The air was shimmering in the midday heat over the deserted metropolis. Far away, on the horizon, a distinctly ‘90s blue two-door appeared suddenly, as if by magic — or perhaps by some well-known optic phenomenon. “Is that a Mirage? I cannot believe my eyes,” thought the thirsty CC writer. And so it was, and of the refreshing Asti variety, to boot. There was no way this car could end up being as boring as it looked, right? Right?
Let’s be real though. Mitsubishis are not really my thing, but some are fine and a few are even quite interesting. This generation Mirage/Lancer/Colt though, aside from its multiple personality disorder (a common plight for mid-range Mitsubishis), suffers from a distinct lack of flavour. Fifty shades of beige. Except I found a blue one.
The fourth generation Mirage appeared to materialize in October 1991 as a four-door saloon and a three-door hatchback. Certain markets called these cars Lancer or Colt; the platform is pretty much a Lancer, but that name (on the JDM) was reserved for certain saloons only. On certain other markets however (e.g. Australia), the whole range might be known as Lancer. The wagon, for reasons that will always remain mysterious to me, was named Libero on the JDM and built until 2000.
Even more confusingly for those of us not located in North America, Mitsubishi-US built Eagle, Plymouth and Dodge versions of this generation (as they did since the ‘70s) for North American consumption, badged as the Summit (for Eagle) and the Colt. I guess some were also badged as Mitsubishis, but I’m not 100% sure. And that’s not all: in Malaysia, Proton made their versions of this Mirage as the Wira (4-door), Satria (3-door) and Putra (2-door), and continued making them until the mid-2000s. Multiple personalities, but none of them the kind you’d want to get to know better.
Well, that’s a bit unfair. There were a bewildering array of engines available for this car, from 1.3 to 2.0 litres for 4-cyl. engines, some turbocharged, as well as a 1.6 litre V6. So some variants were fun to drive at least, though they all were quite bland to look at. But let’s not forget the context: this Mirage arrived on the scene just as the Japanese economy plunged into a prolonged crisis, so although it was programmed to be as luxurious as possible, the only cars that sold in this segment on the JDM were strippers.
So when the Asti coupé joined the range in 1993, Mitsubishi astutely priced the super-basic 1.3 litre “V” version just below ¥1m and pretty soon started selling those by the truckload. They were such a hit that Mitsubishi pushed production of the Asti a couple months past the introduction of the next generation Mirage in October 1995.
A quarter century of use is starting to show on our feature car’s interior, though for a no-frills base model, it’s proven remarkably resilient. Though one should not that, in early ‘90s JDM cars, “no frills” still meant power windows, so we’re a step above most contemporary European econoboxes. It also means a 3-speed automatic mated to that 75hp Orion 1.3 engine, which must make progress pretty leisurely, but then performance was obviously not the point of this particular version.
Rear seating was also none too generous, either. But hey, it’s a two-door notchback, so that back bench was never going to be like the business end of a stretch limo. At least, it’s (marginally) better than a VW Beetle.
In Japan, these Mitsubishis had a brief moment in the sun and sold well for a couple years, but the one that is still seen on occasion is the Libero wagon, due to its far longer production run. I guess these are now starting to look somewhat dated and therefore interesting from an archeological perspective, but realistically, unless you had your first drive or your first kiss in one of these uninspiring little vehicles, they’ve likely already left your consciousness with a level of discretion bordering on indifference. Mirage by name, immaterial by nature.
Related posts:
CC Colt Chronicles Part 9: 1993 Colt – Death Of A Pony, Birth Of A Legend, by Perry Shoar
CC Capsule: 1999 Mitsubishi Libero – Surrender To The Void, by T87
It is at a cruel age when Curbside Classics aren’t appealing to even us. However, trust me, this car will be attractive and interesting in another decade. It will look different by millions who weren’t in the market back in the 1990s. If a Studebaker Lark can catch a break, if a Rambler American gets our attention, if a plain-Jane Chevelle turns our heads, then this car will do the same – just not for us or at this time.
That’s the greatness of Curbside.
Just so.
Why, I even read a post or two on the Datsun B210 and smiled indulgently – and I absolutely detested the nasty, unkillable little turds.
Yes, they were sold in the US as Mitsubishi Mirage Coupes, but not with any kind of interesting engine. Not to be uncharitable but they were sort of the “secretary special” equivalent of their age. They aren’t getting any more plentiful here either these days but I don’t know if they’ve yet attained the Ooh, Look At That status either. Very under the radar.
I never would have thought they’d be so popular as they were in Japan though. Mitsubishi must be one of the most underrated makers of all time.
The one and only thing interesting about this generation as sold in the US is that four-doors came in four- and six-window configurations. I suspect in Japan the 6-window was a Mirage sedan and I know the 4w was a Lancer because it was the beginning of the Evo.
The other thing is that Eagle Summit 4-doors were different between the US and Canada, 6w for the former and 4w for the latter. There was no replacement because it was found that even back in the ’90s the still-mostly-freestanding Jeep dealers didn’t need a line of sedans to sell.
The identical notchback coupes were sold across all four brands with only the badges different, as close to a generic car as you could get.
Actually the Plymouth/Dodge Neons replaced both the Eagle Summit/Dodge Colt along with the Neon predecessors the Plymouth Shadow and Dodge Sundance which several years prior to replaced the Plymouth Horizon and Dodge Omni.
A relatively handsome car in a 90s kind of way.
We had them in the UK as the Proton Coupé, with the 150bhp Evo model being the top of the tree. Quite a good looking thing with the spoilers and Momo alloys as standard.
I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw one though.
(I would post a picture but the page isn’t letting me….)
Wasn’t this one of the cars that might have become a Rover, in the period between the sale by BMW and The End?
I remember these cars quite well. I was working at a Mitsubishi dealership in suburban Detroit as a car porter while attending college. I drove these frequently from the drop off area at the dealer body shop to the actual dealer as space there was limited. They seemed like decent cars at the time.
Of course, I much preferred driving new Eclipses and 3000 GTs!
I do recall that Mitsu had some issues with the trademark Mirage: https://mirageforum.com/forum/showthread.php/94-Mitsubishi-s-trademark-woes-what-to-call-new-Mirage-in-U-S-Canada
Funny story – for the NAIAS at Cobo Hall, the cars for the Mitsu display were routed through our dealership. I remember them coming back and put up for sale but with everything loose taken off by showgoers – buttons, cigarette lighters, etc. People will take anything not bolted down – and securely bolted down at that!
Mitsubishi Australia had a surprising hit on their hands with this model. I say surprising as Australians are generally a coupe-averse people, but somehow this appealed. Of course the sedans were much more popular, and there are still some in regular use in my town.
Speaking of the sedans, here’s the one my son had as his first car. As a single young man a coupe would have suited him fine at the time, but he only had eyes for the Evo-shape sedan, and scored a 1.8GLi with the factory bodykit and alloys, seen here all spruced up for his wedding day. Not so practical once the second child came.
No model of the coupe, only plenty of Evos.
Those look very much like they were styled by Chrysler. There was a long relationship between the two companies. I wonder if Mitsu had some designers sent over when doing that model.
I had one of these Asti coupes as a courtesy for a month in 2009 while my own car was having body work done. Don’t remember the Asti’s engine size, but it was 5-speed manual. It was summer while I had it, and the surprising lack of a/c made it almost unbearable – especially as it was black with a black interior… It was fairly nippy, remarkably frugal, rode and handled reasonably, but felt extremely flimsy – I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to crash it! Its overwhelming blandness made it the ideal courtesy car really.
One might be so bold as to suggest that a black, unairconditioned sadbag of bland flim-flam is more an Impertinence Imposition than a Courtesy Car were it not for the fact I have had the exact same Rude Replacement imposed upon me in exactly the same circumstances. (Mine had the excitements that can only come from from a car rebuilt of many different Lancers as re-created for the courtesy of the panel-beater’s customer by the apprentice, which such excitements included driving largely sideways and letting in much air from other than the vents, but I am digressing). When deprived of a car and offered one, one learns quickly to accept the asterixed note in the insurer’s brochure that states “vehicle actually provided may vary”, and drive away grimacing. Mind you, whilst I never did really have an expectation of convertible Benz they showed – nor the blond or the beach, either – I DID think it might rise above a dark-green solvent-stinking hot-as-hell cut-n-shut Lancer.
Actually justy baum, you just reminded me that the Impertinence Imposition impertinently imposed upon me was also a car of many Lancer parts… Although black on the exterior and inside the boot, ’twas silver under the bonnet…
I replied to scott, can be found please
Oh, do give over, Prof.
These were perfectly……well, recommendable, to any of the (vast majority) of non-car friends who wanted a reliable little car for less than Toyota was charging. They look….recommendable, and drive……well, they drive. And by and large, they didn’t break, living still into very high-mileage.
Also, the turbo 4wd first Evo was a four-door of these, and a firecracker and genre-creator in its time, so that tilts the dial some. (Or is “tilts that the pitch”? Or the playing field? Or the earth? Anyway). Also, the Kamm-tail three door you mentioned was a properly stylish little number, if derivative (arguably) of the Honda Civic three-door, so that also moves the tilt on the slope. Or plain. Or cliff.
Oh, alright, alright, I yield.
They were a dull sack of floppiness, with every single aspect sort-of 15% less than, say, a Toyota Corolla of the day. A bit less precise cable gearbox, a bit saggier in the seats, a bit scratchier in the plastics, a bit slower, a bit more in the way of fails. In writing this, I’ve realised I’ve breifly driven heaps of these over the years – or perhaps that should be, years of these heaps – and only just now remember.
At least I tried.
These , particularly the later CE, were very popular in Australia. They sold on price, but also because they were a better drive and more reliable then the cheap Korean competitors. There are still a lot around. If they are serviced they will go hundreds of thousands of kms without a problem and rust is not a big problem in Australia.. You even see them in the outback where beat up ones are popular with social security recipients who need a tough car, that’s reliable and economical wheels that can travel hundreds of kms on poor roads . They also very popular with modifiers who try and turn them into EVOs.
I’ve got an immaculate 96 Lancer MR coupe , the top of the range in Australia with a 1.8 SOHC , similar to the US Mrage LS. . It’s a fun car to drive. The handling shows the Mitsi rally heritage. It’s very well balanced and handles well on poorly surfaced winding roads where I live in the Northern Rivers. And I reckon it looks great when I cruise down from the hinterland where live to nearby Byron Bay,