Still as good as ever
It may not have turned a wheel in anger in three years, but the Lancer still has the power to surprise
1988 MITSUBISHI LANCER
Suitably fired-up by the MGF passing its MoT test, thoughts turned to getting the Mitsubishi Lancer estate serviced and back on the road. Last driven in the summer of 2017, it was put away when we moved house and, well… that was it, really.
But waking from a long-term slumber can be easily achieved with some cars, and it didn’t let me down. Once the MGF was moved I decided to see if the Lancer would fire up; its battery was clearly dead and wouldn’t even take a charge so I borrowed a booster pack. To my great relief it fired at the third turn of the key and within a minute was ticking over as if I’d been using it an hour or so before.
Next up was getting it to Oklahoma Motors in Carmarthen for a full service and MoT test. Much as I admire the Lancer’s build quality, and although I had it insured, the best course of action was to have it taken over on a flatbed. Local lad, Mini van owner and all-round top bloke, Kenny Rogers (no, not that Kenny Rogers) popped down from Carmarthen with his flatbed Movano and, with booster pack connected, the mighty Mitsubishi fired up once more and drove onto the back of Kenny’s van.
The rest of this story is all about the Lancer’s boring reliability and, unsurprisingly, passing its MoT test. Oklahoma carried out a full service, including replacing the cambelt and all of the fluids as well as fitting a much-needed new battery.
But what remains as impressive as ever is just how well the Mitsubishi drives. I was impressed by its light steering, the lightness of the pedals and gearbox and the reassurance of the brakes when I first took it for a test drive all those years ago.
That’s all as good as it always was, and so is the build quality. The switches work with a delightful click – not some sloppy approximation of doing the job they are supposed to – the doors shut just as well as they would on any decent W123 Mercedes and the paint still has a decent depth to it. Yes, the front wings need some tidying, as does one rear wheelarch, and I’m on the hunt for someone who can do the job to the quality this car deserves. How long that will take is, of course, anyone’s guess.