Lockdown-Cars We Owned -1982 Mitsubishi Sigma Scorpion
The Lockdown series continues with me and my 2 driving buddies, Alfred & David, also sharing our experiences, comments and reflections of the different cars we have owned.
David’s third car he owned made me realise we had much more in common in our motoring paths in our earlier days. This despite his treasure trove of car options that his father’s car yard offered him to experience compared to us mere mortals.
If this reminds you of a special car you have owned please share your experience or just name it or just “like” ours.
David (3rd) Car:
1982 Mitsubishi Sigma Scorpion in silver.
2.6 litre Astron 4- cylinder engine. 5 speed man.
78kW 182Nm
0-100km/h in 11.7 seconds
Eventually someone bought the Lancia and this is what my Father replaced it with. With a lazy torquey engine, reticulating ball steering and skittish live axle rear end, this was no sports car. It was however, a very comfortable tourer with good visibility, a comfortable driving position and excellent seats. The engine would be barely ticking over at 100km/h with 1200rpm in the overdrive 5th gear. I had a lot of fun with the rudimentary rear wheel drive dynamics and I think this was the car in which I learnt the art of heel and toe. Lazy but reliable it had more than 200k on the clock and never gave me a moment’s trouble. I reckon it looked pretty good too in an 80s wedgy sort of way.
Richard comment:
Who knew the cars that helped define our driving characters were shared in our early years. I thought the Scorpion was a great looking car when released. A little ahead of its time in design and desirable. We convinced mum to buy a Gold 1978 GE Sigma GL 2.0L which was the 4 door, sedan version. Remember the marketing campaign, SIGMA SENSATION. It had the state of the art, Astron II engine. It was smooth as silk with the balanced shaft technology which was subsequently licenced to Porsche and other automakers.
It was an honest performer with 70kw & 153nm and 0-100kph in 12.5secs. We later added gold silver mags with textile tyres. We thought it was the most unique looking Sigma on the road. Remember going down the Tullamarine freeway and hitting a substantial speed. Held the road well and so refined. We drove this car a lot and did treat it as our own.
This experience influenced, my wife’s second car, after her Kimberly. We bought her a green 1980 Sigma SE 2.6L. It was the top of the range and we felt we were in a lap of luxury. It had the bigger 2600cc 4 Cylinder which was a very large capacity engine. Normally such large 4 Cylinder engines would not be able to run smoothly. Hence Chrysler, which eventually became Mitsubishi, developed the balance shafts to overcome this problem. It did feel like it had more torque through the range than the standard 2 Litre motor.
We kept this car till 1989 and sold it to Mum and dad. Stayed in the family for nearly 15 years. Agree steering & engine had little feel and lacked accuracy. But on reflection, Sigmas were a significant part of my driving journey.
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