Sweet but Shiftless
When I first set eyes on the Lancer Sportback it was in New York, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, during the city's annual auto show last April.
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| The 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback being introduced at the New York Auto Show. Check out the red EVO 8 hovering just above. The EVO's sporty DNA trickles down to all Lancers. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
I wasn't actually crouched down, camera in hand on the front row, to see the little wagon. Instead I was trying to get a shot of the new Galant and Diamante sedans that were about to be unveiled. What a nice surprise.
The Sportback, with its newly revised Lancer front fascia, tall, squared roofline, vertical taillamps and racy wheel and tire package looked intriguing, so much so that I wrote the model preview that night.
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| The coastal mountains of Southern California were the perfect backdrop for a test drive in the recently released Sportback. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
Well, a lot has happened in the four months since its debut. For one, cars have already started showing up on North America soil and are now heading to local dealerships with availability expected by mid-October. Just prior to this I had a chance to take it for a spin around the coastal mountains of Southern California, a perfect backdrop for a car with cargo capacity enough to carry two skimboards and a cooler full of cold ones down the PCH (HWY1) to Zuma Beach, taking in the sights before hitting the waves.
OK, while the car is perfect for California beach heroes I personally know zip about skimboarding, or surfing for that matter. Where I'm from, the snowcapped hills of Vancouver's North Shore, the Sportback, with its 1,719 L (60.7 cu ft) of cargo area when the 60/40 split rear seatbacks are folded flat, is ideal for skis and snowboards. Incidentally there is 705 L (24.9 cu ft) behind the rear seats.