COLT 11FFSS I n addition to the Colt 1500SS entries by the Mitsubishi factory in the 1969 Southern Cross Rally, 2 "Colt 11FSS's" were also entered. Both rally cars were built on the same base chassis, the Colt 1000F. They were then equipped with a Colt 11F engine bored out by 100 cc and fitted with twin SU carburetors which gave a maximum power output of 73 h.p.. The Colt 11FSS had already competed in and won domestic Japanese rallies and in the '69 Southern Cross Rally it took 7th outright which, added to the results of the Colt 1500SS, earned Mitsubishi the Manufacturer's Prize in that year. As the successor to the Colt 1500SS, the Colt 11FSS was used in 1970 as the official factory chassis and it was in this year that 3 11FSS rally machines were entered in the Ampol Trial, an Australian long-distance rally that was an even bigger event than the Southern Cross. The Ampol Trial, held over the last part of June and first part of July, saw the 3 Colt 11FSSs not only finish 4th, 6th and 7th outright, but also totally dominate their class with a wonderful 1-2-3 result. As had become traditional by then, the Colt 11FSS was entered in the Southern Cross Rally of that year and again took a podium finish with 3rd position overall. 1970 was the final year that the rally machines based upon the Colt 1000 were used, because the following year the newly developed Galant would become the official chassis for the factory, a change which also signaled an even more serious commitment to rally competition by the Mitsubishi factory. BACK

Copyright 1996,1997 by Mitsubishi Motors Corporation.