The Chrysler Conquest (and it’s later sibling, the Dodge Stealth) didn’t have a great position in life. They were captive imports, or in other words, they were Mitsubishi throwing Chrysler a bone of sorts. You might recognize the it as the Mitsubishi Starion, the car that Jackie Chan and Richard Kiel used in Cannonball Run II. The cars were decent enough…they looked killer, if they did epitomize the 1980’s, and the 2.6L turbo four had some guts. Nothing spectacular today, but they were good. The Conquest and Starion were Mitsu’s hottest piece until the GTO/3000GT/Stealth all-wheel-drive rockets came out.
The Conquest that Regular Car Reviews take on isn’t a clean example. It’s been beaten like a rented mule, has zip-ties bolding stuff together, a diesel exhaust flapper on the exhaust because…well, why not…and just a whiff of a Subaru fanboy going on with the “LOLUMAD” license plate and the shocker stickers all over. It’s rough, it’s loud, and it’s great.
And there’s just enough NSFW material that a warning should probably be applied.
The 4G54B is such a terrible motor, but I always really liked the pseudo-widebody styling. Guys have jammed 4G63s and LS motors and 2JZs in these, which definitely correct the drivetrain errors
A Chrysler 440 will easily fit into the Chrysler Conquest / Starion, as a friend of mine had made one into a drag car when I was in San Diego.
There’s still a kit available to put a 440 into the same era Daytona’s and make it rear-wheel drive so it doesn’t sound unlikely to have kit for the Starion.
I want to see a comparison between one of these and the Shelby K-car Charger. Who’s unreliable, turbo, boxy, 80s Chrysler will reign supreme?
I can answer that for you. Had one in the early 90’s, a 1989 model. A good friend had a Shelby Charger. The Conquest was a little fast and whole lot more fun to drive due the rear wheel drive.