Mitsubishi Galant

The Mitsubishi Galant is a midsize automobile manufactured by the Mitsubishi Motors Corporation.

1969

The Mitsubishi Galant was launched in 1969 as a two and four-door sedan, sold in some markets as the Colt Galant. It featured a choice of 1.3 or 1.5 L four-cylinder engines. It was sold in the United States as the Dodge Colt from 1971.

From 1970, a fastback coupé model, the Hardtop, was added. It was the first Japanese production passenger car without side pillars. The same year saw the release of the most powerful first-generation model, the GTO, with a 1.6 L engine rated at 125 PS.

1973

The second generation Galant sedan and GTO were more widely exported and was sold in Australia as the Chrysler Valiant Galant and in Europe as the Colt Galant. This model was more curvaceous, influenced by coke-bottle styling, and featured a larger, 1850 cc engine, as well as a new 2.0 L 'Astron' engine developing 125 PS. It was also offered as the Dodge Colt in the US.

1976

The third-generation Galant, dating from 1976, was divided into two models: the Galant Sigma (for the sedan and wagon) and the Galant Lambda (the coupe). The former was sold in many markets as the Mitsubishi Galant (without the word 'Sigma') and in Australia as the Chrysler Sigma (until 1980, after which it became the Mitsubishi Sigma). Strangely, in New Zealand it was badged as 'Galant Sigma' but colloquially referred to as the 'Sigma', a name it formally adopted after 1980.

Sapporo

The coupé was sold in Europe as the Mitsubishi Sapporo, in Australia as the Chrysler (and later Mitsubishi) Sigma Scorpion, and in the United States as the Plymouth Sapporo and Dodge Challenger from 1978 to 1983. In the Japanese market, the car was known as the Mitsubishi Lambda. Initially available with Mitsubishi's Astron engine, the larger 2.6 L 4-cylinder engine was later optional. Four-wheel disc brakes were standard.

1980

A substantial facelift took place in 1980, though the rear end (from firewall back) of the wagon was retained. Mitsubishi officially considers this a new generation Galant (Sigma). It was Car of the Year in New Zealand in 1981. Production of the wagon model continued in Australia till 1987, when the Magna wagon came on stream. An anomaly of this Galant was that the sedan (all new body) was on a longer 2530 mm wheelbase than the wagon (previous generation body with new front sheetmetal), which used a slightly shorter 2515 mm wheelbase.