This car, Lot 172655, sold for $168,500, including buyer’s premium, on Bring a Trailer’s online auction, on December 1, 2024.
It’s often said that an automaker’s exploits on the racetrack help sell cars in its showrooms. There are few stronger cases to support this theory than Mitsubishi and its long line of Lancer Evolution sport sedans. Built to give Mitsubishi its elusive World Rally Championship (WRC) manufacturer’s title, the Evolution also gave the brand a sales hit and established an important tuner-culture legacy.
Primed for progress
Originally developed exclusively for the Japanese domestic market, the 1992 Lancer Evolution was a performance version of the Lancer, a sedan in production since the 1970s. Like Italy’s all-conquering Lancia Delta Integrale that came before it, the Evolution diverged strongly from the economy car on which it was based. Its beating heart was Mitsubishi’s turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder 4G63T engine, tough as nails with its cast-iron block. Paired with a sharp all-wheel-drive chassis, uprated brakes and sport-tuned suspension, the Lancer Evolution was far quicker and more capable than its pedestrian 4-door body would suggest.
Mitsubishi couldn’t have found a better name for its rally machine, which evolved rapidly through nine unique iterations between 1992 and 2008. Evo II models were aerodynamically tweaked, while Evo III and IV models were progressively more powerful, with prominent styling enhancements and new tech, including race-developed Active Yaw Control in the Evo IV. Between 1995 and 1997, factory Evo race cars had powered Mitsubishi’s star driver Tommi Mäkinen on his way to his first two WRC driver’s championships, but the best was yet to come.
The Lancer Evolution V launched ahead of the 1998 season and finally gave Mitsubishi its coveted WRC manufacturer’s championship after more than a decade in the series. Meanwhile, Mäkinen gained his third driver’s championship in the same year, a feat he would repeat in 1999 with the new Evo VI, for a total of four consecutive driver’s titles behind the wheel of an Evo, beating rival Subaru WRX drivers in the process.
Such was Mäkinen’s popularity that Mitsubishi launched a limited-edition Evo VI with flourishes derived from his competition version. Today, the “TME” (Tommi Mäkinen Edition) Evo VI is one of the most collectible Evolutions made, even with around 4,000 built.
Going global
By the early 2000s, the Evolution’s WRC success was on the decline, but Mitsubishi’s broader goal had been achieved. The Lancer Evolution had been embraced by enthusiast car culture worldwide. The car featured in the popular Japanese anime “Initial D,” which showcased the exploits of touge racers who competitively drifted their cars along Japan’s winding mountain roads. It also appeared in the “Gran Turismo” and “Need for Speed” video game franchises, and U.S.-based tuner magazines preached the virtues of Mitsubishi’s forbidden fruit. Viewers of the popular U.K.-based “Top Gear” show even watched host Jeremy Clarkson pit a high-spec English-market Evolution against a Lamborghini Aventador, with favorable results.
And so it was that Mitsubishi finally brought the Evolution to our shores in 2003, by then in its eighth generation. The Evolution VIII packed a 271-hp version of its venerable 4G63T engine, laid down five-second 0–60-mph runs and was praised for its tenacious grip, dynamic character and fluid steering. By the end of 2005, Mitsubishi had sold nearly 13,000 of the cars in the U.S., with a bargain base price under $30,000.
Mitsubishi followed up with the Evolution IX for 2006. Now with 286 hp and 289 lb-ft of torque, period magazine road tests produced 4.6-second 0–60-mph runs — on par with the $80k, 500-hp BMW M5.
While the base Evo IX still started at under $30k, the $35k MR was the uppermost of three trim levels. To performance-oriented drivers, the lightweight aluminum roof, carbon-fiber rear spoiler, Bilstein suspension, Recaro seats and forged 17-inch BBS alloy wheels more than made up for the car’s plasticky interior. The all-new Evolution X that arrived in 2008 had a different engine and prioritized upmarket appointments over driving dynamics. The market had moved on, and when the Evo ended production in 2015, few noticed.
Rallying the bidders
U.S.-spec Lancer Evolution VIII and IX models have skyrocketed in value in recent years, especially for the rare examples that suffered few indignities through their lives. A key component to the “Fast and Furious” tuner scene, most Evos were driven hard and put away wet from the moment they left dealer lots. That’s not to mention the high numbers of previously crashed, irreversibly modified or otherwise ruined examples that are most commonly found in the classifieds.
An unmolested, no-stories car with under 50k miles is now a $50k–$80k proposition, more than double their value just six years ago. JDM imports are more plentiful (and with more versions to choose from), which means they can be cheaper to buy, but many of those were used just as hard, and all are right-hand drive, of course.
Our subject car, however, is a reference-grade unicorn from the pinnacle of Lancer Evolution production. A 2006 IX MR that will still be under 500 miles after its new buyer takes it for a couple of laps around the neighborhood, it had an original MSRP of $37k including the optional Appearance Package, Zero Lift Kit and MR Package. This was a well-equipped car with all the performance goodies, just the way a well-funded, adult buyer would have ordered one nearly 20 years ago.
Sold by that original owner, who had kept the car garaged in Southern California, extras included years of related magazine reviews, all original sales and owner documents, and both original keys. Even the temporary registration document from Anaheim Mitsubishi was still attached to the windshield, and the last registration sticker on the rear license plate dated to 2009.
At $168,500, more than four times its original purchase price, our subject car is the highest-priced Lancer Evolution we’ve seen by some margin. If you lusted after a brand-new Evo in your youth but didn’t have the means to seal the deal, this was your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go back in time. Clearly, one bidder didn’t pass that opportunity up. While the advantage goes to the seller for now, “find another” applies. That will be an increasingly difficult task for the underbidder. ♦
