RE: Mitsubishi UK heralds 20 years of Evo

[gsr121]

Atomista said:

The first one registered wasn’t a Tommi Makinen, but a batch of regular VIs. And I bought one of the first batch having had to fly out to Rotterdam from Stanstead and drive it briefly round the docks as part of the import process before picking it up from Tilbury Docks. I later took it to the dealer in Putney to get cleaned up and officially handed over. Paid Mitsubishi £29k having secured a discount at the Autosport show, and sold it back to them after a year for £27.5k - not a bad year.

Me too, had car number 121, hence the user name. I assume Mitsubishi are not counting the batch registered in July 1999 as technically they were imported by Ralliart.

Today I have number 063

[911Kiwi]

"So the Evo's UK anniversary - the first car registered by Mitsubishi was on July 11th, 2000 - is a pretty big milestone for people like us. Because lots of cars have had 'Evolution' in their name, but only one comes to mind when you say 'Evo'. "

The Evo is great, but there's also another car that comes to mind for some of us when you say Evo.....

[anonymous-user]

Funiest Evo story i have was from when i was out in Japan with the cars we took out there to compete in the Tskuba Time Attack event.

Our cars engine had gone bang, so we were getting parts from various places in Tokyo to do the rebuild overnight.

I was stuck in the demo Evo of one of the major tuning shops to go to their head office and pickup parts. This Evo was their top spec thing with an H pattern dog box.

The guy driving was their head of gearbox department, so very pround of this dogbox and wanted to show it off.

We were sat at a toll booth when he said the fatal words, watch this.

Cue full launch out of the gate, flat shift to 2nd to the red line, flat shift into 3rd, only he got 1st. My glasses hit the windscreen.

Amazingly the engine didnt blow up, had a bit of a rattle though.

Always been a Subaru enthusiast, but the Evos are also great cars.

[Evolved]

Amazing cars from a driver perspective, literally not much gives the feedback and feeling an Evo delivers. On my fourth one now, sold my old GT back in 2009 and went through various German cars from M to GTi, while build quality is obviously better, the feeling they all offer is worlds apart. The Evo is low rent inside (and out tbh), the engine and running gear make up for it.

Mine is purely a weekend toy and i don’t see me parting with it now.

[DannyB2007]

Insight said:

Mine, sold long ago. FQ 300 bought new.

Edited by Insight on Monday 13th July 20:39

Any idea what number it was? I have a red E9 FQ300 hiding away!

[Insight]

DannyB2007 said:

Any idea what number it was? I have a red E9 FQ300 hiding away!

I sold it to a guy in Wolverhampton who had had his E8 stolen. It’s last mot expired in Nov 17 so I guess it’s sorned. I will have the number - just need to dig out the old photos.

[Insight]

Always thought the rear wipers were unusual on a saloon! Must be a Japanese market requirement.

[kins]

I've owned an evo of some sort since 2007. I started off with an Evo VIII GSR, then I bought a V RS and now I have a VI RS.

I've a thread on it here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Fantastic cars that never fail to put a smile on your face.... apart from when you break them haha

[Drinksleeprepeat]

gsr121 said:

Me too, had car number 121, hence the user name. I assume Mitsubishi are not counting the batch registered in July 1999 as technically they were imported by Ralliart.

Today I have number 063

You are correct, mine was one of the Ralliart imports as at the time they were the “official importers”.

The only pain of ownership was having to drive from London to Ralliart in Dudley every 4500 miles for a service.

Mine later had the Ralliart 330bhp conversation which made the car fly.

[Drinksleeprepeat]

kins said:

I've owned an evo of some sort since 2007. I started off with an Evo VIII GSR, then I bought a V RS and now I have a VI RS.

I've a thread on it here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Fantastic cars that never fail to put a smile on your face.... apart from when you break them haha

And having to fill up every 100 miles😊

[UTH]

I’m the lucky owner of one of the rarest out there, a VI Extreme RS450.

It has had its fair share of issues over the years, but when it goes well, it is still pretty epic

[kins]

Drinksleeprepeat said:

And having to fill up every 100 miles??

Yes, it's definitely single-digit mpg when on track but you have to pay to play

[lambeth]

UTH said:

I’m the lucky owner of one of the rarest out there, a VI Extreme RS450.

It has had its fair share of issues over the years, but when it goes well, it is still pretty epic

I have the slightly lesser VI Extreme- common as muck as I think there are 6 left compared to the 2 RS450's

[UTH]

lambeth said:

UTH said:

I’m the lucky owner of one of the rarest out there, a VI Extreme RS450.

It has had its fair share of issues over the years, but when it goes well, it is still pretty epic

I have the slightly lesser VI Extreme- common as muck as I think there are 6 left compared to the 2 RS450's

Really?! Only 6 you think? The MLR had a list of the owners and I thought they’d accounted for around 20.
I think there are 3 of my car left, one other I 100% know of, the other I’ve not been in contact for a few years but imagine he still has it.

[cerb4.5lee]

I remember being on the M1 once on my way to Santa Pod, and there were 2 Evo's in front of me who decided to race...I've never seen two cars accelerate as hard as that on the road, and they both just sailed off into the distance. It was great to watch.

[Dan_1981]

My old one....

[Butter Face]

We used to have a Mitsubishi franchise in our group and one of my best memories was having this IX 360 to run around in for a weekend. I burnt a lot of fuel, superb bit of kit!

[lambeth]

UTH said:

lambeth said:

UTH said:

I’m the lucky owner of one of the rarest out there, a VI Extreme RS450.

It has had its fair share of issues over the years, but when it goes well, it is still pretty epic

I have the slightly lesser VI Extreme- common as muck as I think there are 6 left compared to the 2 RS450's

Really?! Only 6 you think? The MLR had a list of the owners and I thought they’d accounted for around 20.
I think there are 3 of my car left, one other I 100% know of, the other I’ve not been in contact for a few years but imagine he still has it.

You're probably right in that there are more than that but I think only 6 are on the road at the moment. Mine is receiving a bit of TLC to make sure it stays on the road.

[UTH]

lambeth said:

You're probably right in that there are more than that but I think only 6 are on the road at the moment. Mine is receiving a bit of TLC to make sure it stays on the road.

Mine needs some major cosmetic TLC but not sure I’m ready to give it a full respray etc as I still use it as my everyday car. Maybe when it’s ready to be a bit more a garage queen I’ll get it looking mint again.

[lambeth]

Photo of some TLC - having stuff renewed or repainted - these cars can give but they can also take away.....