Whole features could be dedicated to the curios of the Japanese domestic market that made it to Britain, let alone those that have remained in their homeland. Think Honda Beat, Nissan Cube, Toyota Sera and so on. Here there's another, the last generation of
Mitsubishi Galant VR-4
The first iterations of VR-4 were rally specials, competing in the early years of Group A against the Subaru Legacy, Sierra Cosworth and the all conquering Delta Integrales. In fact the success of the Lancia forced a change in approach from the others manufacturers as they began to realise their existing cars were just too damn big. So Legacy became Impreza, Sierra became Escort and Galant became Lancer. Then Tommi Makinen got in one.
With the Galant's rallying role usurped, its remit changed from uncompromising all terrain weapon to a more refined four door express. Hence the switch from four cylinder to a twin-turbo V6 and styling so ordinary it could pass as the Carisma's minicabbing big brother all too easily. Never particularly overt, the fastest Galant could now slip under all but the most alert of geek radars.
And that sort of gives it a bit of Q-car cool now. It really would take the very best of British anorak to clock the Galant, and who doesn't like surprising more conspicuous performance machinery from time to time?
Looks like a minicab, goes quite fast
Being a Japanese import, one can't exactly be choosy about spec on a VR-4 Fortunately this car is nearly spot-on, though some may of course prefer an estate. There's not a modification to the car, right down to the single exhaust pipe and tacked on foglight. For rallying and that. The interior retains its 90s Japanese naffness too. It's a very rare manual, the mileage is low and there is 12 months' MOT. You would imagine the seller has some service history also.
But what if this isn't the visually uninspiring, 280hp 4WD manual JDM saloon for you? Well wouldn't you know it, the PH classifieds has another option. This Legacy B4 has more miles than the Galant but is a fair bit cheaper. Looks are probably best decided by the individual.
So there we are. If the obvious Japanese saloons don't float your boat, there are alternatives. Just don't bother attempting to explain either.
MITSUBISHI GALANT VR-4
Price: £4,995
Why you should: A less obvious Evo with a V6
Why you shouldn't: Perhaps a little too dull for £5K?
See the original advert here.