Mitsubishi Sapporo

Sapporo was an export name given to the Mitsubishi Galant Λ (Galant Lambda), a large subcompact two-door hardtop coupé automobile built by Mitsubishi Motors Corporation from 1976 to 1983, named for the Japanese city of Sapporo, Hokkaido.

It was introduced in Japan in December 1976. At the time, Mitsubishi had the Celeste, a compact coupé version of the Lancer, and Toyota had its Celica, a coupé version of its Carina. Unusually, the Lambda was not strictly a coupé, but a "personal-luxury" sports car.

It was sold variously as the Mitsubishi Galant Sapporo or simply the Sapporo in Europe and South America. In North America and Puerto Rico, it was the Dodge Challenger and Plymouth Sapporo. Australia had the Chrysler Scorpion and later the Mitsubishi Scorpion. Asia tended to follow the Japanese naming convention.

Chrysler Corporation and Mitsubishi had an equal voice in the development of the Lambda, creating a good mix of east and west. Safety, comfort, luxury and economy were a few of the keywords in the Lambda’s design. The car used various versions of the Mitsubishi Astron engine.

Plymouth Sapporo

The Sapporo was marketed in North America as a captive import of the Plymouth division of Chrysler, who had bought into Mitsubishi in May, 1971, from 1978 to 1983 to fill an unoccupied spot in the US car market. Mitsubishi did not sell cars directly in North America at the time. It was identical to the second-generation Dodge Challenger except for minor details such as taillights and available colors; the Challenger was positioned to appeal to the performance market, and the Sapporo to the luxury market, even though both cars were mechanically identical.

Although the car received generally positive reviews, it was not overly successful in the United States. The discontinuance of the Sapporo after the 1983 model year helped make way for the products of the newly formed Chrysler-Mitsubishi joint-venture, Diamond Star Motors, as well as the entrance of Mitsubishi into the American market under its own name in 1982.


Styling

The Sapporo was meant to emphasize luxury; in the mid-70's, smaller luxury cars were a growing fad, started by the Cadillac Seville. In pursuit of this idea, stylists turned the first Sapporos into genuine curiosities - small Japanese models tricked out like Detroit's fanciest personal luxury cars. They had frameless door glass, canopy vinyl roofs, velour interiors, "luxury" wheel covers with whitewall tires, and every possible power accessory inside. A common color combination was bright burgundy with white vinyl. A thick stainless steel targa band at the rear of the roof completed the package.

This over-the-top look apparently did not find great favor in the showrooms, because after a couple of years the Sapporo reverted to a more conventional import style - quieter colors, metal roofs, styled steel wheels on blackwalls, and much less trim. Luxurious touches continued to be supplied, however, particularly in the interior. Courtesy lights were everywhere, the fuse box had a fuse test light built in, storage spaces were supplied under the seat and in the console as well as the glove compartment. Mitsubishi drew on its electronics divisions to introduce details such as a high quality stereo with an "invisible radio antenna" built into the trunk lid. The car quickly gained a reputation as both fun to drive and stoutly built, although correspondingly slightly heavier than the competition, and developed a bit of a cult following.


Mechanicals

Although the Sapporo in other markets was available with a wide variety of engine options, including diesels, a number of normally aspirated gasoline engines, and a turbocharged 2.0L engine in the top model which also featured independent rear suspension (retained in the Dodge Conquest/Mitsubishi Starion two seat sport coupe, based on the same platform). In the North American market, the Sapporo was only available in one basic configuration, which combined the close-ratio transmission of the turbocharged version, the live axle (not independent) rear suspension of the lower performance versions, and a very large 2.6 liter normally aspirated four cylinder engine. Rear disc brakes and alloy wheels were available as a package in the US, but not separately. Other US options were minimal; air conditioning, cassette player, automatic transmission, cruise control, power door locks and power windows, and a moonroof.


Engine

The Sapporo/Challenger helped introduce Mitsubishi's then-new balance shaft engine technology which minimized the inherent vibration of a large four-cylinder in-line engine, permitting construction of more powerful but still civilized four-cylinder engines. The Sapporo/Challenger (like the earlier Plymouth Fire Arrow 2.6) was sold in the US with a torquey 2.6L normally aspirated version of the Mitsubishi Astron engine. It was later adapted to turbocharged use in the more 'sporty' Dodge Conquest/Mitsubishi Starion. The United States passenger car version of the engine also featured a 'Jet Valve', which was a small secondary intake valve which enhanced swirl in the combustion chamber, allowing for burning of a leaner mixture. A similar engine without the Jet Valve was available in Mitsubishi-built trucks and in the Canadian versions of the Sapporo.

The engine, with iron block and aluminum head, developed a reputation for frequently warping and/or cracking the head, which became the car's Achilles heel. Because of its relative scarcity, rebuilt heads were rare and expensive, and new replacements, imported from Japan, were very expensive. In contrast to the newer designs appearing on the market at the time, the engine used a two barrel carburetor with vacuum operated secondary, rather than fuel injection. early complaints regarding drivability led to the manufacturer offering a drivability kit for the carburetor, consisting of a typical set of improvements for the carburetors of the period, i.e. larger jets to richen the fuel/air mixture and increase torque, a larger high speed enrichment valve to increase power at high rpm, and a vacuum delay to retard the operation of the exhaust gas recirculation system, as well as assorted replacement air bleeds which had minor effect.

The vacuum diaphragms operating the secondaries tended to fail after several years, and replacement carburetors were hugely expensive, causing many of the cars to be put to sleep. Aftermarket kits which adapted a generic Weber carburetor to the manifold were available for around $200, however, which made them affordable for not only restoring a malfunctioning car to drivability, but as a performance enhancement. Although the cross-sectional area of the Weber carburetor was not significantly increased over the stock carburetor, it greatly improved the performance of the engine; however as an older design, it did not include provisions for either the "Jet Valve" or exhaust gas recirculation systems.