Lonsdale (car)
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The Lonsdale was a car that was briefly sold in the United Kingdom between 1982 and 1984. It was simply a rebadged Mitsubishi Sigma imported from Australia, and took its name from the town near Adelaide where it was built.
The idea was to circumvent the "gentlemen's agreement" that saw Japan limit its imports into the UK to 11 per cent of the market.
Mitsubishi had already been selling the same model in the UK as the Galant for several years, and most of the cars imported by Lonsdale were unsold by the time the company ceased trading. It continued even more briefly as the Mitsubishi Sigma in the UK.
In its final year (1983 to 1984), the Lonsdale carried Mitsubishi Sigma badges, as it did in Australia.
Mitsubishi did, however, sell the Australian-built Sigma estate (station wagon) in the UK during the 1990s.
External link
- Top Gear on the Lonsdale (http://www.topgear.com/content/features/stories/forgotten_cars/08/)