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TOM Cruise has been a Hollywood icon for decades—but everyone starts somewhere.
Cruise dove headfirst into acting by driving a 1976 Dodge Colt from his hometown of Syracuse, New York, to New York City at 18.
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1976 Dodge Colt models are valued at $500 low retail and $1,550 high retail.
Cruise bought his Colt in high school for $925, The Richest reports.
Apply the cumulative inflation rate and you’ll see that Cruise paid around $4k for his second-generation Colt.
Dodge’s Colt was a rebadged version of Mitsubishi’s 1st-generation Colt Galant, Slash Gear reports.
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The 1976 Dodge Colt’s main strengths were its light weight, strong fuel economy, and affordable cost.
First-generation Colts were equipped with a 1.3-liter or 1.5-liter engine.
Cruise’s second-generation Colt received a slight performance boost with its new rear-wheel drive configuration that offered sportier journeys, Slash Gear reports.
A 1976 Dodge Colt with a 1.6-liter engine configuration produced 80 horsepower — just enough for Cruise to make his way to New York City.
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You wouldn’t find Cruise’s Dodge Colt flying past a Ferrari 512 BB in 1976 — but you could see a Colt Galant taking first place in its class at the 7th Southern Rally in 1972.
One of the Colt’s most surprising perks is its ability to seat five passengers despite its small size.
Americans classified the 1976 Colt as a compact car, and Britain penned the Dodge as a small family car.
Cruise’s career and car collection have traveled a long way since his leap of faith at 18.
The Hollywood A-lister’s auto collection is valued at around $2.3m thanks to exotic whips like a $1.9m Bugatti Veyron.
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