Mitsubishi · 1982–1989

Mitsubishi Starion

The Mitsubishi Starion is a sports car which was manufactured and marketed by Mitsubishi from 1982 until 1989 — with badge engineered variants marketed in North America as the Conquest, under the Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth brands. It is a two-door coupé with a fastback design and seating for four passengers. The Starion's straight-four engine is mounted in the front and drives the rear wheels, with some models being turbocharged. The Starion was one of the first modern Japanese turbocharged performance automobiles with electronic fuel injection.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Predecessor: Mitsubishi Galant Lambda · Successor: Mitsubishi GTO

All Mitsubishi Starion data: UK builds, safety, recalls, model years →

Overview

Mitsubishi began marketing the Starion in 1982, during a period in which a number of Japanese grand tourer (GT) sports cars were available, including the Nissan Z cars, Mazda RX-7, Toyota Supra and to a lesser extent, the Honda Prelude, Isuzu Piazza and Subaru XT. The Starion was marketed in the US as the Mitsubishi Starion and badge engineered variants of it were marketed as the Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler Conquest. In the UK it was sold as the Colt Starion. It was manufactured in two body configurations, a narrowbody and widebody; the narrower style complied with Japanese exterior dimension regulations taxing larger vehicles and engine displacement exceeding two liters. Only the narrowbody was offered through the 1985.5 model year. The introduction of the widebody also split the car into two ranges: a non-intercooled lower-horsepower car using the narrow body style and a high-performance intercooled widebody. In most markets, widebody cars were given the label of Starion ESI-R or Conquest TSi. Markets that never received the widebody had the ESI-R label, these cars had similar performance as the widebodies. Widebody cars were offered in 1986–1989 model years in the US. The Starion was featured in the 1984 movie Cannonball Run II, with Jackie Chan at the wheel.

Name

Mitsubishi says "Starion" is a contraction of "Star of Arion" — and refers to both a star and the mythical horse, Arion. The cover of the original Japanese Starion sales brochure, published by Mitsubishi (May 1982) carried the text: "the name STARION — derived from the combination of star and Arion, Hercules' horse in Greek mythology, symbolizes a sense of the universe, and of power and high performance." Several sources attribute the name to struggles by Japanese engineers to pronounce the word stallion. An early Japanese television commercial for the Starion closed with a logo of a stallion's head with the word "Starion" below it. One translation of the voiceover says the name refers to a star and the mythical horse, Arion. The Mitsubishi Colt and Mitsubishi Eclipse featured equine names, with the Eclipse named after the champion racehorse. It is possible that this is a multilayered pun.

Design

The Starion uses a traditional front-mounted engine with rear-wheel drive layout. Many came with a limited-slip differential and anti-lock brakes (single channel, rear wheels only) as standard features. The entire chassis was derived from the previous high-performance variant of the Mitsubishi Sapporo or Mitsubishi Galant Lambda sports coupé, with a MacPherson strut suspension and sway bars that were fitted to the front and rear. Rack and pinion steering was not offered, instead gearbox steering was standard on all models. Engine capacity differed between markets. American customers received the larger SOHC Astron G54B 2.6 L engine. Most markets received the SOHC 2.0 L Sirius G63B engine, subsequently featured in DOHC form in later Mitsubishi sport compacts such as the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. Both the 2.0 L and the 2.6 L produced roughly the same horsepower, the larger 2.6 L did have a slight torque advantage and the 2.0L had a higher redline. Reporters of the time considered the 2.0l to be peaky and exciting, while the American market 2.6l had plenty of torque, but was less rewarding. Both engines featured computer-controlled fuel injection and turbocharging. After 1987, European Starion models were also fitted with the 2.6 L engine, as was the GSR-VR for Japan. The move to the 2.6 L in all markets was spurred by emissions restrictions around the world tightening to meet the American standards for lead in fuels. Reviews during the change were negative as many felt the car was slower, for most of these markets this was the case as the engine change also coincided with a move to the heavier body style. From 1984 until 1987 in Japan a 12-valve (two intake, one exhaust) SOHC intercooled version of the 2.0 L G63B was made available in the top-spec GSR-V (and some GSR-V

Models

A number of models existed throughout the world during 1982 to 1989. Japan. 2.0 L G63B engine, apart from GSR-VR which has 2.6 L G54B. The Japanese domestic market had a large range of Starions to choose from. GX - 1982–1983 - live rear axle, non-turbo 110 PS (81 kW; 108 hp) engine GSR-I, GSR-II, GSR-III, GSR-X - 1982–1984 - turbocharged, the earliest models were non-intercooled (145 PS (107 kW; 143 hp)). Intercooler versions had 175 PS (129 kW; 173 hp) GSR-II, GSR-III, GSR-X - 1984–1987 - mid-life refresh, can be distinguished from the earlier Starions by large fog lights in the front bumper GSR-V - 1984–1987 - all equipped with 12-valve Sirius DASH engine (200 PS (147 kW; 197 hp)) and 5-bolt wheels GSR-VR - 1987–1989 - widebody, equipped with the 2.6 L Astron engine (175 PS (129 kW; 173 hp)). A small number of widebodies (approx. 73) were produced with the Sirius DASH as a limited-edition model known as 2000GSR-VR The Roman numeral after 'GSR' denotes the vehicle specification. Some examples can be found below: GSR-I - base model GSR-II - power steering and electric windows, optional digital dash cluster and trip computer GSR-III - improved audio system, trip computer system, digital dash cluster, and air conditioning. GSR-X - leather interior replaced the cloth, climate control, air conditioning, cruise control Australia. 2.0 L G63B engine. Australian vehicles were mostly similar to the European Turbo specification. The J codes below denote the model version, and are found on the Australian Vehicle Information Plates. JA - 1982–1984 JB - 1984–1985 JD - 1985–1987 North America. It was marketed in North America by Mitsubishi as the Starion from 1983 until 1989. It was also sold as a captive import by Chrysler as the Conquest, under both the Dodge and Plymouth names

Motorsports

The Starion was a prominent competitor in motorsports up to International level during the 1980s and performed well on the circuit in Group A and Group N races of the era. Andy McLennan driving a Simmons Drums sponsored Starion was very successful, picking up many race wins and a Monroe championship, this against the semi works car of Colin Blower. In the Netherlands, John Hugenholtz won the over 2L class in the Dutch Championship, with the Colin Blower-prepared Mitsubishi Dealers car. In the United States, the Starion became best known for successes in endurance racing at several SCCA sanctioned events, and in Japan at the Japanese Touring Car Championship. Starions from Dave Wolin's Team Mitsubishi, with turbocharged 2.6 L G54B engines built by noted Lotus engine guru Dave Vegher, captured the prestigious "Longest Day of Nelson Ledges" 24-hour endurance race four years running from 1984 through 1987. Team Mitsubishi Starions also won the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) U.S. Endurance Championships three of those four years, competing against the fully factory-backed (Wolin's team was only partially sponsored by Mitsubishi) efforts from Chrysler, Audi, Nissan and Mazda. Although not commonly seen in modern motorsports, a number are still raced on both circuit and in special stage rally events, usually by privateers. Starion 4WD. The Starion was not very successful off-road, but found victory in Group A World Rally Championships and Asia Pacific Rally Championships during 1987 and 1988. An all wheel drive version of the Starion was also produced for Group B specifications (one of the few Japanese automobile manufacturers to enter this class), but after an encouraging start as a prototype, it was not homologated before the FIA banned Group B cars for safety reasons. Th

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name: Mitsubishi Starion
Manufacturer: Mitsubishi Motors
Production: 1982–1989
Model years: 1983–1989
Predecessor: Mitsubishi Galant Lambda GSR
Successor: Mitsubishi GTO/Dodge Stealth, Plymouth Laser/Eagle Talon, Mitsubishi Eclipse
Class: Sports car
Platform: FR layout
Body style: 3-door coupé
Engine: 2.0 L G63B I4, 2.0 L G63B turbo I4, 2.6 L G54B turbo I4
Transmission: 5-speed manual, 4-speed automatic
Wheelbase: 2435 mm
Length: 4410 mm (1982–87), 4400 mm (1988–90)
Width: 1685 mm (narrowbody), 1745 mm (widebody), 1735 mm (1988–89)
Height: 1320 mm (1982–87), 1275 mm (1988–89)
Assembly: Japan: Okazaki, Aichi (Nagoya Plant)
Kerb weight: 1260 kg (narrowbody), 1340 kg (widebody)
aka: Mitsubishi Colt Starion, Chrysler Conquest, Dodge Conquest, Plymouth Conquest
Designer: Ryu Kaibuchi, Takashi Kono, Masaki Iwamoto, Hidetoshi Aoki

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Measured facts from Wikidata (CC0). Check the linked sources for citations.

More photos

Sources

Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1531303CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_StarionCC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1369793012 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1987ChryslerConquestTSi.jpgCC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo: No machine-readable author provided. PeteBergeron assumed (based on copyright claims). · retrieved 2026-10-01
Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.