Mitsubishi Colt

Colt was a name used as an export marque by the Mitsubishi Motors Corporation of Japan. Confusingly, Mitsubishi also offered a model in some markets as the Colt, usually denoting the export version of the Mirage.

The Colt marque was used principally in the United Kingdom, and phased out around 1984. In New Zealand, the Colt brand began disappearing in the mid-1970s in favour of Mitsubishi and surfaced as a model name only in the late 1980s and in 2003.

In the 1980s, Mitsubishi Motors Australia offered the original Mirage as the Colt, building it at its Adelaide plant. The Australian Colt was available as a four- or five-door with a 1.6-litre engine at the top of the range. It was sold as an entry-level model there and in New Zealand, where the second-generation Mirage was already on offer.


2003

In 2003, a new Colt was released by Mitsubishi Motors Corp. in Japan, with a design by Olivier Boulay and built on the platform of the smart forfour.

In November 2004, a 1·5 L diesel engine producing 95 PS was made available, with an option of the Allshift robotic gearbox.

In 2004, the Colt Plus was launched in Japan. This was essentially a longer version of the standard Colt, perhaps best thought of as a station wagon or MPV variant.


Coupe-Cabriolet

Mitsubishi released its new coupe-cabriolet to the Geneva Motor Show in March 2005, and the car is to go into production in early 2006. The car is jointly designed by Pininfarina and due to be built in Turin, Italy. It will have a hard-top similar to the Peugeot 206CC.