European Convertible, Japanese Flavour: 2007 Mitsubishi Colt Turbo Cabriolet

The '00s were a strange time for European small cars. A staggering number of them offered drop-tops, and in the increasingly faddish metal folding roof arrangement, copied from the original SLK. The Renault Megane, Peugeot 206, 207, 307, Opel Astra, and VW Eos (a decapitated Golf) were all offered as such convertibles. Meanwhile, Mitsubishi needed a flagship small car to improve sales of their tepid Colt hatchback, so they turned to Pininfarina to produce yet another hardtop convertible in the same vein. Find this 2007 Mitsubishi Colt Turbo Cabriolet somewhere in NSW, Australia for $6,990 AUD ($5,345 USD at the time of writing) via Carsales.

Mitsubishi launched another flagship Colt with the convertible: the Ralliart. It came with stiffer, lower suspension, a gaudy body kit, but most importantly, a healthy turbocharged 1.5L mated to a 5-speed. The cabriolet, in Turbo form, was almost the same as the Ralliart underneath, but naturally added some weight. As a result, it was a rather enjoyable car, more so than many of the hacked up Europeans which lacked any sports tuning.

Although the body was designed and built by Pininfarina, it's not pretty in a debilitating sort of way, like many of their designs are. Really, it's very Japanese, cute and seemingly too small to be serious. It doesn't suffer the fate that some of its rivals faced where it looks good without the roof, but ungainly with it; rather, it's pleasing enough all the time.

We don't usually feature cars from stealerships here, because usually the cars are overpriced. This Colt isn't, so it gives us a chance to gripe about stealership's online advertising strategies. Why can't you tell me where your dealership is in the ad? Please, I don't want to humiliate myself talking to a man with at least two mistresses and a whole tub of gel plastered onto his head. Also, don't take your photos on the kerbside trying to appear to be a private seller, it's downright lying and makes me think you're hiding something more than the illegal immigrants who do the detailing.

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