Only five units of this rare model were produced

On 24 February 2024, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI RS Tommi Makinen Edition Monte Carlo Edition was offered at an auction organized by Iconic Auctioneers at Silverstone Circuit in England. The car is a limited edition ‘Monte Carlo Edition’ based on the Tommi Makinen Edition and created by Rally Art UK. The reason for the surprisingly high bid price?

The Lancer Evolution was active in rallying in the 1990s

Rally competitions are held all over the world, starting with the famous Rallye Monte Carlo, the first of which was held in 1911. In its long history, a variety of famous cars have competed in great rallies, but the World Rally Championship (WRC) of the late 1990s is still fresh in the minds of Japanese fans. In this era, domestic car manufacturers such as Subaru, Toyota, and Nissan emerged to replace the Italian Lancia, which had been the champion until then, and a fierce battle of wits ensued.

Mitsubishi, which had been actively participating in international rallies since the days of the first-generation Lancer in the 1970s, released the Lancer Evolution in 1992 to replace the Galant VR-4. As the name suggests, the Lancer Evolution featured a more compact body than the Galant, and was equipped with a 250 hp/6000 rpm engine, the most powerful in its class, and full-time 4WD. The Lancer Evo was launched in the WRC in the 1993 season, the year after the production model’s debut, and evolved and matured with each round, eventually becoming the world’s most powerful rally car.

A highlight of the “Lancer Evo’s glorious history” in the WRC is the “first ever four consecutive driver championships in the World Rally Championship” achieved by ace driver Tommi Makinen between 1996 and 1999.

In this era, the manufacturer’s championship was awarded to the strongest rivals such as Subaru, Toyota, and Ford in some years, but when it came to the driver of the year, the speed of Tommi Makinen in his Lancer Evo VI was overwhelming. The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI Tommi Makinen Edition was a limited edition model released at the end of 1999 to celebrate the achievements of the Lancer Evo VI and Tommi Makinen. This model was available in two grades, the GSR, suitable for road use, and the spartan RS, with its comfort equipment trimmed back, and was sold nationwide by Galant dealers from January 2000.