Well, yes, this Starion was assembled in some small workshop somewhere in Malaysia.
This Frankenstein project has to be admired for its uniqueness and surprising fit. Yes, a Malaysian mechanic somewhere put together this sports sedan using the rear of 5th generation Mitsubishi Galant Sigma and the front end of an iconic Mitsubishi Starion.
Spotted on facebook, we managed to trace some information on this hybrid Mitsubishi sports sedan. Retro mechanic Syuk Garage had located this idle machinery in a village and after negotiations with the owner towed the car to his workshop.
The object of desire was the Starion front end which was needed for the restoration of a crash damaged Mitsubishi Starion which was already sitting at his workshop and in need of parts which are very hard to come by for this rather rare Mitsubishi sports car.
With only a small handful of these cars surviving in Malaysia (in fact only a small handful were imported into Malaysia over the early years) the Starion is becoming a very rare sight on our roads and to a point, we have not spotted a unit for the past 3-4 years. The last time we spotted a Starion was in Muar, Johor and it looked like it needed rescuing.
We will try and share with you the revival of the crash damaged Starion once the project is completed.
PRESS RELEASE: The Starion is Mitsubishi Motors’ fourth sports model, following the Galant GTO, Galant FTO and Lancer Celeste. It was launched in May 1982 the Starion was designed wedge-shaped with slant nose and short ducktail proportions. Styling elements giving emphasis to its specialty model looks included an oversize integral front bumper, wide center pillars and the clean surface composition stemming from the use of large full doors.
It was powered by a 2.0L turbo engine. The careful attention given to safety and ride comfort at higher speed can be seen in its specification which included ventilated disc brakes all round, strut independent rear suspension, high caster angle and low mechanical trail as well as zero camber front suspension.
During the life of the series, a 175 PS intercooled turbo model was introduced in June 1983, a 200PS engine model was added in June 1984, a wide body with flared wheel arches model for the American market joined the lineup in February 1987 and a 2.6L engine model came to market in Japan in April 1988. The Starion chalked up noteworthy results in endurance races and rallies, and a 4WD prototype was built and tested.
