Spotted: a 1991 Mitsubishi Galant 1800 GLSi

The Mitsubishi Galant is a model line that was delivered from 1969 through 2012, spanning nine model generations. During that time, the model grew from compact to mid-range. With a total of more than five million units, it was a successful model line.

The spotted specimen

In the North Holland village of Bergen, we saw this 1991 Mitsubishi Galant 1800 GLSi. First of all, the model stands out because the Galant has almost completely disappeared from the street scene by now, especially this model generation. In addition, this particular example is not only original Dutch, the car is also in very nice and completely original condition. The icing on the cake is that the Galant still appears to belong to its first owner!

The sixth generation Mitsubishi Galant

The Mitsubishi Galant we spotted is one of the sixth generation, which was delivered from 1987 through 1994 (Dutch market: 1988-1993). The sixth generation adopted the technical platform of the previous generation, but it did have a completely new bodywork. According to the latest car fashion, the car was designed a bit higher and especially rounder. Henceforth, in addition to the four-door sedan, there was also a choice of a five-door liftback. Only in Japan was there also a kind of intermediate form: a sedan with somewhat flatter D-pillar and windowless doors (and different taillights).

Scoop for the Mitsubishi Galant

Mitsubishi was still a leading manufacturer at the time and offered a real first for the new Galant. Optionally, the car featured adaptive air suspension, the first semi-active electronically controlled suspension in a mass-production passenger car.

Sporty: from GTi to AMG

Certainly in Europe, the Mitsubishi Galant was primarily a solid family and business car, but there were also sporty variants. The sporty top model in Europe was the GTi 16V, with 106 kW (144 hp) strong 2.0-liter four-cylinder and optional all-wheel drive. This made for pretty smooth performance for the time. A superlative was the VR-4, with up to 177 kW (241 hp) depending on the year. The VR-4 was a homologation model for the Group A of the WRC.

A special limited edition was an AMG-treated version of the GTi, which was 125 kW (170 hp) strong. The extra performance was visually supported by a bodykit and other AMG touches. Along with the Mitsubishi Debonair, this made the Galant the only Japanese AMG model.

Facelift and follow-up Mitsubishi Galant

In 1991, the Galant underwent a very subtle facelift. The one we spotted is from just before that. In this form the sixth generation Galant remained in production until 1994, but in some markets a new seventh generation already took over sales in 1992. In the Netherlands, that model was introduced in 1993.