1991 Dodge Colt Reviews, Pricing & Specs

I bought the car new from a dealer in 1991 have now 433000 km on the clock. It has a two litre fuel injected engine and a 5 speed manual transmission. Its upright seating position huge green house ( for excellent all around vision from the driver's seat) and astounding interior volume for such a little car have driven me to search for an exact replacement since nothing even close to this car is being manufactured today. With its manual transmission and a suspension designed to bear the weight of seven passengers, it tows a 1500lb (gross weight, load and trailer combined) trailer and hauls additional equipment and tools in the cargo space in the cab. with the rear seats removed and fitted with a platform one can carry all one's camping gear and even sleep in the car if it's rainbign too hard to set up camp. The original equipment roof rack, is always there for those unexpected occasions of load carrying need and the rain gutters (something almost no current car has) allow the mounting of roof racks that carry even more than the rated load of the OEM roof rack. The synchromesh on the original manual transmission is finally beginning to show symptoms of wear but double clutching still makes the car driveable. Fuel economy was good for cars of this era but is overmatched by engines today with similar displacement and more power. I get 25-30 MPG loaded with holiday gear and a load of windsurfers on the roof. I have had the engine rebuilt twice but it was quite inexpensive to do this both times. Far cheaper than replacing the car even if I could find a replacement. The greatest deficiency is not with the car's design or construction but with Chrysler's failure to support the products it has imported from Mitsubishi with the dodge badge. The car will ultimately have to be retired because electrical parts are no longer available and piece by piece all the electrical components are now beginning to fail.. I would continue to drive this car as long as I could be kept running but unfortunately the end is in sight and this is entirely because Chrysler does not support its products. Performance: excellent highway touring and entirely aedquate for intra city short hops. Not happy at today's interstate speeds although this is a reflection of the ridiculous speeds people are driving today...55-60mph is plenty but nobody drives that slow on the interstates. Appearance: clean crips sharp edged styling unlike today's bulbous bloated overmuscled big tired look. This car is trim neat and modest as opposed to flabby bloated and assertive. These cars are renown for rusitn away very fast in the salty slush of Ontario winters but I have had the car underbody oiled every year and still have no rust perforation. The paint is of superb quality and the car sparkles when cleaned and waxed. Maintenance is the key. Cost of ownership is extraordianrily low. IT has cost much more to insure than to own. Fun factor: I love the 5 speed stick and never get stuck in snow or mud. It's no race car but it is no slug either and it doesn't need ABS or Electronic stability control. With power assisted stering it slaloms around hazards and the power brakes stop straight and true with enough grabbing power to lock the wheels if you happen to be such a bad driver as to be unable to modulate your brake pedal. In short it is the perfect car. I guess that's why they stopped making them.Dec 07, 2010