Mitsubishi UK at 50: Colt’s golden years

By Charlie Calderwood

| 20 Dec 2024

Classic & Sports Car – Mitsubishi UK at 50: Colt’s golden years

British buyers were introduced to a new brand from Japan in 1974: Mitsubishi. Except they weren’t.

Launched in the UK as the Colt Car Company, the fledgling outfit came out of the blocks with two offerings, the Lancer and the Galant.

Like most newcomers, these early Mitsubishi models undercut the more established names – if not in outright price, then certainly in specification – but it was the solid build quality that quickly gained the marque real plaudits.

A wide range of Mitsubishi and Colt models turned out for this anniversary event

Within a few years the company had hit its self-imposed quota of 10,000 cars a year.

Later, freed from such limits, Mitsubishi became an icon of the tuner-car era with its performance four-wheel-drive models, the legendary Lancer Evolution series chief among them.

Formed by a breakaway group from the UK’s BMW importer, the name Colt Car Company was chosen because it was deemed more memorable to British buyers.

A rally-spec ode to Tommi Mäkinen’s Mitsubishi rally car (left); a Mitsubishi Colt GTi 16v (closest), Galant 4WD-4WS (middle) and Evo X

Those first Lancers and Galants were American in their styling and conventional in their engineering, although the company’s ‘silent shaft’ engines provided impressive smoothness compared with rivals – Mitsubishi had acquired the patents to Lanchester’s balancer-shaft system.

The Galant-based Celeste and Sapporo coupés followed later in the decade, as did the return of the Colt subcompact.

The latter was named numerically in the UK to avoid the awkward ‘Colt Colt’ for its first few years, then in 1984 the UK company aligned itself with the rest of the world and rebranded as Mitsubishi.

An early Colt Lancer Coupé at Mitsubishi UK’s anniversary meet-up in Gloucestershire

By then the manufacturer had begun to gain a proper identity and reputation as an early adopter of turbocharging and an innovator in transmission technology.

Many front-drive Mitsubishis of the 1980s featured a ‘Super Shift’ lever that operated as an overdrive on all four gears.

More significantly, the four-wheel-drive Shogun off-roader arrived in the UK in 1983 and soon became a favourite among rural types for its bulletproof reliability and capability in the rough.

The Mitsubishi 3000GT was the marque’s flagship GT coupé (left); second-generation Colt

The turbos and transmissions combined in 1989 when Andrew Cowan’s Ralliart Europe team entered the World Rally Championship using the Galant VR-4, winning that year’s Finnish and British rounds.

The overall title didn’t come until 1998, however, with the Lancer Evolution V, by which point Mitsubishi was locked in a rivalry on road and stage with Subaru’s Impreza.

The quickly evolving Lancer Evo had 10 iterations in 24 years, becoming the brand’s most famous product in the process.

The Mitsubishi Evo VI Tommi Mäkinen Edition represents a high-water mark in the world of rally-bred road cars

You might not have noticed it yet, because Mitsubishis are still prevalent on British roads, but the manufacturer stopped selling new cars in the UK in 2021.

Volumes were low and the legislative burden high – although rumours of a return continue.

Yet there remains plenty of passion for the marque, as revealed on 21 September at Badminton Park, Gloucestershire, where enthusiasts gathered to mark 50 years since its arrival in the UK.

Mitsubishi Shogun 2.6 (left) and Colt hatchback

Fittingly for a firm symbolised by three diamonds, Mitsubishi has appealed to British drivers in three distinct ways.

There were those who came for its cheap yet unburstable economy models, while others flocked to its rugged off-roaders.

Finally, those who were thrilled by its rallying exploits sought its sporting models.

All have a fervid following who are keen to see the marque’s impact here remembered.

Stephen Blackburn, son of Colt Car Company founder David, closed the event by launching the Colt Car Club to do just that.

Let’s find out more about some of the 50 cars that assembled in Gloucestershire to celebrate five decades of the niche Japanese marque’s UK offerings.

Paul Simmons: 1981 Colt Lancer EX2000 Turbo

This Colt Lancer EX2000 Turbo was just three years old when Paul Simmons bought it

The Lancer Turbo was far from the first forced-induction car available in the UK.

However, putting a fuel-injected 168bhp turbocharged engine in a four-door saloon you could buy for just over £8000 was revolutionary in 1980, and a fitting starting point for the lineage of turbocharged Lancers that reached a crescendo with the Evos of the 1990s and 2000s.

Paul Simmons bought his in 1984 when it was just three years old.

He needed something powerful enough to tow a boat, and carry three mates and a load of diving gear.

His Lancer did that for many years, but all that time reversing down slipways and parked up by the sea took its toll.

The Colt Lancer EX2000 Turbo has been restored and subtly modified

Eventually he embarked on a full restoration of the car, drawing in parts from wherever he could and making subtle modifications, such as fitting coil-over suspension, the front seats from a Lancer Evo I and BMW electric door mirrors.

“It’s a nice, compact size without being too small,” he says.

“It’s one that you can just drive around to the local shops – or you could at the time, and it didn’t really stand out as being anything special.

“But when you put your foot down: boy, does it go.”

Ryan Hutchinson: 1997 Mitsubishi Galant

The 1997 Mitsubishi Galant and 20-year-old owner Ryan Hutchinson

Thanks to its use of over-engineered turbocharged engines that were simple to tune and capable of bearing much higher power outputs, Mitsubishi was one of the darlings of the tuner movement that rose to prominence in the ’90s, reaching its height in the early 2000s.

Although too young to have experienced it all first-hand, 20-year-old Ryan Hutchinson was inspired by images he saw of a modified eighth-generation Galant to buy his own.

Ryan’s is the final generation of Galant to come to Europe, and a relatively humble front-wheel-drive model, but he plans to transplant a Galant VR-4’s all-wheel-drive system, plus the turbocharged motor from a Lancer Evo, into his car.

It is his first Mitsubishi and just his third car, and Ryan plans to do most of the work himself. “I was surprised by the amount of attention the car receives even as it is now,” he says.

Maria and Michael Findley: 1983 Colt Cordia Turbo

This 1983 Colt Cordia Turbo belonged to Michael Findley’s boss before he bought it

Colt’s early ’80s line-up included a top-spec turbocharged variant of every model, even the humble 1400 GLX Turbo (named Colt or Mirage elsewhere in the world) and the oft-forgotten Tredia Turbo.

The latter, basically a slightly larger saloon version of the Colt, spawned a coupé, too, the fastback Cordia.

“It belonged to my old boss, I’ve known it since 1983,” says Michael Findley.

“He fell ill and stored it for a long time, then in 2012 I asked him if I could buy it. He taxed it and just handed me the logbook.”

‘Turbo’ stickers mark out this Colt Cordia as a child of the 1980s

The Cordia had just 27,000 miles on the clock, and today it is the last remaining Colt-badged Cordia Turbo.

Fitted with Mitsubishi’s dual-range final-drive gearbox, it has eight forward speeds, but Michael admits he tends to drive in ‘power’ mode most of the time, then switches to ‘economy’ above 60mph.

Ashley Wensak: 1987 Mitsubishi Starion Turbo EX

Ashley Wensak grew up with Mitsubishi Starion coupés

“It’s a pretty common story: my dad had one when I was seven or eight years old,” explains Ashley Wensak.

“I can remember him picking it up from the dealership and thinking what a fast car it was. I had to have one when I was older.”

The modern realities of car-insurance costs meant Ashley had to wait until he turned 25 to get his first Starion, but he hasn’t wasted time since and is now on his eighth Mitsubishi coupé.

His current car, a Sophia White 2-litre, is from towards the end of the Starion’s life, but before the car’s 2-litre powerplant was replaced by a less-powerful 2.6-litre for emissions purposes.

This 1987 Mitsubishi Starion Turbo EX is powered by a turbocharged 2-litre engine

The recipe for the Starion was simple: take an improved version of the turbocharged 4G63 from the Lancer Turbo and drop it into a coupé body.

When the model first arrived on British shores in 1982 it was the fastest Japanese car on sale.

“It’s just the pure ’80s feel of them,” Ashley smiles. “You’ve got pop-up headlights, you’ve got a boxy shape and you’ve got quite a futuristic-looking dashboard and cockpit area.

“That all appeals to me. I’m a child of the ’80s, so it’s all very fitting.”

Alister Scott: 1990 Mitsubishi Shogun 2.6

Alister Scott took his 1990 Mitsubishi Shogun 2.6 on a road trip from Land’s End to John O’Groats

Long-time Mitsubishi dealer Alister Scott acquired his Shogun in an unlikely part-exchange.

“It was just one of those chance opportunities,” he explains. “It was traded in for a 1966 MGB we had in 2000.

“When I saw it for the first time I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’ve won a watch!’ We obviously decided to keep hold of it.”

Arriving in Britain in 1983, the Shogun formed the backbone of the marque’s success in the UK thereon.

Still bound by the ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ that limited Japanese imports in the British Isles, the Shogun was a high-value, high-margin car that Mitsubishi was keen to have making up as much of the UK quota as possible.

The rugged Mitsubishi Shogun was a match for Range Rover and Land-Rover

It had very few competitors when it arrived: it was cheaper than a Range Rover and more plush than a Land-Rover 90/110 – and much more reliable than either.

Alister hasn’t had to restore his car, which is in spectacularly clean condition for a model known to generally live a long, hard life: he’s just kept it in the brilliant state in which he found it more than 20 years ago.

“I’ve travelled to Land’s End, to John O’Groats, and it’s done the North Coast 500 twice,” he says.

Antonio and Maria Christina Correira: 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII MR

Antonio Correira spent much of his rallying career driving Fiats, but he’s always been drawn to Mitsubishis

Like many fans of the Evo, Antonio Correira’s interest in Mitsubishi began beside a rally stage.

Growing up on Madeira, he was never far from a Lancer flying over a loose surface, and took to rallying himself.

A paramedic by profession, he needed a sponsor to hit the loose, and that sponsorship kept him in Fiats for his seven years rallying on both his home island and the Portuguese mainland.

In time, however, he was able to afford an Evo VIII as his road car – although he had to leave that behind when he came to the UK.

But by then he’d been bitten by the Evo bug, and three years ago he began a search for his second Evo VIII.

The 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII MR was born out of the marque’s rally-stage brawl with Subaru

His initial attempt yielded a car that turned out to be rustier than first realised, and he swiftly returned it.

Soon after, he found this low-mileage, original car in Brighton.

His top-spec MR has Bilstein dampers, BBS wheels and an aluminium roof.

“It was so advanced for its time, it’s the whole package,” enthuses Antonio.

“If you want to pass, you just press the throttle and go. It has everything, and you feel so connected to the car.”

Michael Deans: 1996 Mitsubishi 3000GT

Michael Deans was drawn to the Mitsubishi 3000GT’s advanced features

Mitsubishi joined its compatriots in developing a flagship GT coupé in the late 1980s as the Japanese economy roared, and it revealed the high-tech 3000GT in 1990 to face off against the likes of the Toyota Supra, Subaru SVX, Honda NSX, Nissan 300ZX and Mazda RX-7.

Unfortunately, the Japanese ‘bubble economy’ burst at exactly that moment, and it became the last coupé the company would sell in Europe.

Nonetheless, Andrew Cowan kept this 3000GT as his personal car, not least because he managed Ralliart Europe through the 1990s.

“I was good friends with Andrew and he used it as a daily driver,” says Michael Deans. “When he retired and came back up [to Scotland], he put it in his garage.”

The Mitsubishi 3000GT went head-to-head with coupés from Subaru, Honda, Nissan and more

Michael continues: “We used to talk about it and say, ‘Let’s put it back on the road.’ In the end we made a deal, and it stayed with him until he sadly passed away.”

Michael is part of a family that has held a Mitsubishi franchise for 43 years and views the 3000GT as a high point in engineering, born of a time when the company was free to build the best car it could.

He says: “It had every sort of modern feature – active aero, a 3-litre V6 with 24 valves, double overhead cams, two turbos, four-wheel steering – it was way ahead of its time.

“It doesn’t squeak, it doesn’t rattle and everything works properly.”

Stephen Blackburn: 1990 Mitsubishi Galant GTi-16v 4WD-4WS

This 1990 Mitsubishi Galant GTi-16v 4WD-4WS is one of Stephen Blackburn’s many Mitsubishis

Stephen owns a fleet of Mitsubishis and was spoilt for choice with cars to bring to the event.

One that had to be here, though, was his Galant 4WD-4WS.

It was the top-spec Galant in 1990 and a car his father, Colt Car Company founder David, owned from new.

“He had a flat in Spain, and at the time the company had an operation in Gibraltar called Faster Motors,” says Stephen. “It was supplied by them, came back to the UK and then went back to Gibraltar.”

Stephen Blackburn launched the Colt Car Club at this special event

As the chairman of the Colt Car Company (which remained the UK distributor even after the cars were branded Mitsubishi), David had the pick of new models to switch between back in the UK, but the Galant remained a constant as a car kept at holiday homes, and it later moved to Ireland.

Thanks to its only sporadic use, the Galant’s odometer is on just 78,000 today.

“It’s all original,” Stephen continues. “It’s just really nice to drive, and it’s the emotional connection that makes it special, knowing it was my father’s favourite car.”

Images: Jack Harrison

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