The Morning Call and Mcall.com's view

For 1985, the Mitsubishi-built Plymouth Colt is available in a four-door sedan model – and not just any old four-door sedan. Like many other subcompact economy cars these days, it’s a car available with a high degree of luxury and options. This is a long way from the old bare-bones Mitsubishis that Chrysler Corp. imported as its small car of the early 1970s, but consumer demands have changed considerably since that time.

Today, many car buyers want comfort and luxury, and it doesn’t make any difference if the car is big, small, or in-between. The small luxury car has been coming on strong these past few years and all manufacturers are trying to get a piece of the action. Chrysler/Mitsubishi offers its first non-hatchback model in several years as its contender in this field.

It should be a strong contender, even if for no other reason than because of its price sticker, which evokes a sort of reverse ”sticker shock.” Instead of the old ”that’s what I paid for my house” comment, the observer is likely to say, ”Hey, that’s not bad.”

More about the price later. Let’s first give the Colt sedan a lookover.

The test car – supplied by Scott Chevrolet on Lehigh Street in Emmaus – was a top-of-the-line Premier model. (The other model is known as the DL and has slightly fewer luxury features, but is by no means a stripped-down car.) Not surprisingly, the new Colt sedan has aerodynamic styling. Its sloping hood, raked windshield and high trunk deck give it a contemporary wedge-look. At first glance it’s easy to mistake this car for a Mercedes-Benz 190, and I’m sure this is exactly what Chrysler/Mitsubishi had in mind.

As mentioned before, the Colt sedan is a small car. It has a wheelbase of 93.7 inches, overall length of 167.3 inches, width of 63.8 inches, height of 50.8 inches and curb weight of 1,989 pounds. Plymouth rates the Colt as a five-passenger car. However, those three rear seat passengers better be very small, or, at least, congenial. Front seat room is adequate

Tall or big drivers should try it on for size first. Once in, though, even above-normal-sized people should have no trouble with leg or head room. However, getting in and out can be a bit of a trick. Big people will sort of have to squeeze between the steering wheel and seat, which does not make for graceful entrances and exits.

As in other small cars, back seat leg room depends on how far the front seats are extended back – all the way and there’s no room, halfway and there’s some room. The back seat, however, has an interesting feature. Although the car is a true sedan, the rear seat back can be folded down to provide access to the trunk. This, of course, means that long items can be fitted in. And because the seatback has a folding split, it is possible to carry a passenger along with the cargo – a very convenient feature.

Once in and under way, all drivers should find the C olt sedan an easy car to drive. And those drivers who like their sports cars and sports sedans will be in for a pleasant surprise. As standard equipment, the Colt Premier comes with sport suspension. Up front are MacPherson struts with gas-charged shocks. The rear features two independent trailing arms. Heavy duty coil springs and heavy duty anti-sway bars are mounted on both ends. The real tip-offs to this suspension are the tires – big, fat P185/60HR14s are used. Also, the Premier does sit a little high in the back – sort of looks like it’s going to leap forward.

The test car eased and squeezed around corners, curves and cloverleaves. And although the ride was firm, it was not stiff. The test car had optional power steering, which was probably just as well because in addition to the front-wheel drive powertrain, the car was carrying the extra weight of an automatic transmission and air conditioning. An automatic transmission does sound somewhat staid for such a sporty suspension, but what are you going to do ?

Powering the test car was a 91.5 cubic inch four-cylinder overhead cam four-cylinder engine rated at 68 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 82 foot pounds torque at 3,500 rpm. This engine features MCA-JET. The MCA stands for Mitsubishi Clean Air while the JET refers to the ”jet” of air injected into the combustion chamber by a third valve.

According to Plymouth, this action creates an air-fuel swirl that burns more completely, evenly and efficiently. Because I can’t look into the engine to verify this, I will accept this explanation. But I must say the engine did run very well all during its testing period. Performance was adequate for all Lehigh Valley driving conditions. The three-speed automatic worked well, but the engine would be better off with the standard five-speed manual transmission. But, then, this is true of all small displacement engines.

Fuel mileage, as should be expected from a small car with a small engine, was good. The test car averaged 25 mpg for city driving and 30 mpg for highway driving.

If you’re interested in more punch and an engine that could really give the Premier’s suspension a workout, you might want to look into the optional engine – a turbocharged/fuel-injected 97 cubic inch four 3,000 rpm. Performance should be impressive.

Base price for the Colt Premier is $7,409. Standard equipment includes power brakes, digital clock, remote control deck lid release, rear window defogger, locking fuel filler door, tinted glass, halogen headlamps, sport instrument panel (with tachometer and low fuel and washer fluid warning lights), dual electric remote outside mirrors and a high level of luxury and convenience items.

Full price on the test car was $9,162, which included a destination charge of $200 and the following options: air conditioning,$626; three-speed automatic, $388; electronic AM-FM stereo, $291; power steering, $202; carpet protectors, $27, and driver’s seat height control, $19.