Deep Blue Pearl over a Blue interior, this rarely seen today 1994 Plymouth Colt Vista Wagon is a vehicle I haven’t seen in years in person or online, and we’ve never seen one before here on Barn Finds. This rare little front-drive tall wagon is listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Broadview Heights, Ohio, and the seller is asking $3,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Lothar… of the Hill People for the tip!
The models are a little unusual, with a standard Colt Vista, a Colt Vista SE, and a Colt Vista AWD. This is the base model Colt Vista Wagon with front-wheel drive and the standard 1.8-liter engine and standard 5-speed manual transmission. There was also an optional 2.4-liter engine available in the base model, but the 5-speed manual wasn’t available, only the four-speed automatic, as seen on this example. Are you ready for a nap yet?
The Colt Vista was based on the Mitsubishi RVR and came from the Chrysler-Mitsubishi partnership era. We got them as the Mitsubishi Expo LVR and also as the Dodge Colt and Plymouth Colt Vista Wagon, and the Eagle Summit Wagon from ’92 through ’96. I miss the Eagle brand. I really wanted a Colt-Plymouth-Eagle AWD 5-speed wagon a few years ago, but even back then, there really weren’t many around, and the ones that were for sale were pretty rough. This example looks great in the photos, despite a few nicks and scrapes and maybe some fading here and there.
The automatic seatbelt era also subtracted points from this vehicle being a must-have for me. I just don’t like those, and I know it’s dumb, as there are probably ways to get around them, but it was a drawback for me. The grayish-blue interior looks outstanding in this car/van/thing. It’s always nice seeing the rubber boot of a manual shifter in vehicles from this era, but there was an optional four-speed automatic available. The back seat looks like new, and the rear cargo area plastics could use some rattle-can restoration. The underside looks great, and is said to have been coated with “Honey Coat” rust proofing. Kudos to the seller for going above and beyond on photos, very well done!
The engine is Mitsubishi’s 1.8-liter SOHC, 16-valve inline-four with 113 horsepower and 116 lb-ft of torque when new. Backed by the 5-speed manual sending power to the front wheels, the seller says it has 92,003 miles. It’s a one-owner California car with a new timing belt, new plugs, air filter, four new tires, and more. At $3,500, this is a steal. Would any of you use this as a daily driver?
Good heavens, no, however,,,if I actually had someplace to go, this would be perfect, however, the “wet blanket ” in me surfaces everytime,,(Autoplace person in Bugtussle, AZ), “by golly, haven’t seen one of those______ in quite a while, the store in Shreveport has one”,,,don’t think so? I don’t mean to admonish the authors posts, does a great job even on items of limited interest, like this. I look at interiors from some of the classics that come through here, and look at these, all seem the same sterile, typical layout, but generally, people that drove these didn’t care about such things, they were after storage AND gas mileage. These did both and very popular for folks that didn’t want a minivan. Sources claim 1992 was the last year, but production apparently continued into ’94. I think an AWD was offered too, but by 1992, sales were less than 9,000 units. At about $14 grand new, it was less than a minivan, but the minivan won out there. The Colt Vista Wagon, or Mitsubishi Chariot/Space Wagon( far out, man) was never a hit.
I have worked at a few Jeep Chrysler Eagle dealerships since 1993 and still do now. I had to put a clutch in one of these all wheel drive vehicles in the late 1990’s.
Did that require removal of the motor Mark ?
No stan it did not and my mistake I worked on the Eagle version. I was in my late 20’s then and did a lot of heavy line work at the dealership.
I remember click and clack going on endlessly about how great these cars were.
These Mitsubishi unicorns always make me smile. Owned several 80s Colts and my daily driver ‘06 to ‘16 was a ‘90 Colt AWD Wagon 5spd.(not a Vista) Never once saw another one like it on the road. A $600 car purchased to get me by for a year and just kept going. Reliable as a rock and made it well past 200k. It’s a shame Mitsubishi were never marketed well in the states, They should be right up there with Honda, Toyota and Nissan…….:
Might be difficult to resources parts; but, these were considered reliable like Honda and Toyota in the day. I bought a Colt based upon Consumer Report’s ratings, it proved to be as reliable as their rated marks.
This looks like a buy
It’s funny how those motorized mouse automatic seatbelts were such a flashpoint in public opinion. I only had one car, a 1991 Subaru Legacy wagon, that had them and although I occasionally got my hat knocked off while getting out of the car, I still would prefer them to having an airbag blow up in my face if I hit something.
We use to work on 2 of these when they were fairly new, a husband and wife each owned one, I don’t remember them having any major problems at all.
‘Honey Coat’ seems like another great Wax- Oil type rust proofing .
My boss drove one of these back in the ‘90s and he always raved about it. I never quite understood the appeal, but apparently they’re extremely reliable
Another nifty car of the time period. IIRC their tag line was the compact minivan. Kinda catchy, huh? Our ‘sample’ allocation was a nicely trimmed Summit in the less desirable green color. It had to be bad when green was all the rage in the middle 90s. Got a lot of “what is it” but little “let’s take it”. At the same time I was the guy who sold all our Colt and Summit 2-doors to anyone wanting a $200 payment with no money down. These OTOH never swayed folks away from the beloved minivan, our best seller.