Hirstのブログ一覧

I've been writing again! This time I did an article about the five earliest models of Mitsubishi to be imported in the UK, using the brand name "Colt".

Anyway, I covered five models.

- Lancer (first-generation)
- Galant (second-generation)
- Galant GTO
- Lancer Celeste
- Galant Sigma

I can't show you the words because the magazine's on sale, so you will have to imagine what I'm saying. But you can see some of the pictures.



The title is quite difficult to explain. It's wordplay, based around the expression "Cult Classics". This means something that is very well-liked by a smaller group of people, for example the film "Back to the Future" is a popular classic, but "Blade Runner" is a cult classic. I changed "Cult" to "Colt", because in the UK these older Mitsubishi models are extremely rare compared to Datsun or Toyota. This type of wordplay is quite common in English magazines...




Some of these pictures may be familiar to you. The early UK brochures used many of the same photos from Japanese brochures, though I think the Galant GTO photos were taken in the UK.



I'd like to do a feature on the 1980s-era Mitsubishi models next. Maybe I can do a feature about my Galant, but it's in storage at the moment. I need to repair some parts on it, I was using it every day for a few years. I even used it in my job to visit local businesses, haha. I decided to store it until I could spend a lot of money to repair it completely.

Anyway, I hope one day this magazine can be sold in Japan. Maybe I'll visit and sell it outside the airport from my suitcase.

I've been writing a new magazine article, it's about Mitsubishi, or actually "Colt". I can't publish the full article, but I can give you a few details. Mitsubishi have an interesting history in UK, because they were quite late to arrive here. We received a test model of the Colt 1100F (export version of Colt Fastback) in 1968, but the first cars to be sold were in 1974. It was a joint venture between Mitsubishi Motors and The Colt Car Company. Cars used the Colt name, but they still used the Mitsubishi logo. It's similar to how Nissan were known as Datsun. However, the Mitsubishi name was used from 1985 onwards. My 1982 Galant-Sigma is actually known as a "Colt Galant".

UK sales started in 1974, with two cars - Lancer (first-generation model) and Galant (second-generation model).



This size of car was the most popular in the UK during the 1970s, so it made sense to import the Lancer. The best-selling car at that time was the Ford Escort and the Lancer was quite similar. Also, they both had great success as a rally car. In the UK, rallying is very popular so any car with rally success would be noticed. So it was an ideal car! We got the 1400/1600 GL at the start, but later we got the 1600 GSR Twin Carb and the Wagon model.



The other car to be sold in 1974 was the second-generation Galant. I don't remember ever seeing one of these for real. I think they sold in very small numbers, because it was replaced by the Galant-Sigma only a few years later. We got the Hardtop version too!



You may be surprised that we received the Galant GTO in 1976! It was a later type with 2000 Astron '80' (balancer shaft) engine, about 112ps. All the models in the UK were fitted with the bolt-on wheel arches (fender flares). I know two people who have these, but they're very rare.



The Lancer Celeste was sold from 1975 as just "Celeste", we didn't use the Lancer name for it. My friend had one a few years ago, but it had a lot of rust problems and he couldn't afford to repair it. He sold it to somebody else and I think it got fixed. We got the 1600 ST, 1600 GSR and 2000 GT. The fastest is the 2000 GT, but some people prefer the 1600 GSR. I've seen a few of these.



The last car I wrote about was the Galant-Sigma, or known just as the "Sigma". I know a lot about this car, because I have a later model which is very similar. Most of the mechanical parts are the same, also the middle section of the car and doors. This became quite a popular car in the 1970s. The car magazines really liked it, because the balancer shaft engines were really smooth and it had good aerodynamics. We got the Galant-Lambda coupe model too, but we knew it as "Sapporo".



This one is mine.

Anyway, I hope the real magazine article is published soon.