You have no idea, dear readers, how long I hunted- perhaps stalked is the more accurate term- this Mitsubishi. Starions are very rare these days, I wanted to shoot one in Alameda for this series, and here was this primered-out specimen living just a few blocks from my house (on the same block, in fact, as the '87 Corolla FX16 GT-S). Unfortunately, its owner clearly uses it as a daily driver, and his work hours seem to coincide exactly with the daylight hours. All fall and winter I waited, and with the onset of the longer days of spring I was finally able to catch this Starion, parked and with photography-friendly lighting (if only I could have the same success with that '76 Olds Starfire that keeps evading my camera).
What's not to like about a rear-drive machine with a big turbocharged Astron engine, Japanese build quality, and perhaps the most Eighties styling ever put into an automobile?
Depending on the model you got, the Starion's engine was good for 145 or 176 horsepower. That doesn't sound like a whole lot, but the heavier IROC Camaro of the same year managed only 215 horses out of an engine with more than twice the displacement.
This one is pretty rough (Starions tend to get hooned a bit) but it gets its owner to work every day, rain or shine. What more can you ask from a 21-year-old factory hot rod?
