1994 Mitsubishi 3000gt Vr-4 Coupe 2-door 3.0l Pearl White on 2040-cars

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Scrapyard Gem: 2007 Mitsubishi Colt CZ2 5-door hatchback

YORK, England — Remember the Dodge and Plymouth Colts of 1971 through 1994? The Colt name stayed alive after that on Mitsubishis sold elsewhere in the world, and I've found a 21st-century example in a self-service wrecking yard near York, England. This generation of Colt served as the basis for the Smart ForFour, so (as promised) I'm following up a ForFour Junkyard Gem with this article about its sibling in the same knacker's yard. Like the ForFour, this car was built at the NedCar assembly plant in the Netherlands. Mitsubishi began using the Colt name in Japan back in 1962, then killed the name at home in favor of the Mirage when that car debuted in 1978. Export-market Mirages got Colt (or Champ, or Lancer and many others) badging at that point. For 2002, the Colt returned to Japan with a brand-new platform, and that's the generation we have here. The engine here is a 1.5-liter Mercedes-Benz turbodiesel, rated at 95 horsepower and 155 pound-feet. A 148-horse turbocharged gasoline-burning Mitsubishi 1.5 was available in the UK as well. The transmission is a five-speed manual. A six-speed automatic was an option. It's a small car but not microscopic; its wheelbase is just over 98" and its curb weight is about 2,500 pounds. The tall roof gives it great storage capacity, a trick often seen in kei vans. This generation of Colt continues to be sold in Taiwan through the present day, as the Colt Plus. In Europe, an all-new Colt based on the Renault Clio was launched last year. It was cheap. In Japan, cuteness was played up in Colt commercials.  

Not a dry eye in the house for last Mitsubishi Evo X video

Say what you will about the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution; we're going to miss this one when it's gone. Japan's rally car for the street is officially being phased out, and production is ending in Japan. But not before one Final Edition, and a final video showing the turbocharged, all-wheel-drive wonder being built. In Japan, the Final Edition is limited to a run of just 1,000 units. It's based on the GSR model with the five-speed manual transmission, but comes with performance goodies like Bilstein shocks, Eibach springs, Recaro seats, Brembo brakes, and more. See it for yourself in the gallery, below. Over the course of 23 years, there have been 10 generations of the Lancer Evolution. And while Evo X might not be our favorite (this author much prefers Evo IX, for what it's worth), it's still sad to see Mitsubishi's iconic, winged sedan head to the grave. A sign of the times, Mitsubishi says the Evo "will be replaced in spirit" by a high-power, hybrid SUV. That's a tall order, and doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense, but we'll see. For now, say goodbye to the Evo X by watching the final production video, above. And just be thankful Subaru still makes its lovely WRX STI.

2014 Mitsubishi Outlander earns Top Safety Pick+ award [w/video]

The Mitsubishi Outlander officially is a safe vehicle, earning a good rating in all of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash test categories - good enough for the agency to give it the Top Safety Pick+ award. The small sport utility vehicle's little sibling, the Outlander Sport, received the Top Safety Pick award earlier this year.
According to the IIHS, to earn the Top Safety Pick+ rating vehicles must be rated good in at least four out of the five crash tests (including the difficult small overlap front test) and earn no less than acceptable in the rear crash test. The Top Safety Pick rating requires that vehicles be rated good in the moderate overlap front, side, rollover and rear tests, but there's no minimum rating on the small overlap front crash test.
Mitsubishi designed the Outlander to have greater roof strength (the roof now can support up to five times the SUV's weight) and to withstand the moderate overlap front crash test and the recently introduced small overlap front crash test, both of which evaluate the ability of vehicles to protect their occupants in crashes that bypass the traditional front crumple zone. Crumple zones are designed into vehicles to allow them to deform in a way that protects passengers in the event of a crash. The Outlander was one of two small SUVs to earn a good rating in the small overlap test, the other being the 2014 Subaru Forester. The Subaru earned a Top Safety Pick rating.