What is the Dodge version of the Mitsubishi Starion?
The Dodge version is the Dodge Conquest.
In the 1980s, Chrysler and Mitsubishi collaborated to offer badge-engineered versions of Mitsubishi's Starion for the North American market. The lineup included the Dodge Conquest and the Plymouth Conquest, both essentially the same car wearing different badges.
Origins of the Conquest badge-engineered Starion
Key facts about how the Starion was repackaged for Dodge and its sibling brands:
- The Dodge Conquest was the Dodge-badged version of the Mitsubishi Starion, created for the American market in the mid- to late 1980s.
- It shared the core platform, drivetrain, and turbocharged four-cylinder powertrain with the Starion, while adopting Dodge-specific styling cues.
- Chrysler marketed the Conquest alongside the Plymouth Conquest; both were variants of the same Mitsubishi-based chassis.
- Performance and options were aligned with the Starion, including available turbocharged power and manual or automatic transmissions depending on the year.
- The Conquest lineup faded as Chrysler reorganized its product portfolio toward other platforms in the late 1980s.
In short, the Dodge Conquest represents the Dodge-branded path of the Starion’s badge-engineered lineage in the 1980s, with the Plymouth Conquest serving as its sibling variant.
Related models and legacy
Before this list, here is a brief note about related branding and market presence:
- Plymouth Conquest existed as a parallel badge-engineered version of the same Mitsubishi Starion platform.
- Both Conquest models were part of Chrysler’s badge-engineering strategy during the 1980s, leveraging Mitsubishi’s design and engineering.
- Today, surviving examples of the Conquest are of interest to collectors of 1980s turbocharged coupes, particularly for their rarity and distinctive badge cues.
Concluding paragraph: The existence of the Dodge Conquest underscores how automakers in the 1980s used badge engineering to expand their lineups with limited tooling, leveraging Mitsubishi’s Starion under different brand names.
Summary: The Dodge Conquest was Dodge's badge-engineered version of Mitsubishi’s Starion—a turbocharged two-door coupe from the 1980s—paired with the Plymouth Conquest as a closely related variant, reflecting Chrysler’s badge-engineering strategy of that era.
