The previous owner changed the head gasket, but other than that with basic maintenance the car has yet to give me a problem (and I'm always tweaking it for more performance). Must be because the car is made by Mitsubishi and not Dodge!
If you are lucky enough to find/buy/own one of these cars (or plan to), buy any spare parts for it you can find...NOW! If you go to your local Dodge dealer trying to get parts, they basically laugh at you.
If you get the opportunity to buy one of these little demons, do it! It's a rare little car, and as far as I'm concerned no other (stock) pocket rocket even comes close. I've owned Civics, Rabbit, Festivas, heck you name it I've owned it.
Even with it's puny ultra-restrictive exhaust (with no less than 3 cats) this thing pulls HARD. The turbo is probably the smallest I've ever seen (and runs out of breath very early -- maybe 4500rpm), but sounds great and works pretty good for the car (though if you're like me you'll be upgrading to a larger one).
Like the other poster said, the handling is quirky. Takes a while to get used to, but once you're comfortable with it the car can be tossed around with ease. I wouldn't want to do any high-speed canyon carving with a Porsche, but for around-town corner throws it performs grand.
The interior is simply hideous (especially the Burgundy color). All aspects of it. I tore everything out the day I parked the car for the first time. That's all I can say about that.
Body integrity? No rust, rot, or corrosion whatsoever. None. Zilch. Nada. Granted I'm on the west coast, but I've owned PNW Rabbits that had loads of cancer. Sheet metal seems a bit thin, but that's just fine by me (less weight). Speaking of weight, the car is a svelte 1900 lbs or so fully loaded (not that there are many options to speak of). What does a new Civic Si weigh? 3300lbs or so? No thank you.
With a few low-cost (or free) mods (bye-bye exhaust), you'll be embarrassing just about everyone in town (and scaring the s**t out of your girlfriend). =D.
I've heard that these 1984 Turbo Colts are one of the best sleepers ever!!!
This review was posted over four years ago--this Colt probably long gone by now--but (current) Civic Si weighs nowhere close to 3300 lbs--try 2586 lbs-- and it has safety and convenience features that no one even dreamed of when this Colt was manufactured!
I bought mine new in 1984, with the twin stick tranny. I still have it sitting in the back yard, but it had chronic problems burning up catalytic converters (it's on its third one). We think it's due to the scarcity of anyone in the area who knows enough about how to adjust the 3 valves per cylinder at its advanced age... a rich fuel mixture that clogs up the cats. Other than that, I rebuilt the turbo once, and had the nut fall off the end of the shift linkage (that probably due to my showing off how I had 8 speeds... it wasn't meant to be shifted like that!) The torque steer was pretty intense, so it takes a bit of getting used to. Other than that, I wait for the day when I can find someone who knows how to fix it, and I'll be back... it was a great little car!
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