Star Of Arion: 1983 Mitsubishi Starion Turbo
The early-1980s was a great time for those of us who were looking for something different, especially from Japanese manufacturers. I mean, I love a K-Car but give me a 1983 Mitsubishi Starion Turbo any day. The seller has this great-looking example listed here on eBay in Colora, Maryland. The current bid price is $3,150, there is no reserve, and there are just two days left to research shipping costs.
I’m a big fan of this era with its choppy, blocky styling. The 1990s melted-bar-of-soap vehicle trend doesn’t do much for me nor does the current trend of that sloping line that runs up through the door handles and has several others around it, it’s just too much folded and creased sheet metal for me. The pop-up headlights are a nice touch for the next Radwood gathering. The only flaw in this car that I can see is a bit of rust at the sunroof lip. I had that exact same thing going on in the sunroof area of my 1986 Nissan Stanza 4wd wagon but otherwise, that thing had zero rust. I’m guessing this car is the same.
There’s more than a little Nissan Z-car look here in this side view but the Mitsubishi Starion Turbo has a more unusual, rarely-seen look that I think would stand out in parking lots and car shows. This car is a “flatty” without the wheel flares and the sort of wide-body-kit that came on the badge-engineered versions sold by Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth. Make mine yellow, like this sweet last-year Conquest that our leader Jesse sold last year here.
The interior looks almost perfect here and those seats are fantastic front and rear. These things define bolstering and you’ll need that if you drive this car as it was meant to be driven. The seller bought this car out of Washington state in the beginning of 2020 which probably explains the nice condition (other than the sunroof area). They say that it runs great but they just don’t use it, everything works including the air-conditioning.
The seller was nice enought to send an engine bay photo and underside hood photo that didn’t upload to the eBay listing and he seems like a super nice guy. The engine is Mitsubishi’s 2.6L inline-four turbo with 145 horsepower. I would love to have this engine in my 1980 Dodge (Mitsubishi) D-50 Sport pickup which has a Mitsubishi 2.6 with 100 hp. This one runs great and this may not be the most popular car for a lot of Barn Finds readers but I’d sure like to own it.
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Comments
These Mitsubishi Starions were beautiful cars. I sure do love the color combination of this one including the interior.
I’ve had three of these, all Dodge/Chrysler-badged TSi 5-speed models; one was an SHP with even-better handling and wider wheels. There’s no “more ’80s” car on the planet–move over, DeLorean–once you’re inside, and they’re an absolute blast to drive hard.
Make mine black with a red interior, like my SHP. I always wanted the hood shown on the listed car, which wasn’t used on the widebodys.
They’re one of the easiest cars to work on. Timing chain is a breeze once you get the radiator out of the way. I’ve owned over a dozen.
I loved em….but they’re electronic nightmares…timing belts are like a 40k mile thing and a bitch to do…no room to move in there, turbo makes it worse….plus most have been abused, and the rust creeps up the shock towers and eventually into the a pillars from the inside, they were nice new…
Bad head gaskets on these, watch out.
The boxed fenders were added on the later cars starting around 1985. They were not unique to just the Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth variants.
Sorry Raymond these have chains and not timing belts. With a little mods like a cam and raising the boost a bit you can make these scream.
Bidding already past 6k and climbing fast.
This first year hood scooped edition is by far the rarest model Starion left in existence. Untouched original with the extremely impossible to find factory two tone exterior with matching two tone interior plus it’s the top line LS model for 83 with the digital dash, the 8 way adjustable sport seats and the factory sunroof. Wow, where has this car been hiding?
The only option missing is the almost never seen ABS brake system (one of the first cars offered with ABS) with the block type 15 inch wheels. This car has the standard 14 inch wheels.
I have a good set of four of those one year only 15 inch block type wheels in my attic. I had an 83 in the same color with the bigger wheels, an 85 LE with the leather and new for 85 space age full LCD displays, the 85 was my favorite, an 86 and a final year 89 with some mods which made it a monster. The early flat body 83 and 85 were my personal favorites.
Oh how I want this car. Would not be surprised if bidding goes towards 10k. Where are you going to find another preserved example like this? I was hopeful when I saw the bidding around 3k but when it past 6k, I knew other possible buyers know what they are looking at. Except for normal maintenance, none of my Starions let me down. No issues.
One final note, when you open the door, you are treated to a unique one minute song instead of a normal ding dong or beep beep. The song sounds like, “nobody knows, how dry I am”
I had a ’83 Starion, but I didn’t have the “Lights over Tokyo” dash – I opted for the traditional analog gauges. I do remember the digital dash being very blingy at the time.
What I don’t remember is the door open chime being melodic…I wonder if that only came on the digital version or something like that. I think I’d remember that if mine had it.
What I *do* remember is the rear quarter window launching itself from the car in the middle of the desert on a nighttime run from AZ to CA. Apparently the glue used to secure those windows wasn’t quite up to the task, because I’ve heard other owners tell similar stories about losing rear quarter windows at speed.
I also remember the oil seal going out on the turbo which, at idle, would cause the car to occasionally blow perfect smoke rings out the tailpipe.
There were three early press cars used for testing in the fall of 82, one example just like this except it had the rare optional ABS brakes with the larger block type wheels which are impossible to find today, a silver example and a bright red example. Each car was on the cover of most major magazines at the time. If you look on YouTube, you will see Motor Week examined the blue/silver example and commented about the musical song which played when the doors were open, you can hear the song play as they discussed it.
I am very partial to the first 83 Starion, the first 82 Supra and the First 81 Datsun 280ZX Turbo as these three cars, fondly known as the Samari Warriors, jumpstarted the Horsepower Wars again to the public.
My dad and his two brothers each bought a new example at the time. After his brothers bought the Datsun Turbo and the Supra, dad bought the new Starion. I was just a little kid at the time but Holy Moma, I knew we had some awesome rides in our family.
The Supra was the most refined, the Starion by far the wildest looking with the most technologically advanced features and the Datsun Turbo the most raw power. That Datsun Turbo was a monster. It was rated as the quickest car available in America at the time for several years in a row despite having an automatic transmission.
I remember dad and my uncles running all three down the highway and through the curves. The Datsun easily overpowered the other two on the straightaway until the curves came up, then the Starion took full charge with the Supra close behind.
I will always fondly remember these three amazing cars.
By the way, that first Datsun Turbo is still with us today in the garage. Oh how I am tempted to bid on this car.
One of the cars if the 80’s i lusted after. Also the Mazda Cosmo and the Plymouth Conquest. Loved them all.
I agree with scotty’s comments on 80s styling completely. If I remember right a station of this color combo appeared on the cover of car and driver somewhere between mid 1982 and mid 83. Huge fan of basically all 80s styling from this to the Ford exp/ln7, 83 mustang, and especially the new for 83 Ford ranger. Also liked the mitsu Cordia styling as well. I will leave the bar of soap 90s styling to others.
Spell check. Starion, not station
Wow, amazing Flatty. This looks like something ordered for a showroom floor with the 2 tone treatment and that hood. I’d love to own this one
70+ bids with the final price over 11,000 dollars! Even at that amount, it was a deal as long as the seller was completely honest about the condition.
Darn, I want that car. Definitely one of the most interesting cars on Barn Finds this month.
Auction update, this beauty sold for $11,343.87!!
I owned a digital display back in the day; the seat wings adjust to cradle you in turbo time Learned the speedometer capped at 85 … after that, it doesn’t really matter how fast fun can be!