It's one of those cars with looks that intrigue you. You spot it on the road and you wonder, what is that? You accelerate to catch up, and you strain to read the nameplate: "Galant." By Mitsubishi. You make a mental note. But you never think of it again.

The Galant has never been a darling of auto lovers, nor a magnet for media attention. It's an elegant, competent sedan built in the same factory as Mitsubishi's more obvious beauties, such as the new convertible Eclipse Spyder. But it is flawed.

Take the automatic transmission. It's the only gearbox offered on in the mid-level ES and top-shelf LS. It shifts smoothly enough--just not often enough. It refuses to downshift when a burst of speed is needed, making highway merging seem almost dangerous. Don't blame the engine. Horsepower is 141, which isn't bad at all for a car this size.

The interior is comfortable. Gauge are legible. New for '96 is a HomeLink transmitter, which can open your garage door and turn on your jacuzzi. But the dash and center console are remarkably uninspired, even chintzy. Annoying features include a power window lock-out switch that I constantly confused with the door-lock button. Little things.

Mitsubishi base-priced the bottom-shelf Galant S at $14,920, just $180 less than the class-of-the-field Honda Accord. But by mid-year, unable to move them at that price, the manufacturer was offering a $2,000 customer rebate in many parts of the country. For the ES and LS, rebates went as high as $2,250. Which takes the Galant out of Accord country, and puts it into the neighborhood of Civics and Escorts and Cavaliers, where it belongs.

1996 Mitsubishi Galant

Copyright 19961996 Snow Country magazine. All rights reserved.