They were called captive imports, and they became an important part of the new-product lineups at Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors beginning in the Seventies. The Dodge Colt was such a car, and for years gave Dodge an enviable showroom lineup of small and affordable models. The Colt has an interesting history.
1974 Dodge Colt: Favorite Car Ads
Japanese carmakers began selling small cars and trucks in the U.S. in some volume in the late Sixties, but it took the disruptive OPEC Oil Embargo of 1973-1974—and the related spike in gas prices—to shock American consumers into seriously considering the purchase of imported cars.
Captive Imports
Captive imports—cars built by a foreign carmaker and retailed locally by a domestic brand—allowed customers to consider imported vehicles, but also enjoy the safety of an established dealer network.
Of the all captive imports, perhaps most famously, Chevrolet retailed a small pickup built by Japanese car builder Isuzu called the LUV (1972-1980), while Ford sold a small Mazda-built truck named Courrier (1972-1982). Buick, too, sold German-built Opel products at its stores, and Mercury dealers sold a German-built little sports coupe called the Capri. All this began happening right around the time gas prices went crazy.
Asian Invasion
At the same time Japanese carmakers began establishing themselves in the U.S. with increasingly robust dealer networks and mainstream advertising. Datsun, Honda, Mazda, Subaru, and Toyota were becoming household names, and showing up on an increasing number of shopper test-drive lists.
Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi, however, had no plans to market cars or trucks in the U.S. under its own name, establishing instead a relationship with Chrysler (the then corporate name for what is now the American arm of Stellantis). In 1971 Chrysler took a 15-percent stake in Mitsubishi, and the two companies immediately began doing business.
Enter the Colt
Among the first products sourced from Mitsubishi for U.S. sale was the Dodge Colt. Based on Mitsubishi’s home-market Galant, the Colt was a tidy, efficient, and reportedly fun-to-drive little car that plugged a huge hold in Dodge’s model lineup. Plymouth dealers sold an identical line of vehicles called Cricket, which were priced the same as the Colts.
New for 1971, the Colt was soon offered as an entire lineup of practical little cars powered by spunky 4-cylinder engines, and sporting prices comfortably below the least expensive American-made Dodge.
1974 Dodge Colt Ad
This ad showcases the entire Colt lineup, and demonstrates to some extent that the little Mitsubishi-built cars were not bare-bones offerings.
1974 Colt Lineup
For 1974, as seen in the ad, the Colt was offered in the following configurations:
- Base (2-door coupe): $2264 ($14,800 in 2026 dollars)
- 2-door hardtop: $2497 ($16,300)
- 4-door sedan: $2437 ($15,900)
- 4-door station wagon: $2675 ($17,500)
- 2-Door GT: $2578 ($16,800)
Popular options included an AM Radio (standard on some models) at $65, automatic transmission at $200-$250, and air conditioning at $350-$420.
For comparison, the Dart, Dodge’s least-expensive American-made model, ranged in price from $2878 to $3837.
Enter the Neon
The Colt would evolve through several generations, and was finally retired after the 1994 model, just as Dodge and Plymouth were introducing the home-grown Neon small sedan and coupe.
All told, nearly 900,000 examples of the Colt were sold in the U.S., plus a good number of Plymouth Crickets and similar-size Eagle Summits.
Overcoming its shyness, Mitsubishi began selling cars under its own banner in 1982. It’s first two cars, the Cordia small sedan and Tredia small coupe, were generally well reviewed, but sold in limited numbers until Mitsubishi built out a dealer network.
As for the ad, we find it interesting that Dodge chose to celebrate the Colt’s Japanese heritage as opposed to attempting to conceal it. And, as far as captive imports are concerned, we think the Colt’s near 25-year run is pretty impressive. In fact, no other Dodge model on sale in 1971 when the colt was introduced was still in production when the colt was retired. Click here to enjoy more classic car ads.
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1974 Dodge Colt Pictures
(Click below for enlarged images)
