M7 MRE

M7 MRE is a car that first appeared during 1995 - but with uncertainty over the fact when (to me at least, there are very few pictures and videos). Her first event seems to be the 1995 Rally of Indonesia, with Eriksson and Parmander. They finished 2nd, a bit more than 2 minutes behind winner Colin McRae.

Next up was the 1995 Petronas Rally of Malaysia, with Kenneth Eriksson and Staffan Parmander. They won the rally, in front of their team-mates Mäkinen and Harjanne.

Petronas Rally of Malaysia 1995 (Mitsubishi)

Her next event was the 1995 Rally Australia, again with Kenneth Eriksson and Staffan Parmander as her crew. The event (which wasn't part of the WRC that year, only the APRC) couldn't have gone better, as they collected maximum points following their win!

Rally Australia 1995 (web-rally.blogspot.com)

Rally Australia 1995 (Martin Holmes / rallylife.cz)

1996
M7 MRE made her return very late into the Evo III era, reappearing on the 1996 San Remo Rally with the team's guest star, Didier Auriol. This was the charismatic French driver's first drive in the car, jumping into the team in the last minute. Accordingly, most of the time he was getting used to the car, and he eventually finished 8th, and kept Ralliart in contention for the Manufacturers' Title.

San Remo Rally 1996 (internet)

Originally, the plan was that Auriol would drive the car in Spain as well, but Mäkinen crashed his own car during the previous round, and so Burns got to drive M7, whereas Tommi got Burns' car (though with M5 MRE numberplates, which were likely swapped from the crashed car). The new car didn't bring Richard any success as they had to retire.

Rally Catalunya 1996 (pinterest)

Whereabouts
Update 2018: The car is in Japan alongside K7 MRE. 

Update 2024: The car is showcased in the Fuji Motorsports Museum in her 1995 Australia livery:

At the Fuji Motorsports Museum (Miho Cheung / facebook)

Track record
Starts: 5
Wins: 2

• Rally of Malaysia 1995

• Rally Australia 1995

Podiums: 3

• Rally Indonesia 1995
• Rally of Malaysia 1995
• Rally Australia 1995

Retirements: 1

• Catalunya Rally 1996 - retired