Big Surprise

[V6 JOSE]

Hi Guys,

I just saw something I never thought I'd see here in Colombia. I went to a friend's shop to visit him, and when I came out, There it was, in all it's glory. A Dodge Colt, same as a Plymouth Cricket. I don't know what year it was from, but it had rectangular head lights. Someone was taking very good care of it, because it looked pristine. It was a little light blue four door. I never thought I'd see a Rootes vehicle here, but there it was. Maybe someone of you guys can tell me what year it was from, just by the rectangular head lights.

It is a nice thing to get a nice surprise once in a while.

Jose

 

[RootesRacer]

Hi Guys,

I just saw something I never thought I'd see here in Colombia. I went to a friend's shop to visit him, and when I came out, There it was, in all it's glory. A Dodge Colt, same as a Plymouth Cricket. I don't know what year it was from, but it had rectangular head lights. Someone was taking very good care of it, because it looked pristine. It was a little light blue four door. I never thought I'd see a Rootes vehicle here, but there it was. Maybe someone of you guys can tell me what year it was from, just by the rectangular head lights.

It is a nice thing to get a nice surprise once in a while.

Jose

Is it RWD?

I know that Chrysler badge engineering ran rampant around that time frame and that the colt and cricket are totally different vehicles, one designed as fwd and the other rwd.

The later fastback alpine had much more in common with the "rootes" cricket design as IIRC that used essentially the same floor plan much like the husky and early alpine.

 

[MikeH]

Is it RWD?

I know that Chrysler badge engineering ran rampant around that time frame and that the colt and cricket are totally different vehicles, one designed as fwd and the other rwd.

The later fastback alpine had much more in common with the "rootes" cricket design as IIRC that used essentially the same floor plan much like the husky and early alpine.

After '73 the U.S. Colt and Cricket were rebadged mitsubishi's

 

[puff4]

I bought a new Plymouth Champ back in the day... with 'Twin Stick' transmission (hi/lo range)... I loved that little bugger. Only issue was that they ate fuel pumps about every 30K miles, but otherwise they were a good little car. Very quick, and handled nicely too. The Champ was the Plymouth version of the Dodge Colt, and both were made by Mitsubishi.

Champs are thin on the ground these days though - I can't even think of the last time I saw one. Mine was red, but you get the idea...

 

[V6 JOSE]

The car I saw, had to be rear wheel drive. It looked like it was a 1968-1970 model. I wish I had seen the owner, to ask him about it and look under the hood. I looked around, but didn't see anyone. Too bad.

Anyway, it brought back a lot of memories.

Jose

 

[RootesRooter]

Chrysler replaced the Rootes-built Plymouth Cricket (rebadged Hillman Avenger) with the much better quality, Mitsubishi-built Dodge Colt.

Here's the Colt's history:


http://www.allpar.com/model/champ.html

 

[Eleven]

I bought a new Plymouth Champ back in the day... with 'Twin Stick' transmission (hi/lo range)... I loved that little bugger. Only issue was that they ate fuel pumps about every 30K miles, but otherwise they were a good little car. Very quick, and handled nicely too. The Champ was the Plymouth version of the Dodge Colt, and both were made by Mitsubishi.

Champs are thin on the ground these days though - I can't even think of the last time I saw one. Mine was red, but you get the idea...

I bought a Tredia by Mitsu which is the slightly larger version of your car. Had the twin stick. Great car but the carb pollution blah blah valve constantly stuck and made the car run very jerky. Got sick of dealing with it and sold it. Fun car and great driver though.