Is It Real Or A Mirage? 1992 Plymouth Colt
I’m not going to sit here and wax nostalgic about how awesome the Dodge/Plymouth Colt was because few people have fond memories of early 90s domestic econoboxes, but this was no domestic. The Plymouth Colt was a rebadge Mitsubishi Mirage, which I do have fond memories of tossing through corners and slamming through the gears as the Mitsubishi 4G inline-4 put out more power and torque than it had the rights to do. Today’s Colt is probably powered by the basic 1.5 liter version, but there was a 1.6 liter DOHC version and the even more rare 1.6 liter DOHC Turbo GT model that put out 135 horsepower. Find this 1992 Plymouth Colt offered for $1200 in Glendale, CA via craigslist.
From the seller:
1992 Plymouth Colt
condition: excellent
cylinders: 4 cylinders
drive: fwd
fuel: gas
odometer: 93000
paint color: blue
size: compact
title status: clean
transmission: manual
type: hatchback
Bought a newer car so I’m looking to sell this gem. It’s been a great car, I’ve owned it for 3 or 4 years, it’s been very reliable as a daily commuter. Though the shell of the car says Plymouth, the engine and components are Mitsubishi so finding parts is not hard and it was built to last
Pros: I got new tires a few months ago and it’ll be getting an oil change soon. It’s great for gas millage (35.4 MPG avg.), has decent cargo space, easy to park, easy car to learn how to drive manual, I like to drive my cars slow and with care, comes with a bunch of cassettes for the radio, get a lot of compliments on it (never seen another), and it’s pretty cheap to maintain (have all paperwork on maintenance done).
Cons: smaller (I’m around 6 foot, but some people around my height find it too small for their comfort), only cassette (have an aux adapter), radio will eventually need to be replaced, no heater, no A/C, no defroster, and it’s not the fastest car on the block.
A high school girlfriend of mine had one of these back when they were a few years old. I think it was a 4 spd, no a/c, no power steering, same color and trim. At the time we were able to squeeze mid-30’s out of it MPG-wise like this seller, but also around then fuel was ~$1/gal ($1.90 adjusted for inflation) & we were making $4.25/hr working minimum wage ($8.76/hr adjusted for inflation) so MPGs were less important than they are today.
Anyway, this thing belongs in a museum of oddly well preserved, completely unloved cars. You can get 35 MPG these days in a midsized sedan, albeit unlikely for $1200.
However, its similarly unlikely you’ll find this one around for $1200 either, as its been deleted by it’s author.
I had a Datsun/Nissan truck sans power steering, once you were out of the parking lot it was fine.
Anyway, I thought this Colt looked like a good car for $1,200. Neither a/c nor heat, but still.