It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen a 1980 Dodge Colt RS that looked this good, or any Dodge Colt of this era. This screaming yellow zonker (1970s popcorn reference for those of you old enough to remember) can be found listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Findlay, Illinois. They’re asking $6,500 for this nice example. Thanks to Paul S. for sending in this tip! Here’s the original listing.
The seller has broken all the rules by posting a ton of fantastic photos! That’s just not done anymore, sellers are supposed to give horrible photos of different orientations, dark and blurry photos, and not enough photos. This guy, what is he thinking?! I’m kidding, of course, this is literally the way online vehicle listings should be – very, very well done, seller! Dodge sold 49,798 Colts in 1980, the most in any year until being replaced by the Neon after 1994.
This is a fourth-generation Colt which was made from 1978 for the 1979 model year up until late 1984 when the next-gen cars appeared. The Colts from this era are basically rebadged Mitsubishi Mirages and I have a thing for rebadged Mitsubishis from 1980 as I have an orange 1980 Dodge D-50 Sport pickup similar to the one in this brochure photo. I love this blocky design, it’s by far my favorite for the Colt series. The RS added some nice graphics and other mostly non-go-fast goodies.
The only bummer that I see in this whole car is the Mitsubishi KM170 three-speed automatic transmission. A Twin-Stick manual would have been so much better for driving pleasure here not to mention for the unusual factor. But, as expected, the interior appears to be in great condition front and back. The seller mentions that this car is fully loaded with power mirrors (standard on the RS package), air-conditioning, and more.
The engine is Mitsubishi’s 4G32, a 1.6L inline-four with 80 horsepower and 87 lb-ft of torque. This is where a manual transmission would come in handy. The seller has uploaded six videos here on YouTube so check them out. It appears that the tach may need a cable or some lube or something, but otherwise this looks like a winner. Have any of you owned a fourth-generation Dodge Colt?
Had one of these, didn’t have a roof rack or the automatic. Was twin stick and was a hoot to drive. Had all sorts of gears to keep that little motor in a happy place. Bought it new off the lot, had a couple of children added to the family and traded it off. Got great gas mileage.
A Nagasaki Nut Bucket. I’m Out
The dad of a friend of mine growing up had a tan one with the twin stick. He always just shifted it 1-4 then shifted the second lever into overdrive. Me and the friend were in it one day and I asked if I could drive. I drove it like you would a semi. 1st, 1st overdrive, 2nd, 2nd overdrive. Etc. completely pointless but it was good for some fun doing it that way!
Nah, give me a Plymouth Champ instead. Now there was a great and reliable vehicle. Nothing at all like the Colt! :;
My wife and I bought a 1981 Plymouth Champ brand new! It had the twin stick trans and was a great, fun little car! Ours was red with white pin stripes, red interior. Took it to Ohio to visit a relative and got 44mpg on average. Had a couple of kids, so had to get something a little bigger, miss that little car though!
I had the same year in orange and black with a 4 speed plus Hi-Lo stick. Also header’s and Webber card and it was a hoot drive. Easy to park in the Bronx ,NY and take my girl downtown to the village. This was back in the early ’80s. I do miss this ride. Went racing with it and split the cluster gears. I was lucky I was working at a Dodge dealership so i ordered the gears to fix it. To me automatic is too slow. And no fun. But good luck to the next owner. 🐻🇺🇸
I went through at least a couple dozen of these back in the day. Crazy(?) well, you could pick them up at the insurance auction between 50 and $200 all day long for minor fender bender‘s. This let me sample every variation and sadly this good looking yellow RS has the worst culprit: that damn automatic. I live in high altitude, couple that horsepower loss and run it through the automatic and the car is an absolute dog. If you really wanna good laugh, turn on the air conditioning, another 25% horsepower loss. If a potential buyer is reading this swapping the automatic out for the twin stick is an absolute piece of cake. 1.4 or 1.6 donor, doesn’t matter, just get every part transmission related, the axles are the same automatic versus stick. Every hole is there from the factory the only thing you need to modify is the boss for the clutch cable where it comes through the firewall. THEN you will have one fun little car!
1800+ miles away might be worth it because of what gas prices are going to do this summer. If you don’t mind driving a bumblebee
I had an 1984 with the Turbo and the dual stick transmission. That car was so fun, I still miss it.
I agree about altitude I tried to take one thru the Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70 West of Denver and I was about 300 yards from the tunnel and it just did not have the power to make it. Missed a job interview in Aspen but that car just had a case of the will not’s. But in the city, around town what a blast to drive. Even as an automatic. Surprising how much it could carry in side with the seats down.
With a slightly more powerful engine I wish they would make these again. Almost a perfect grocery getter and runabout. Simple, maneuverable, great visibility and for an economy car very comfortable machine. Mine carried a lot of Alfa, Austin Healey 3000, MG and Triumph parts from Wrecking yards to my home shop. I really miss mine which is the response from most who have driven them.
If I was to make a comment this and the early Honda Civic SI’s were the Japanese answer to the original Mini Cooper S. About the same size and intent. Almost as much fun to drive. A lot to be said for simple and good engineering. Just wish rust protection was better but then we put over 200k on ours before selling.
my wife had the same car when we first started going out. Oddly it said “Petty” (assuming Richard) over the front fenders but haven’t seen another or even a photo of a “petty” version.
Scotty you need this. When I saw the first photo I figured you would be all over this since it’s the same vintage as your arrow/d50 pickup.
I’d consider it myself if I wasnt already considerably over my quota
Awesome looking car! I had a neighbour when I was a boy who had one. I never got a good look at the interior, so I don’t recall whether his had an automatic gearbox or manual. At the time, I didn’t find the car very attractive, at least compared to the Volkswagen Golf (Rabbit). But compared to today’s cars, I find it beautiful. :)
Owned a new 79 Champ and a new 81 Colt. Both 1.6L and 8 speed twin shifter models. Ran autocross with the 79 until the engine failed at 30K miles. Wife drove the 81 for many many miles without any problems. Great little cars, a lot roomier inside than you would think. The A/C was a little anemic but mirror window tint all around solved that problem. Liked the rear side windows that popped out. All in all, I thought they were great little cars for the time. Quick, inexpensive, well built.
I had a 4 door automatic version of this. Handled great, like a go-cart! That is where the fun ended lol. Slower than molasses. But got great gas mileage. It was merely an appliance back then. Now it might be a nifty little car to own.
Had one of these with turbo years ago. One of my favorite cars ever, a little rocket. Wish I still had it.
A real sleeper. You look at it and doze off.
nxt gen is one to have out my way. More utilitarian (wagon style) and an AWD/4WD. Tercel, Honda RT (or wagovan), some of the MPVs like eagle summit etc…all pre-minivan and super mini van-like more my style (even the omni based p/u) rampage. Today we have the disappearing mazda 6.
Wanna speedster? this w/the lill VeDub turbo motor? 1.2, 3 or 8 – or whatever it was…
I’m holding out for the Plymouth version – the Champ. That way I can tell everyone it “runs like a champ”
I drove one of these in the SCCA Pro Rally, production class in 1979 and ’80. Of course, my car was a twin-stick, not an automatic. I took second place in the production class, in 1980. We were second only because I only had time and budget to run half the rallies in the series. I use to change the badges and grill (Badge Engineering). It appeared that I had four or five diferent cars. I only had a second wreck for parts.
Haven’t seen a Plymouth Champ/Dodge Colt/Mitsubishi Mirage in many years.
Two words….UGLY CAR
Had a new white ’84 turbo. Big fun with that twin stick shoved forward. An identical, like new one sold recently on bringapileofcash.
Hey Scotty, nice write-up as always. I had the ’84 Colt GTS Turbo with twin-stick and it was a hoot. I can see this as a tag-a-long behind your 67 foot Range Crusher RV. Automatic wouldn’t do for me, though. If you can get past the fact that Mitsubishi made the Zero, you’ll realize how these cars are well-engineered to work on. Nearly everything on the car is 10 mm, and multiple places where you need to access something with a wrench or extension the panels have a little hole or curved area for the tool. Compared to my BMW which passes coolant through the alternator mount, the Colt is like working on a farm tractor. Good luck to the new owner!
And one interesting side note. You also had two gears in reverse!
1980 Colt gold with twin stick no air. My first new purchase 44 years ago this week. The Dodge dealer wanted to trade, Honda and Mazda had their heads up the rear. Kept the Monroney window sticker. It listed at $4,200.00.