The Mitsubishi Colt is a vehicle built by Mitsubishi Motors since 1962. It was first introduced as a series of kei cars and subcompact cars in the 1960s, and then as the export version of the Mitsubishi Mirage hatchback in the 1980s and 1990s. The Chrysler Corporation, Mitsubishi's longtime partner, also used the name in the 1970 when it rebadged the second generation Mitsubishi Galant as Dodge Colt and Plymouth Colt captive imports for the United States market. The most recent version is a supermini manufactured in Japan at Okazaki and in Europe at their NedCar plant in the Netherlands, using the same underpinnings as its sister car, the now discontinued Smart Forfour.
Mitsubishi introduced the "Colt" name in 1962 on the Colt 600, the first of a line of small, sporty vehicles complementing their Mitsubishi 500, the company's first post-war passenger car. Powered by a NE35A 594 cc OHV two cylinder air-cooled engine. At this time, Mitsubishi Motors did not yet exist as an autonomous company, and vehicles were being produced by three regional subsidiaries of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. MHI, which had been formally dismantled after World War II, resumed operating as a single entity in 1964, but continued to use the 'Colt' marque until the 1970s in Asia, and the 1980s in Europe.
To complement the 600, a larger compact car was introduced in 1963, the Colt 1000, followed by the Colt 800 and Colt 1500 in 1965, and the Colt 1100 in 1966.
The Colt marque was used from 1974 by the Colt Car Company to market Mitsubishis in the United Kingdom, and phased out in 1984. In New Zealand, the Colt brand ceased in favour of the Mitsubishi name in 1970, upon the release of the new "Dyna-wedge" Galant model. Colt again surfaced as a model name for the Australian edition of the front-drive Mirage in 1979, and again for a new small car in 2003.
Mitsubishi launched the Mirage (marketed as the Colt in many countries) as a three-door front wheel drive hatchback in 1978, as a response to the first fuel crisis some years before. It had a distinctive design with large windows and Mitsubishi's Supershift transmission (four speeds, but two modes). A five-door joined the range in 1979. This car was exported to the United States as the Dodge Colt and Plymouth Champ from 1979 and received the highest United States Environmental Protection Agency fuel economy rating that year.
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