Dodge was the last U.S. manufacturer to get into the “pony car” race with the Challenger in 1970. But it wasn’t much of a race by then as the market for muscle cars had cooled, so the Challenger (and its cousin the Plymouth Barracuda) disappeared in 1974. But Dodge resurrected the nameplate just four years later, this time as a variant of a captive import from Mitsubishi. While the car remained a frameless hardtop coupe, it relied on smaller 4-cylinder engines to get around. At just 37,000 miles, this 1980 edition might be the nicest one left as these cars didn’t enjoy a prolonged lifecycle. Located with a dealer in St. Charles, Missouri, this Japanese variant is offered here on FastLaneCars for $19,995.
The “new” Challenger was more like that of the Ford Mustang II than its original namesake, but sportier looking. Beginning in 1978, Dodge relied on its relationship with Mitsubishi to market a rebadged version of the Galant Lambda coupe (at first, it was called the Dodge Colt Challenger). Plymouth got into the act, too, and sold a similar vehicle called the Sapporo, a U.S. edition of the Mitsubishi Sapporo/ Scorpion. Both cars were around until 1983 when they were replaced by the Conquest using the same rear-wheel-drive platform through 1989 before switching to front-wheel-drive.
This decked-out version of the Challenger sports the larger 2.6-liter inline-4 that had a rated output of 105 hp. It’s paired with a 3-speed automatic transmission, making it less spirited than what the manual tranny would have offered. We’re told the auto has really low miles meaning that someone thought they had a future collectible on their hands and hardly ever drove it.
From the photos provided, this Dodge looks as though it just rolled off the showroom floor. On the rare occasion that you still see one of these cars running around, they’re usually all ragged or rusted out. But not this beauty. We’re told the paint is the “correct” silver and black, which suggests it’s been repainted, and the gray/plaid interior looks as though it has hardly been sat in. This little car may have had every option available when it was ordered new, so the new driver will be treated to 4-wheel power disc brakes (that’s what the seller says), air conditioning, and other assorted power accessories. This is a nifty little car, but is it worth 20 large?
Back in 1995 my local Dodge dealership had the identical car languishing on their back lot. I looked at the odometer and it had fifteen miles on it, and the sales sticker was still in the window. It was sad to see a NEW car sitting outdoors for fifteen years… Maybe this is the same car because of the low miles..
And,of course,it’s an automatic.
I don’t think they came with black paint in the engine-
compartment from the factory.
The “black paint” appears to be undercoating.
Would like it more if it had the twin stick option. Had a 79 Plymouth Champ and an 81 Colt, both with the twin stick. Autocrossed the 79 with good results and the 81 was for the wife. The 81 lasted for many miles with no problems. Blew the motor in the 79 on the track. Obviously, these were not meant for the track but for daily commuting. Fun cars though. Test drove a new Sapporo prior to the purchase of the 81 Colt, couldn’t get past the plaid seats.
Twin-stick was for the FWD Colt/Champ only. The Challenger/Sapporo were on a different platform and RWD.
I had a 79 Challenger, blue and white, with the 5 speed. I loved that car and ran the hell out of it. I sold it when I moved across the country and could only take 1 car. At 142,000 miles, it still ran great. If this one had a 5 speed, I’d be taking a close look at it.
This looks exactly like my 1980 I owned in the early 90s. The manual transmission I had made the difference. Was a fun little car. It’s not worth 20k, though. That’s a 7-10k car maybe. They fall on the category of other hard to find throw away cars. I’ve wanted to get another, but not at that price.
It does come with 4 disc brakes, and that’s the first car I owned that had them.
My Dad had one identical to the car as this featured item for sale. He had bought it used with fairly low miles and drove it for many years; it had nearly 200,000 on it when he traded for a newer Fifth Avenue, also a low mile used car.
He had only a few small issues with an electrical gremlin they chased and repaired for him at the local Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge dealer. Other than that he enjoyed the good fuel mileage. A friend of mine had a Sapporo during this same period of time with a 5 speed manual. It was a much quicker car, though still slow by today’s standards. Seemed the automatic stole a few horse power
Good quality and rust free cars. I remember some ppl who had
back then a Galant. After 15 years of use parked outside but
covered they had no rust. Nothing. And always ran.
The Japanese back then cracked the European car market as
French or Italians had a bad reputation and German cars like
Mercedes and BMW had an endless pay option list. Or OPEL
or Ford didn’t offered power windows. But the Japanese had.
Mazda and Mitsubishi came in the markets and won.
The black paint in the engine bay is original until they painted
the whole bay from about 1983 The 2.0 is the better engine.
Without the ugly outside decor it looks better. You can find
such Sapporo for nothing in prime condition if there is one
offered for sale. The small Colt rusted and had electric probs.
Beautiful, ideal small city car for somebody, be the only one around to boot.
This is a Challenger, just like that 4 door car that is manufactured today is a Charger.
People make such a fuss about the name. Silliness. Remember the original Challenger really wasn’t very loved back in the day. Only made four years until it was cancelled. The last year, hardly sold at all. No one missed them, and when these came out, most people liked them. Great MPG which was pretty important to people whom had lived through two oil shocks. People forget, or maybe they were not even around then, so they speak through incorrectly felt emotion or ignorance. 1980 is not today. Original Challengers were thought of as gas guzzling dinosaurs. Little if any value, they could be bought on the cheap. Many a man almost gave away older muscle cars to buy a fuel efficient sub compact, and did it with a smile.
Fair point.
However it cuts both ways….would the asking price be $20k if the name was “Dodge Aries ll?
Mark, I don’t think the name means squat. It could be the Dodge Dud, no one would care if it was a good looking car. Now there is an idea, “special” names for cars. The Ford Fart. The Fiat Failure. The Porsche Punk. The Ferrari Felon. The Buick Bore. The Cadillac Cad. The Isuzu Idiot
Alliteration is fun, isn’t it? Personally I liked the K Cars, no matter what they were named. Mine never let me down.
Grant, I’m relatively certain I once owned a Dodge Dud. Oh wait, that was a used ’78 Diplomat with a Slant Six, which I replaced it with an ’89 Caravan turbo that wasn’t a dud at all. :-)
“People forget, or maybe they were not even around then, so they speak through incorrectly felt emotion or ignorance”. Really grant? I’m afraid you missed the point altogether. Enjoy your 4-door family sedan.
And yet, many people want the first gen Challengers , and few people remember or would want these models. These sold, but not really well, and like most 4 cyl cars of the time were looked on as disposable cars and when a major repair came up, they were junked. We had a row of these in our junkyard , but rarely did anyone buy parts off of them because of the disposable car attitude , just like the Escorts, and Omnis
$20,000? Is pot legal in Missouri, now?
Oh Challenger, you were so proud, look what they reduced you to,,to be clear, THIS is the car the original and newer Challenger owners would like to forget. Didn’t see them make any movies about Sapporos hitting bulldozer blades at 100 mph, did ya’? To be fair, the car here was a decent car, far as the imports went. It was a low blow to die hard Chrysler fans when THIS is what was available. I would like to differ with Grant, Detroit made a KILLING on just names themselves. Not this “CDX4RAV” whatchamacallit, real names, wild animal names, and championship names, like Challenger, Charger and Marlin( just threw that last one in there), point is, names did indeed help sell cars to people who knew nothing about them. Most Chrysler fans were left in the dark when these came out, depicting the epitome of the word musclecar. For shame,,,,was the cry.
I had this car and it was amazing. with aircraft igniter plugs and full synthetic the whole way through I was getting 50MPG at 70 MPH.
The only problems were a cheap interior and crap steel in the manufacture.
Loved that car though the cancer destroyed it in record time.
Bought one brand new… loved it… ex-wife got it. Not too fast but very comfy and great on the gas. The style was catchy, but the plaid interior was a bit much. Thankfully mine (hers) had a gray vinyl interior. All that being said, no way I’d spend 20K on another one. Too many other options in that price range today. Still like the look.
Lovely looking car. I remember when this was offered. I was way too young at the time to drive a car, but I found it way more attractive than the earlier generation Dodge Challengers. The only problem I had with the car was with its engine and performance. If you’re going to call a car a “Challenger”, you’d need a more powerful engine to match its name. I’d give the engine 125hp to 130hp and close to 180 ft-lbs-200 ft.-lbs. of torque. That would’ve given the car performance to match its name. $20,000 sounds like a lot of money. You could buy a brand new car for that much money! It’s way more than I’d be willing to pay, however nice it may be. I’d be willing to pay between $10k and $15k for something this nice.
This Challenger has been on the market, by various sellers, for some time know.
Perhaps 20k is a tad too high for a Mitsu?
I wish the seller good luck!
$20K…..the guy must be on drugs or a lunatic.
Nobody is gonna pay $20k for this 4 cylinder heap. lol
I’d say the latter. I’d be willing to pay close to $10k for the car.
Just a note: the Dodge (Colt) Challenger and Plymouth Sapporo were basically the same car with differing trim, as were the Mitsubishi Galant Lambda, Sapporo, and Scorpion coupes, all varying model names of the same car chosen for different markets worldwide.
The 2.6 is a reasonably peppy and surprisingly smooth-running engine for such a large 4-banger, thanks to balance shafts which also make it less than rev-happy, though that didn’t stop Porsche (among others) from licensing Mitsubishi’s balance shaft patent for their 944 engine.
There is obviously not many of these around anymore so for the person that wants to relive your high school or college years, you will rarely find one nicer.
I had this cars smaller brother the Plymouth Arrow in high school. I thought these chrysler captive imports had pretty decent styling and good build quality.
If this car is the model you want 20k is a lot but there isn’t much comparable around. To me 13k would be a good compromise. The buyer would still be paying a lot for an old car, but the seller would also get the premium for this cars condition.
Our family is on our third mitsubishi suv now over the last 10 years and all 3 have been completely trouble free other than oil changes.
I bought a ‘78 or ‘79 EXACTLY like this around 1986. In college at the time, and had just sold my ‘65 MGB. Planned to commute by bus to my job, but that got very old very fast. A colleague had a Sapporo at the time. Saw my challenger on a used car lot. Bought it and loved it . Especially the plaid interior. As I recall, the lower half of the body wasn’t black, but very dark gray. Had to sell it 6 months later as I was moving over seas; timing chain was going so tan very poorly; unloaded it for $400. Would love to have this one, but $20K seems very high
I had forgotten all about these so-called Challengers.
And for good reason….there was no reason to.
It was a just a rebadged Mitsubishi and nobody wanted Mitsubishi’s
in the late 70’s or early 80’s.
Which is why the rebadge.
Oh, this is why I had forgotten all about these cars, with it’s 105 Horsepower
nobody in Western Pennsylvania would buy this thing to crawl up the many
hills and what some would consider mountains in & around Pittsburgh.
Definitely a car for people living on the flats. And even then many weren’t sold.
Finally, one of these Challengers is featured with the interior from one of my favorite car ads.
The reality is that you can’t find parts for these cars.
Id buy this for the interior alone, but not at that price.
I wonder why Dodge would call this car Challenger – Plymouth did not call their ’78 version Barracuda(thank goodness).
Surprising, for an asian import car, seeing useful NUMBERS on the temp & oil press gages. Honda, etc. should take note!
I believe the side rear windows on this car not only rolled down but there is no roof support post – either there was no(or a relaxed) rollover std by 1980, & billions $s were wasted in developing all the ’70s opera window cars – or there was a rollover std, & dodge & plymouth paid fines. I have seen other 2 doors, 1 each by both BMW & M Benz in later decades that also were true hardtops! Still scratching my head.
I had the 1981 Sapporo, bought it brand new, had the 5-speed. That was a great little car and it was pretty quick for a four-banger. I wish I would have kept that car.
If indeed this is maybe the nicest one left, we may all be kicking ourselves in 10 years when it sells at B.J. for 6 figures.
Six figures?! Hell no! Nothing is worth that much, no matter how nice the car may be!
@ bone – I consider it a damn shame that people saw cars like way. From my first car back in the 90s to today, I’ve always seen cars as transportation, but also one to enjoy while you’re at it, and when I’m done with the car, assuming it’s still running and works like it should, I sell it to someone else to enjoy for as long as they need it/want it.
It is a shame, but in reality, thats what the automakers want you to do . The longer a car lasts, the less chance they have to sell a new one .Plus a lot of these cars weren’t worth putting the money into. The 1981- early 1985 Escort / Lynx were notorious for cracked heads around the 50k -70k mile mark, and the only fix was to replace the head at your local Ford dealership .Since they all cracked, you couldn’t find a used one, and an economy car needing an expensive (for the time ) repair didnt make sense to most people so they were junked. We had so many coming in, and we never paid for any of them. We used to joke that the only thing we ever sold of an Escort was the rims, because people wanted a full size spare.
“Six figures?! Hell no! Nothing is worth that much, no matter how nice the car may be”. Wow, have you not watched a single BJ or BAT auction in the last 10 years??