The Eagle Summit is a line of

subcompact cars Subcompact car is a North American classification for cars smaller than a compact car. It is broadly equivalent to the B-segment (Europe), supermini (Great Britain) or A0-class (China) classifications. According to the U.S. Environmental Pr ...

produced for two generations by

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

and sold by

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

from 1989 until 1996. It was marketed as a

captive import Captive import is a marketing term and a strategy for a vehicle that is foreign-built and sold under the name of an importer or by a domestic automaker through its own dealer distribution system. The foreign vehicle may be produced by a subsidia ...

by the Jeep-Eagle sales division that was established after

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...

Corporation purchased

American Motors Corporation American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 1954. At the time, it was the ...

(AMC) in 1987.

Overview

Use of the Eagle model name originated with the innovative all-wheel-drive

AMC Eagle AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

that was introduced for the 1980 model year. Production continued even after Chrysler's purchase of AMC, but both the AMC brand and the original Eagle line were discontinued after 1988. The replacements were "badge-engineered products designed, Chrysler said, to compete with hot-selling import cars." The

Summit joined the

Dodge Colt The Dodge Colt is a subcompact car that was manufactured by Mitsubishi Motors and marketed by Dodge for model years 1971 to 1994 as captive imports. Rebadged variants include the Plymouth Champ and Plymouth Colt, both were marketed by Plymouth. ...

and Plymouth Colt starting in 1989 as Chrysler wound down the production of the subcompact Plymouth Horizon and

Dodge Omni The Dodge Omni (and the nearly identical Plymouth Horizon) is a subcompact car that was produced by Chrysler Corporation from the 1978 to 1990 model years. The first Chrysler model line produced with front-wheel drive, the Omni and Horizon were ...

twins. The introduction of the Summit coincided with the release of the

Mitsubishi Mirage The Mitsubishi Mirage is a range of cars produced by the Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi from 1978 until 2003 and again since 2012. The hatchback models produced between 1978 and 2003 were classified as subcompact cars, while the sedan and s ...

's third generation. The Eagle Summit was positioned as a subcompact automobile model in the product mix for Jeep-Eagle dealers. Previously this position was held by the

Renault Alliance The Renault Alliance is a front-wheel drive, front-engine subcompact automobile manufactured and marketed in North America by American Motors Corporation (AMC) for model years 1983–1987. The Alliance and its subsequent hatchback variant, the ...

until it was discontinued following Chrysler's acquisition of AMC from

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

in 1987. The Eagle Summit line continued through the extent of the Mirage's fourth generation, which ended in 1996. The somewhat related Eagle Summit Wagon (which was a

compact MPV Compact MPV (an abbreviation for Compact Multi-Purpose Vehicle) is a vehicle size class for the middle size of MPVs. The Compact MPV size class sits between the mini MPV and large MPV (minivan) size classes. Compact MPVs remain predominantly a ...

) ran from 1992–1996 and was based on the

Mitsubishi RVR The Mitsubishi RVR is a range of cars produced by Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors from 1991 to 2002 and then from 2010 until present. The first two generations were classified as compact multi-purpose vehicles (MPV), and the model intr ...

. The

Chrysler Neon The Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth Neon is a front-engine, front-wheel drive compact car that was introduced in January 1994 for model year 1995 by Chrysler's Dodge and Plymouth divisions in two- and four-door bodystyles over two generations. Marketed ...

was introduced in January 1994 and was marketed by Dodge and Plymouth dealers. Chrysler officials declared that no Eagle version of the Neon was planned. This meant that Eagle dealers had no competitor to the Neon, and combined with the Summit's Mitsubishi heritage, made the line expendable.

Year-to-year changes

First generation (1989-1992)

The Summit was just a

badge engineered In the automotive industry, rebadging is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. To allow for product differentiation without designing or engineering a new model or brand (at high cost or risk), a ma ...

version of the

. In a pairing of the Japanese-built Mitsubishi Mirage and the identical Eagle Summit to test if

Lee Iacocca Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca ( ; October 15, 1924 – July 2, 2019) was an American automobile executive best known for the development of the Ford Mustang, Continental Mark III, and Ford Pinto cars while at the Ford Motor Company in the 1960s, a ...

's theory was true regarding the preference of a Japanese to an American brand on similar cars, ''Popular Mechanics'' found that American consumers were "not sold on Japanese cars. Quite the opposite. They want to "Buy American," but the Japanese manufacturers seem to offer more of the type of cars Americans need and at a better price, and from more cooperative dealers." The Summit was originally manufactured in Japan. Starting with the 1991 model year, the Eagle Summits were also built by Diamond-Star Motors (DSM), a joint-venture between Chrysler and Mitsubishi, in Normal, Illinois. : 1989: Summit was introduced as a sedan in DL and LX trim, both powered by a 1.5-liter 8-valve

four-cylinder The engine configuration describes the fundamental operating principles by which internal combustion engines are categorized. Piston engines are often categorized by their cylinder layout, valves and camshafts. Wankel engines are often categorize ...

engine with . The LX could have a 1.6-liter 16-valve DOHC engine with . The of interior volume classified the Summit into the compact car class, while most of its competitors were still subcompacts. The Summit was also noted for its generous rear legroom. Sales started in August 1988. : 1990: A low-cost base model was added to the bottom of the Summit line. Added to the top was a new ES, which paired the 1.6-liter engine with a sport suspension, 4-wheel-disc brakes, and alloy wheels with P195/60R14 tires. All models received all-

capital letter Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writin ...

ing on the back. Dodge Colt (4948863469)

: 1991: The 1.5-liter engine output increased to due to 4 additional valves (for 12 total). The ES models returned to wheels and disc brakes on only the front. New was the 2-door Summit

hatchback A hatchback is a car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to a cargo area. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second row seating, where the interior can be reconfigured to prioritize passenger or cargo volume. ...

; both it and the sedan was available in base and ES trims. The

manual transmission A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission (mechanics), transmission ...

was a 4-speed on the base hatchback and a 5-speed on all others; the automatic was a 3-speed on hatchbacks and a 4-speed on

sedans A sedan or saloon (British English) is a passenger car in a three-box configuration with separate compartments for an engine, passengers, and cargo. The first recorded use of the word "sedan" in reference to an automobile body occurred in 19 ...

. All models featured a new front grille. : 1992: The Summit Wagon joined the line, and it was a completely different vehicle featuring a high roofline and sliding rear side door. This "crossover" design was actually a rebadged

, thus not related to the Mirage-based Summits. The Wagon was available in DL and LX trims, as well as in a

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer ca ...

(AWD) version. The new Summit Wagon was marketed as blending the maneuverability of a small car with the roominess of a

minivan Minivan (sometimes called simply as van) is a North American car classification for vehicles designed to transport passengers in the rear seating row(s), with reconfigurable seats in two or three rows. The equivalent classification in Europe is ...

with its interior offering high seating positions and removable rear seats. It was designed to attract young families with seating for five. : Production Figures: :

Second generation (1993-1996)

The 1993 model year Summits were completely new and featured more room on the inside as well as weighing less than before. The Summit was now based the fourth generation

'CC' chassis platform featuring a mutlilink rear suspension and the body was given a rounder shape. The hatchback body design was dropped in favor of a 2-door coupe version, while a 4-door sedan joined the Summit lineup. Eagle-Summit-coupe

The Summit Wagon, a rebadged

was classified as a subcompact minivan, or a mini-MPV. : 1993: As with the Mirage and both Colts, the base 1.5-liter engine remained, paired to a 5-speed manual or 3-speed automatic. New was a 1.8-liter

SOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

engine, whose optional automatic was a 4-speed. The Summit was offered in sedan and

coupe A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...

body styles, in both DL and ES trim lines. The RVR-based

version, marketed as the Summit Wagon, replaced the

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

-only

Eagle Vista The Eagle Vista name has been used on two subcompact cars sold from 1988 to 1992 in Canada. Along with the Eagle Summit, the car replaced the Renault Encore because of Renault's withdrawing from the United States and Canada at that time. It was ...

wagon. : 1994: All Summits featured a driver's side

airbag An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate extremely quickly, then quickly deflate during a collision. It consists of the airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and an impact sensor. T ...

, replacing one of the motorized seatbelts. The lower-end DL sedan was rebadged LX and inherited the 1.8-liter engine, which was now an option for the ES coupe as well. The ES sedan upgraded to larger wheels. : 1995: A passenger's side airbag on all Summits replaced the other motorized seatbelt, and ES models were renamed ESi. More significantly, the 1994 demise of both Colts left the Summit as the only remaining Mirage clone, and the cancellation of the Mirage sedan at the end of 1994 left the Summit as the only four-door offering. : 1996: Summit models entered its last model year with new paint colors and seat fabrics. : :

Trim levels overview

:4-door sedan (1989-1996) :*''DL'' - 1989-1990; 1993 :*''LX'' - 1989-1990; 1994–1996 :*base - 1990-1992 :*''ES'' - 1990-1994 :*''ESi'' - 1994-1996 :2-door coupe/hatchback (1991-1996) :*base - 1991-1992 :*''ES'' - 1991-1994 :*''DL'' - 1993-1996 :*''ESi'' - 1994-1996

References

External links

* {{Eagle_Timeline

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for a m ...

Front-wheel-drive vehicles All-wheel-drive vehicles Subcompact cars Coupés Hatchbacks Compact MPVs Sedans 1980s cars 1990s cars Cars introduced in 1989