Final Parking Space: 1986 Mitsubishi Starion ESI‑R

Final Parking Space: 1986 Mitsubishi Starion ESI‑R

We’ve seen some interesting discarded Japanese sports cars in this series, including a 1987 Toyota Supra Turbo, a 1984 Nissan 200SX, a 1978 Datsun 280Z, and a 1993 Geo Storm GSi. Now it’s Mitsubishi’s turn, and this rare find in a Denver self-service boneyard is one of the raddest cars to bear the triple-diamond logo during the 1980s: a genuine widebody Starion ESI-R.

Rebadged Mitsubishis began being sold in the United States by Chrysler in the 1971 model year, when the first Dodge Colts reached our shores. Many more Chryslerbishis followed during the next decade, and then Mitsubishi opened up its own American dealerships in 1982.

The first Mitsubishi-badged vehicles sold out of those showrooms were 1983 models, and the narrow-body Starion was among them. The other ’83 Mitsubishi models we could buy here were the Cordia liftback coupe, the Tredia sedan, and the Truck (the Mighty Max name was just a trim-level designation at the time).

I was 16 when I saw my first Starions on the streets of the East Bay, and I wanted one as an upgrade from my $50 beige 1969 Toyota Corona sedan. Being a broke teenager working the ticket booth at the Island Auto Movie at the time, I ended up getting a $113 Pontiac GTO instead.

I’ve found quite a few junked Starions over the years, but the top-of-the-pyramid ESI-R model is unusual in a place like this. The 1986-1989 ESI-R boasted an intercooler attached to its turbocharged 2.6-liter straight-four and was rated at 176 horsepower and 223 pound-feet.

Because Chrysler and Mitsubishi were still partners, there was a version of the Starion known as the Conquest. The Conquest was sold with Dodge and Plymouth badging, then became a Chrysler late in the game. The Conquest TSi was the equivalent of the Starion ESI-R.

Plenty of these cars were sold here with automatic transmissions, but this one has the base five-speed manual.

The 1986 Starion ESI-R came loaded with standard features, which was appropriate for a car with a $17,989 MSRP (that’s about $52,372 in 2025 dollars, and a lot more than the sticker price on a new $11,060 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 that year). However, this sunroof was a $265 option ($772 after inflation).

The automatic HVAC controls were standard equipment in all 1986 Starions.

Likewise for the AM/FM/cassette audio system with equalizer.

This car nearly made it to 250,000 miles during its career, which is very impressive for a Mitsubishi product from the mid-’80s.

It appears to have been in pretty good shape upon arrival here, so its owner or owners took good care of it for its 39 years.

I found some new Sparco race seat mounts and sliders inside, so perhaps this car’s final owner had plans to make a race car out of it.

You don’t see a sports car like this every day… and with so few available, you probably won’t.

As you’d expect, the home-market TV commercials were a lot more fun.

SUPER POTENTIAL!