*May or may not have kept name intact coming through Ellis Island

MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE KEPT NAME INTACT COMING THROUGH ELLIS ISLAND

I was biking down 2nd Ave in Sunset Park one recent morning when this beauty stopped me in my tracks:

Depending on who you ask this car has different names. What is absolutely true is that this is a Mitsubishi Starion from 1987-1989 in Mexican Red. However this was also marketed as a Chrysler Conquest during those same years in a classic case of badge engineering. I guess Chrysler chose the name because they took a car from a foreign power and renamed it as a spoil of their conquest? They should've called it the Chrysler ThankstoMitsubishiforthefavor.

Nevertheless these cars are (in my opinion) some of the coolest to come out of that era. The aerodynamic front with almost no grill and those angled hidden headlights make for an aggressive look. Those wide body fender flares are stock as is the well integrated spoiler.

There were plenty of Japanese sporty hatchback tourers from this era like the Nissan 300SX and Toyota Supra. The Starion/Conquest has some awesome '80s styling cues like the folded paper angles, blackout trim where there might have been chrome earlier (for instance around the windows and taillights), and geometric alloy rims.

Compared to how tall and rounded everything else is on the street this thing is like an arrow.

This guy is going for the classic Brooklyn combo of yuge coffee can exhaust mixed with one out of state plate. Pennsylvania? Sure bro I hear it's really nice out there.

This ride took a knock on the taillight corner which might prove kinda pricey as these cars are 30 years old now.

The U.S. versions of this ride got a 2.6 Liter turbocharged 4 cylinder with an overhead cam and fuel injection. This was a decently fun motor for a car so low to the ground with sporty suspension. Perhaps the most fun part is that they were still rear wheel drive.
*Dig that trapezoidal rocker panel below the door formed by the flared fenders.

Inside it is the 1980s all the way! A huge cassette deck with like 25 buttons rests in the dash. Climate control? Massive array of buttons. That seatbelt with TURBO TURBO TURBO written on it is in that position because it's the dreaded power-operated shoulder restraint that trundles back on a track when the door is closed. The fact that it's a 5 speed stick is great fun. 

Well there we have it; a car totally stripped of its emblems so we'll never know if it's been adopted or not. Obviously the spoiler has found a curb or two in its day but that flakey clear coat on the top of the fender is typical of the era.
Since this is the widebody version I figure it's most likely an '87 to '89 but there is a slight chance it's a 1986. If indeed it is it might be one of 3 Conquests as Dodge, Chrysler, and Plymouth all used exactly the same name for their rebadged Mitsubishi! When you achieve that level of anonymity it's hard to defend why you would even have different brands under the same Chrysler roof?
I did drive one of these back when they were just a few years old that belonged to a friends mother. It was fast enough and could out handle anything people my age were driving at the time. It was possibly my first experience driving something that wasn't either a prehistoric foreigner (like a VW Beetle or '70s Datsun/Toyota) or a domestic brick (any Oldsmobile/Ford/Chevy of the era). Ever since I've had a serious appreciation for cars that might not lay a huge strip but can tackle mountain roads. If one of these came my way I'd happily roll with it!