1985 Mitsubishi Starion JB 'Turbo' Coupe

Description

The Mitsubishi Starion was a two-door, turbocharged four-cylinder rear-wheel drive four-seat hatchback sports car manufactured from 1982 to 1989 and was one of the first modern Japanese turbocharged performance cars to feature electronic fuel injection among other technical advancements. Launched in response to a boom in Japanese-derived sports cars like the Nissan Z cars, Mazda’s RX-7, the Toyota Supra and to a lesser extent, the Honda Prelude and Isuzu Piazza, the Starion used the traditional front-mounted engine with rear-wheel drive layout. McPherson strut suspension utilised sway bars front and rear, and many Starions also came with a limited slip differential and anti-lock brakes (single channel, rear wheels only) as standard features. Imported into Australia in small numbers from 1982, there were three models here – JA, JB & JD – each with minor feature and mechanical upgrades to what was basically the same car. Standard engine in Australia was the SOHC 2.0 L Sirius 4G63 four-cylinder, featuring computer-controlled fuel injection and turbocharging. By no means a big seller here, nonetheless the Starion was the hero of the Mitsubishi Australia range at the time and met with some local success in production car racing.