General introduction:
Mitsubishi Lancer was built by Mitsubishi Motors as a compact car model way back in 1973. Since then, in many variants, more than six million Lancers have been sold. Mitsubishi Lancer also formed the basic platform for numerous Proton models in Malaysia.
Some important variants:
Mitsubishi Lancer has been sold in various countries such as Southeast Lioncel, Hindustan Lancer, Mitsubishi Carisma, Colt Lancer, Dodge Colt, Chrysler Valiant Lancer, Chrysler Lancer, Plymouth Colt, Lancer GSR, Lancer Evolution, Lancer Ralliart, Eagle Summit, and Mitsubishi Mirage. .
Outside of these models; The Lancer GSR, Lancer Evolution and Lancer Ralliart are the best performing models and form a large part of the Mitsubishi Lancer success story.
Some other models that form significant competition for this compact model of Mitsubishi engines are Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Mazda Mazda3 and others.
First generation Mitsubishi Lancer:
Mitsubishi Lancer was first launched in 1973 in the subcompact car class. At that time Mitsubishi had the Minica kei car and the Galant compact. Mitsubishi Lancer has helped Mitsubishi Motors bridge the gap between those two segments perfectly and at the perfect time. This has helped Mitsubishi Lancer gain popularity among target customers from day one.
This model was initially called the Chrysler Valiant Lancer and the Dodge Colt. It has a 2-door coupe, a 4-door sedan, and a 5-door station wagon. This generation of models lasted until 1979.
Second generation Mitsubishi Lancer:
First generation Mitsubishi Lancers were followed by sleek Lancer EX models in 1979. The EX series included, beginning in 1980, a turbocharged 1.8 L model. Stylistically, the boxy, angular look replaced the “coke bottle” look of the previous LA and LB. They came in a 4-door sedan body style. These models resemble Mitsubishi Mirage.
Lancer Fiore was an extension of both the Lancer EX and Mitsubishi Mirage models. The Fiore was often sold as the Lancer in international markets, but also as the Mirage Sedan and, as the five-door hatchback model, remained in production for much of the 1980s. It was also sold in Australia under the name of the Fiore. Mitsubishi Colt Sedan. Therefore, Mitsubishi has two different names in two different parts of the world at the same time for the same model. This was termed as a great strategic success for management at the time.
Third generation Mitsubishi Lancer:
In 1983, the Mirage and Lancer lines were facelifted in a newer way. The four-door Mitsubishi Mirage and the Mitsubishi Lancer sedan model became the same prototype. Turbocharged and fuel injected models were an implied part of this particular range. To those models in 1985, a station wagon was also added. This model spawned an elevated version with four-wheel drive. This helped Mitsubishi a lot. Often the Mitsubishi Mirage or Mitsubishi Colt would be the name used on the three-door hatchback and the Mitsubishi Lancer name used on the rest. This same model also formed the basis for the original Proton sedan, the Saga, Malaysia’s first car.
Some of the body style variants on these models are 3-door hatchback, 4-door sedan,
5-door hatchback and 5-door estate. This model has changed after 1987 on the market.
Fourth generation Mitsubishi Lancer:
In these fourth generation models, more emphasis was placed on aerodynamics and other related technological issues. Mitsubishi has invested heavily in R&D when designing these fourth generation models.
Inspired by the Gallant shape, a new model was launched in 1987. This was a more streamlined-looking Mitsubishi Lancer. Another addition to this fourth generation model was a five-door hatchback. In Australia, all models were sold as the Mitsubishi Lancer. At the time, the Lancer name was shared with the Dodge Lancer sold in North America. The sedan was sold as the Mirage Aspire in Japan.
Performance Models:
Finally, Mitsubishi Lancer has also gotten into the race for performance. It has its 3 performance variants like Lancer GSR, Lancer Evolution and Lancer Ralliart. Lancer GSR was the 1999 model. It has a turbocharged 1800cc engine to differentiate itself from the Evolution.
The Lancer Ralliart is the current middle ground between the standard Lancer range and the Evolution. However, Lancer Evolution is still the high performance version of Mitsubishi Lancer.