not terribly popular. But since Chrysler and Mitsubishi had an arrangement at that time, I am sure there was a benefit in there somewhere.
Actually, these things were a lifeline for Dodge dealers. When gasoline was spiking in 1979 and the best you’ve got is something with a slant 6, that would have been a recipe for disaster. Ford and GM had lots of bad little 4 cylinder cars, but they were selling gobs of them. Chrysler had nada. These things never sold in huge numbers, but they provided some much needed economical cars for Chrysler to supplement the Omni/Horizon which were just rolling out (no coupe till ’79) and which were in limited supply until after 1981 due to a shortage of VW engines. Anyway, most of the V8 Challengers coming in for service had 318s or had already been traded on a Mustang II or Cutlass (maybe on an Aspen R/T for the Mopar diehards)
The 70-74 Challenger was never very successful either. 12K of these wasn’t great, but they only sold 16K Challengers in 1974. They never broke 100K in any of the earlier years.
Though this car doesn’t do much for me (the front end looks like my least favorite version of the Fox Mustang), I do love the bent rear glass.
I thought “79 Mustang” when I saw the front end too. I also see a little Pontiac 6000.
The body shape reminds me of an ’82 – ’84 Celica Coupe..
I thought some cars with the 2.6 four did sport Hemi badges. If not the Challenger or Sapporo, maybe the Fire Arrow? Perhaps just K-Cars ….
I know the K-Cars had a Hemi badge, if only to let folks know you had stepped up and paid for the big boy motor.
This is at least as bad as Chevy badging their captive-import Toyota Corolla as a Nova.
> And the current Chrysler “hemi” isn’t really a true hemi; its combustion chamber is best described as a modified pent roof, since a true hemispherical chamber runs too dirty for smog regs.
Sshhhh… don’t let the facts get in the way of a good marketing campaign. Chrysler was smart to trademark the word “Hemi” (with a capital-H).
>But the Mitsu 2.6 four, like so many fours back then, had hemispherical heads; not that it resulted in anything too dramatic in terms of actual performance. But why didn’t they put big HEMI badges on this little puppy? Or at least little ones?
Some cars with the 2.6L did get Hemi badges.
http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/2500/1441/6248220003_large.jpg
I only remember seeing one of these in person, and it belonged to a friend’s grandmother. My dad took me and my (not so car-savvy) friend and his brother to the dragstrip when we were kids. Every time a Fox-body Mustang went down the track, they would say how their grandma drove one of those. I didn’t believe it. The next time their grandma came to visit, they ran over to my place and said, “She’s here, come see her car!” Turns out it was one of these Mitsu-Challengers.
A few of these were sold as Colt Sapporos in the UK but were never as popular as the Capri,Manta and Celica.Colt cars from Australia were sold as Lonsdales just to confuse us.
They were also Plymouth Sapporos here.
They were sold as Plymouth Sapporos in the US too. I wonder if they sold better as Sapporos, since I used to them pretty often for a car that supposedly didn’t sell well.
I remember these getting good reviews from the buff books at the time. They should have given the Celica and 200SX a run for their money, but they didn’t seem to be on buyers’ radar.
Got anymore pics Paul? They might be nice for the Chryslerbishi Partnership series (name may be changed).
Every last one of these seemed to be silver around here. Loved the design and the 2.6 offered alot of pull at the time but wished I had seen them in another color.
Had a couple of Mitsu Wagons with Astron engines one a 2L burned oil constantly it had 280,000.kms on it, the other a 2.6 ran well used no oil but it had been on LPG for most of its life, that may have prolonged its life because most Astrons were notorious oil burners.
280,000kms for a ’70s designed four-banger is pretty bloody good. Not worth the mention, surely? But why you do mention it is because:
A: You have to have a dig at every Australian-made vehicle.
B: You have to reply to every post, as soon as it’s published.
C: The need to let the internet know every annoying detail of every car you owned or come across, with wildy inaccurate details.
D You must be fun at parties?
Buddy of mine had the Plymouth Sapporo twin to this car. It was the late 80s and we were both in school. I borrowed that car a lot and I really liked driving it. Nice little ride.
Digging the reverse-Marauder-X-100 treatment on the front end.
Is this Curbside Manor? The Challenger, 4WD Toyovan…which no one has mentioned, and a Ram/Mighty Max in the driveway. Plus a doggie in the window.
OK folks here are the contrast of the two otherwise different Dodge Challengers from different eras 30 years apart. Would you rather have the gas miser Mitsubishi Galant Eterna/Sapporo badge engineered version? Or the Mercedes Benz by the former Daimler Chrysler engineered via Dodge Charger/Magnum version? Take your pick.
Gee, I remember these. That’s pretty scary!
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the Mitsubishi 2.6 was a POS of an engine that drank oil like a glutton when the valve seals went and tore up head gaskets every other oil change due to head warping/cracking. They also had a Mikuni carb that gave numerous owners nightmares and was virtually non- serviceable. The other problem was that the oil pump was driven by the balance shaft chain so when it wore and jumped off you had no oil pressure which killed the bottom end in a real hurry! Even the units that were shipped over to Chrysler for the K-cars and Caravans were not advertised on the outside of the vehicle. I knew a Caravan owner that actually carried a spare 2.6 in the back for when the ticking time bomb under hood went off.
Really, the only thing I did to the 2.6 Astron I had was rebuild the carb a very simple exercise, car ran great after that and got 31mpg constantly, on the oil burning 2.0L I had I cleaned the plugs after a 10,000km around Australia it was missing under load on number three, I after that cleaned number three several times but that was all it just kept going and clocked up 39.000 kms in ten months of ownership that kind of unreliability I’m fine with.
When we traded our ’89 Magna (widened Galant with the injected 2.6) after 240,000km the engine was just starting to use some oil, but the CV joints and various other front-end problems meant a trade was necessary. I never had any head, gasket or balance-shaft chain issues in eleven years of country use. Maybe the Aussie-built engines were better?
I owned 4 ’81-82 Challengers and 2 Sapporos, all with 5 spd manuals. The cars had great styling and a surprisingly smooth ride for their size—-terrible in crosswinds. I never had any issues with the 2.6 engines but have talked to others who did, such as Joe Yoman. One of the ’81 Challengers had the rare electric sliding sunroof option, the only year available. Of mention was the Technica option packager for 1983 only which featured digital instruments and a graphic for the climate control—I think. it was very colorful but not as good as the standard instrument pod.The cars were a product of the times and would have been better had they been equipped with fuel injection.
My brother and I both liked the 1978-80 Challenger back in the day. In 1981, I went and looked at the refreshed – or was it all new – 1981 Challenger. I liked it a lot and put a deposit down to buy a red one. However, after going home and properly assessing my financial situation, I returned within a day or two to cancel the sale; I recognized that I couldn’t afford it and the mandatory full coverage insurance. However, about 2 years later I traded in my 1973 Charger Rallye 340 on a used 1979 Plymouth Sapporo with a 5-speed manual. I will say that it was a great running, dependable, trouble-free car. Comfortable, too. Got it to save money on gas.
These were very popular in Australia as Mitsubishi Scorpions. Mum bought one in 1982 and it became my first car in 1986. It was a hell of a good car for an 18 year old Australian kid in the mid 80’s when most of my friends were driving 70’s cars. It was also bloody fast for an 18 year old and was regularly driven at 140 kph / 80 mph on twisty country roads, yet through some miracle the only accident it ever had was bumping into the back of a Holden Ute in traffic jam. Mine was a 2.6 Auto so 160 kph / 100mph was top speed. A five speed manual would still be a bit of weapon even today. A couple of them still get around town as daily drivers but they are a pretty rare sight now. Attached is a photo of my “Challenger”.
“I am sure it pained the dealers to sell each and every one of these”
The E body cars sold for a loss, and in 1979, dealers were screaming for gas misers.
Dealers don’t care about muscle cars, performance, 1/4 mile times, and Hemi V8’s. They want to sell cars and make profits. The E body cars sold for a loss, and in 1979, dealers were screaming for gas misers.
Back then, Honda, Datsun/Nissan, and Toyota dealers were selling cars over sticker price, and Mopar stores wanted some of the action. They were desparate.
So, don’t assume that car dealers are also enthusiasts.
My 81 Corolla also HAS a Hemi, and unlike this Mitsu Sigma’s dog engine… you CAN make serious horsepower out of the legendary Toyota 3TC 1.8 engines… Plus, the RWD platforms make these cars FUN to drive and easy to put that power down when needed.
Go on YouTube… these cars can be made into 8 second cars vs. MOST musclecars.
The previous gen 2TC 1.6… used from I think 75-79 is also a Hemi. These engines are driven by a timing chain, not a belt. Heck, my 81 Corona with the bulletproof 22R had TWO timing chains.
Put about $5000 into a 3TC and you can SPANK alotta 428CJs and 454s. No bullshit. 🙂
I’ve always wanted to find one of these cheap and swap in a 2.6 intercooled turbo engine from a Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge Conquest…
JDM models included a turbo model of the Galant Sigma engine not sold outside Japan some have sneaked into New Zealand as used imports my neighbour had one it was a beaten up heap but it went like a scalded cat.
There was a Sigma Turbo sold in Australia for a short while, but IIRC it may have been a locally-developed job. There weren’t many around.
I owned one of these (a 1979 Challenger) for 5 years as a university car. It was mostly reliable but some things drove me crazy – it was stupidly complicated in some ways:
• the HVAC controls had a thermostat built in but instead of measuring the temperature of the cabin, it measured the temperature of the air stream leaving the heater core.
• You couldn’t remove the timing chain without first removing the head, and it had a second chain just for the balance shafts. When the chains needed to be replaced, it was a big project.
The good:
• It was a good handling rear-drive car (especially after I bolted on some Addco sway bars and Tokico shocks).
• It was the only car I have ever owned where you could change the oil without getting under the car – the oil filter and drain plug were easily accessible from above.
• I bought it with 130k km on it and drove it for 120k km before it got damaged in a hail storm; the insurance wrote it off for more than I bought it for 5 years earlier so I sold it to a friend for the salvage price and he drove it for another 100k km before selling it to his sister in law who put another 50k km before it finally died. My friend even towed a small tent trailer with it. When we all get together, it is remembered fondly.
• It got great hwy gas mileage
• The previous owner had done a 32/26 Weber carb swap, so it ran well, except in carb icing conditions, where it could be a handful
• It had a pretty nice dash with full instrumentation – the Sapporo was much more luxurious but the Challenger was more sporty inside. The reviewer said that the Challenger was like a Mirada inside but maybe that is the GenII cars. My car’s interior was nothing like the photo car’s.
The bad:
• In extremely cold weather, it would freeze off the PCV hose and then pressurize the crankcase which would pop the oil fill cap off (it wasn’t threaded). I lost a couple of caps before safety wiring the third one to the valve cover so that it wouldn’t get ejected out of the car. When it popped off (I’d know because it would hit the underside of the hood with a bang), I’d pull over and push it back on.
• Although it looked sporty, it was geared super tall which made it a bit of a dog around town
• It had a recirculating ball steering system which was pretty numb (and no power assist)
• The open rear diff gave it a lousy winter traction, although the heater was pretty effective
• It had ugly red plaid seats (I think that they were supposed to look like first gen GTi seats) but they were comfortable on long drives. To go with the seats, it had off-white carpet. It looked like Herb Tarlek chose the interior color scheme. A set of seat covers and some floor mats hid the worst of it.
• The frameless windows pulled away from the body and were really noisy at highway speeds – my wife’s GenII Integra had the same issue, and I’ll never buy another car with frameless windows.
Ultimately, it was a generally good car that was poorly marketed and spec’d by Chrysler.
I have replaced several timeing chains on the 2.6 and never had to pull the head. Pull the cam gear and let it drop then remove the chain from the crank gear this givesyou enough slack to pop the cam gear right out. Reverse the process on installation. Also a balance ahaft elimination kit is available. I have used these with mixed results some motors ran smooth some with minimal vibration some with medium but not unbearable depends on how well balanced what u start with is.
My Friend, you’re statement was a BRILLIANT observation (& description):
‘• It had ugly red plaid seats … To go with the seats, it had off-white carpet. It looked like Herb Tarlek chose the interior color scheme.’
L’d.M.A.O. after reading that, here’s to WKRP too!
I had a 81 dodge challenger awesome car would love to fina another for a hobby car. This started my love for the G54b and G54t (2.6). I have owned ten vehicles with this motor. A 81 challenger 2 two mighty maxes and seven conquest/starions. Awesome motor indestructible iron bore. The challenger back in the day would smoke any cellica and any others in it’s class. One of the great cars from my youth.
I had a 81 dodge challenger awesome car would love to fina another for a hobby car. This started my love for the G54b and G54t (2.6). I have owned ten vehicles with this motor. A 81 challenger 2 two mighty maxes and seven conquest/starions. Awesome motor indestructible iron bore. The challenger back in the day would smoke any cellica and any others in it’s class. One of the great cars from my youth.
I have recently acquired a 1981 Challenger and a 1981 Sapporo. Please let me know if you are still interested in purchasing parts or the whole vehicles.
Sweet looking car. I remember the first time I saw this car. A neighbour had one similar to this, except it had a 5spd manual shifting gearbox. I remember not believing that this was a Dodge Challenger. I remember saying to my neighbour “that’s not a Challenger!” and then pointed to an earlier model, probably a 1973 model, and said “that’s a Challenger!”
Myself I spent quite a bit of time in the Saf-a-row and it was decent transportation – but a performance car it was not. I can agree with most of the stuff on Ian’s list and was going to mention some of those points. Nice work Ian.
Mitsus have always been overly complicated (looking at you DSM) with all kinds of hoses and pipes and little modules everywhere and therefore tough to work on seriously – but yes it was cool to drain the oil without raising the car – wish more cars were like that!
Always thought these were good-looking cars. The first-gens were a little more distinctive in shape, but it’s hard to find one without the gingerbread. These second-gens were clean, if a little too similar to a fox ‘Stang. And that wraparound back glass is unique…
I thought I’d told this story elsewhere but can’t find it on a search, anyway.
In high school one of my friends’ girlfriend had one of these, can’t remember now if it was a Challenger or a Sapporo. Anyway the guy had a part time job at a body shop and decided to do some rust repair on it after hours. After a week or two some of us went over to see how he was doing. We found him out back running the sandblaster, the car stripped and laid on its side with a large portion of the floor gone. Shortly after that he gave up and the car never returned to the road.
So when I see one of these I always picture it lying on it’s side with a huge diesel powered compressor roaring away.
I personally thought the 1981 restyle was an improvement over the 1978-80 models, this is one car I’ve never seen often even when they were fairly new.
I know they restyled it, but I’m hard pressed to tell any difference between the 2 generations.
Easy way to tell is the flat trunk on gen 2. On gen 1 it sloped down from the rear glass to the tail lights.
In 1980 I was in my first job after college. I had a friend and coworker who owned a Vega GT Hatchback. When it died he bought a new Plymouth Sapporo. It was almost identical to this Dodge Challenger.
im looking to buy one of these 1981 Dodge Challengers if anyone knows or has one please contact me .
AJ, I have two of these. Both are 1981 models. One is a Challenger and the other is a Sapporo. Would let them go for a reasonable offer. Neither car has been started in years. Let me know if you are interested. Will try to get by there this weekend and take some pics if the weather cooperates.
Hi AJ. I have a 81 challenger for sale. If interested. Contact me for picts. and info. Thanks
Aieeee! Flashback to the 80’s! I’d blocked this outta my mind!
In 1983 I had a co-worker who had bought a new Dodge Challenger….not only that, but his previous car was a ’78 Plymouth Sapporo (didn’t know him when he had that one). I liked the Challenger…it was a coupe, and the rear seat was really pretty roomy for a 2 door. He traded it in about 1988 when he had a problem with the rear tires cupping that he couldn’t get fixed…don’t know if he tried to get it aligned without any luck. Didn’t know these were so rare at the time, I had a 2 door (Scirocco) and most young people took for granted that 2 door cars would keep being made (that weren’t expensive).