Feature Cars, Reader Rides, Readers Rides

Check out these three kings of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo stable

Iain Curry and Mark BeanJune 21, 2026, 8:30 amJune 16, 2026

Over ten generations, Mitsubishi's turbocharged Lancer Evo as a street performance icon with WRC DNA. One man holds the key to the earliest three

Three Evo Kings. Image: Mark Bean

Gathering a trio of JDM legends in the city, before sunrise, has a frisson of naughtiness to it. These are ’90s cult cars. Not just from the World Rally scene, but the after-dark performance street-car world. As Sydney morning light breaks through, revealing a silhouetted Harbour Bridge and Opera House, this threesome of Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions – I, II and III – emerge from the shadows. And they’re glorious.

Australia’s modified-car scene of the late ’90s until about 2010 has a lot to answer for. Some call it the “Sex Spec” era, when Auto Salon shows were devilishly popular: Extravaganzas of bling, body kits, mad airbrushing, subwoofers and polished wheels so huge and impractical the car could barely steer.

Many enthusiast Japanese cars – grey imports and ones sold locally – were comprehensively customised/butchered, so those surviving with no or only minor modifications are now highly desirable. North Sydney enthusiast Chris owns three such cars. All Mitsubishi Lancer Evos, white, all-wheel-drive and utilising the same legendary ‘4G63’ twin-cam two-litre turbo inline-four.

It’s an infinitely tuneable unit, so became darling of the modifying scene, and saw service in every Lancer Evo until the final edition Evo X in 2007. It’d handle big jumps in power without needing to get at the oily bits; those brave enough could have it rev to 10,000rpm, and by today’s standards, was easy to maintain and tough as old boots.

For 46-year-old Chris, the journey to these JDM classics was typical. “My first car was a BMW E21 318i,” he said. “I couldn’t afford an E30, so I had to go one level older and rustier. But I quickly saved up money having been sucked into the world of Hot4s and Fast Fours. I wanted something newer and faster, and the mid ’90s was all about Japanese hatchbacks and forbidden-fruit engine swaps from Japan. You had to own a Swift GTi, Pulsar SSS, Civic or Corolla Twin Cam.”

Chris bought an AE93 Toyota Corolla SX (1989-94 era) and enlisted Sydney workshop BD4s to transplant in Toyota’s revvier 1.6-litre 20v Silver Top engine. “It probably wasn’t, but it felt faster and definitely sounded cooler,” he said. He’d been bitten by the bug. “I met friends in the car scene, going on cruises, the Old Pac run (the excellent winding Old Pacific Highway route) or visiting the Auto Salon zoo. Power is addictive, and around that time more affordable imports were coming to Australia.”

Enter the Lancer Evos. He flirted with a Subaru WRX or Nissan Pulsar GTi-R, but a ride in a friend’s Lancer Evo IV turned Chris’s head. Little wonder. These Evos were produced for Group A homologation to run in the World Rally Championship, in arguably the finest WRC era of them all. True rally cars for the road.

Helping matters, at that time, Tommi Makinen was near untouchable driving Lancer Evos in the WRC. The great Finn won all but two of his 24 WRC victories and all four of his championships (1996, ’97, ’98 and ’99) in Lancers – from Evo III through to the Evo VI. The road-going Tommi Makinen Edition (or Evo 6.5) remains a hugely desirable special.

“For me, that WRC era was even better than Group B, given the level of competition between Ford, Subaru, Toyota and Mitsubishi,” said Chris.

Scuppering things, Lancer Evos weren’t sold new here until Ralliart Australia brought in Makinen Editions in 2001, and then in 2004, Mitsubishi Motors Australia finally sold us the Evo VIII in limited numbers. “Until recently, the only way you could own a legal Evo I, II or III was through personal imports, as they sold the Lancer 1.8 GSR here,” Chris explained.

His contact Paul at BD4s produced the goods in 2000. A customer’s ’93 Evo I GSR imported by Ralliart Australia as a recce car, but never used. “It was too nice,” Chris said. “Only 26,000km and mint condition. It became my daily driver for the next 15 years. I sunk my life-savings into that car, probably to my parents’ disgust.”

Fifteen years later, the ’95 Evo III joined it, but needed work. “After having a go-kart accident I left my job in 2015,” Chris said. “My dad Hans had bought a Willys Jeep project when he had time out, so I decided to do something similar. With my wife Danielle in support, I bought a rare Evo III GSR personal import. I had help recommissioning it, and every day I went to Blacktown Pick ’N Payless (RIP 1997-2022) to scavenge parts off various wrecks. Stuff I’d accumulated for the Evo I made its way on to the car, and it’s now a ‘nice driver’ rather than concours.”

The Evo I, II and III are from 1993, ’94 and ’95, so many parts are interchangeable. “It’s basically the same car,” said Chris. “It’s the same body, just a slightly different sort of evolution. The tubs of stuff I’ve hoarded over the years is pretty much bolt-on. There’s minor changes to wings, front spoiler, seat trim and slight differences mechanically, but it’s 98 per cent the same thing.”

There was almost an inevitability to Chris completing the set and finding an Evo II. “Along came COVID and lots of time surfing car websites,” he said … most Unique Cars readers will relate. Sydney importer Cars From Japan had an Evo II RS due to land, and Chris said he had to have it. “It needed fixing up, but finding parts is half the fun so was preferable over a mint example. Plus it’s a lot cheaper.”

Chris explained RS-spec Evo I, IIs and IIIs are rare today, as “most have been crashed or turned into half-cuts long ago.” With part-picking wreckers going the way of the dinosaurs – a crying shame to we treasure hunters – and values of ’90s JDM cars surging, finding bits is harder as fewer are being wrecked. Again, his own parts hoard proved invaluable.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. These Evos are delightful looking legends, but why own three versions of basically the same car? “Frankly, there’s not a huge amount of difference between how they drive,” said Chris. “They’re all relatively light – 1250kg to 1300kg – and made decent power of around 170-200kW at the wheels, so the differences in my cars come from the modifications I’ve added.”

Variations on a theme, really. Chris said he’d best describe them all as OEM+. “A stock Evo isn’t much fun, but a few small mods really help,” he explained. “All the modifying parts are from the late ’90s and early 2000s, so it reminds me of being 21 again and going for an Old Pac or Thornleigh Maccas run.” If you know, you know.

The Evo 1, to the delight of traditionalist modifiers, is “pure ’90s spec,” Chris said. “Everything from the HKS catalogue; the Desmond RegaMaster rims, then bolt-ons like exhaust, boost controller, suspension. It’s a bit of a time capsule.”

The white body over white wheels, industrial pipe-like muffler through the rear bumper, unsubtle rear wing, bonnet vents and front-mount intercooler all liven up the otherwise plain Lancer sedan body. Inside, the black-on-black dash is a study in simplicity, jazzed up with Recaro bucket seats, Momo steering wheel, drilled pedals, white-ball gear knob and Kansai Service floor mat set.

The Evo II RS, meanwhile, is almost stock, but aftermarket suspension and 17-inch OZ Racing rims add delightful rally touches. “The Evo II feels most raw and surprisingly fast given the lack of mods,” Chris said. “I think the gearing helps, and although I was sceptical, it seems being 50kg lighter really does make a difference.”

The Evo III is the most worked of the trio. “It’s got a built motor, bigger turbo, computer, Endless brake-caliper upgrade and is true early 2000s spec,” explained Chris. “The Turbonetics turbo has a bit of lag, and it’s just fast enough to be fun. These days everyone’s making 500kW, but you just can’t drive that on the roads.”

Chris is most emotionally attached to his Evo I, as they’ve been together 26 years and 80,000km. It’s his Evo III tugging at my memory bank, however. It takes me back to my Sydney nights in the early 2000s, joining the modified crowd in my housemate’s Swift GTi (good grief it was tiny and tinny) or whatever press car I’d lucked into.

The Evo III’s more in-yer-face body kit, larger rear wing, 17-inch white Enkei Tarmac Evo wheels, yellow rally-like fog lights, blue hoses clipped to the front-mount intercooler, leather Momo steering wheel and curvaceous Recaro chairs reminds of a scene that was both wild and wonderful, and – like being in your 20s – ended far too soon.

“We were so lucky to be young around the ’90s / ’00s boom and experienced these cars then, going up and down the Old Pac three nights a week,” Chris said. “Today’s scene is much quieter, but there are still active Facebook groups to share knowledge, whereas 25 years ago it was Yahoo Group. The tuning gurus are getting close to retirement, and parts are harder to find, especially interior bits which suffer high wear.”

In time honoured Mitsubishi versus Subaru mud-slinging, Chris pointed out that after street use, track days and tarmac rallies, his Evo I has proved bulletproof, “unlike the Soobies,” he said.

He still has many of the same friends he met in those heady JDM car-culture days at the turn of the millennium, and his wife-to-be had a Lancer when they first met. “Not an Evo, but a two-door carbie that she’d owned a long time,” Chris said. “We seemed like a pretty good match.”

To those of us who lived Sydney’s early-2000s car scene, it feels surreal looking back on it as the olden days. Where’d the time go? “It’s funny how these cars are almost like the Chargers or Minis or Austin-Healeys of our generation,” Chris said. “But just being young, having a car and driving around. It’s just irreplaceable.” Too right, mate.