Mitsubishi Lancer 1400

There were four body styles, two and four-door sedans, a two-door hardtop coupe and a long-running five-door station wagon (built until replaced by the front-wheel drive Lancer/Mirage Van in March 1984). Engines were different 1.2-litre, 1.4-litre, and 1.6-litre fours.

This car was marketed under a variety of names: Dodge Colt in the United States, Plymouth Colt in Canada, Dodge Lancer in some Latin American countries, Chrysler Valiant Lancer in Australia, and Colt Lancer in some European markets.

The featured car is a 1977 Lancer 1400 SL 5-speed. This is the top spec model of this generation of Lancers which is called the A72 generation Lancer. The only model above this spec was the 1600 car, of which only one was imported to Sri Lanka. Local racing driver Ajantha Dinamithra raced that car locally for several years in the 1980’s. 

The SL spec is identified by the three-spoke steering wheel, the five-speed gearbox and the dashboard rev counter. Owner Amrit Alles says that this particular car’s dashboard dials are in MPH which is unique, because all the other Lancers imported to Sri Lanka, and indeed the cars in Japan are all in KMs. Other unique features found on this car include the “Colt” wheel center caps.

Amrit says that this particular car was purchased brand-new by his great-grand aunt, Olive Wijekoon in 1977. It was then passed on to her daughter Sharmini Wijekoon – Amrit’s grand-aunt - who was married to an Italian gentleman who worked in Rome. Hence throughout most of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s the car was parked in Sri Lanka at the Wijekoon residence and was used only once a year when they came to Sri Lanka for holidays. That explains why the car still has only some 74,000 miles on the clock. When one looks at the interior, it is quite clear that those 74,000 miles are indeed genuine, as the fabric seats still look almost brand new. So even though this car has undergone a partial restoration under Amrit, nothing has been done to the interior.

Amrit says that he learnt to drive in this Lancer! The story goes that when Sharmini Wijekoon and husband were living overseas, the car was in the care of Freddie Alles, Amrit’s dad. Freddie being a classic car enthusiast and collector, was the natural choice to take care of the Lancer. Although Freddie didn’t use the car as such, he kept it going. So when it came the time for Amrit to get his driving license, the simple but strong Lancer was the choice of car to learn how to drive. That was 2012; and Amrit says that he didn’t really see the car again for over 10 years. In the meantime Amrit moved to Australia to pursue his education, Freddie passed away, and the car was all but forgotten. Then in 2021 when Amrit moved back to Sri Lanka, being Freddie’s son, he naturally had an interest in old cars! On inquiring from his mom as to what happened to the Lancer, she also said that she didn’t know, but said that she would find out and let him know! It so happened that sometime in 2022 Amrit’s grand uncle had called his mom, and during the conversation had said that the lancer was still in Colombo, and he was looking to dispose of it! When Amrit heard that; he says “I was over the moon” thinking that he now had a chance to buy this car. Even better, the owners decided to give the car for free to Amrit!

The next challenge was to find where the car was, as the owners themselves were not sure where it was! So Amrit made some inquires and came across another relative who actually had the papers of the car, and knew where the car was kept. Amrit and a friend went to a house in Rosmead Place in Colombo where the car was supposed to be. This particular house had a big garden and at the back was a garage with a wooden sliding door. The sliding door was well and truly stuck, but the duo managed to open it a crack large enough to creep through! And there it was – the Lancer in its original silver coloured paint, with some rust patches and indeed covered in dust – as a true “barn find” would be! By and large the car was unmolested in that it had not even been painted other than some repair work on a door. “What struck me was as to how original that interior looked” says Amrit. “These days it is very rare to find a time capsule like this. As you know, when you go to buy a classic car, you either get a restored car or an absolute wreck, but this was different” Amrit continues. The car was all original even to the extent that this car had never had a radio, and the original delete plate to cover the space for the radio was there!

So Amrit and his friend had to eventually break the sliding door of the garage where the car was kept, in order to get it out. Initially Amrit tidied up the car, got the air-conditioning working again and started using the car. Amrit says that he was surprised as to how well the car ran despite it being some 45 years old and well over a decade of disuse. “The car had a lot of grunt, the gear shift was so nice and crisp, the clutch was so light and the steering – despite not being powered – was also very light” says Amrit.

After using the car for some 8 months, Amrit decided that he would like to “invest” in this car because he found it to be such a user-friendly classic. Says Amrit “I had never experienced a car from that era that was so nicely laid out, and simply engineered. You can focus on your driving and not think so much about nurturing the car. That’s how well it is built. Still, it handles nicely and it’s a nice sized car for daily use. Certainly I have never owned a car that is so good on fuel consumption”.

Amrit drove the car to Nuwara Eliya in April 2025, and took part in the Mahagastotte Historic event. He says that the trip gave him confidence that this car is indeed a nice car to use even on a daily basis.

“People on the streets look at this car lovingly, instead of envy(!) because they also know that this is an attainable (and affordable) classic” concludes Amrit.