K6 MRE

K6 MRE -alongside sister car K7 MRE- made her debut at the 1993 Acropolis Rally, and their debut also marked the first appearance of the Evo II specification (new rear spoiler, revised front bumper, new sumpguard and other bits) cars. She was piloted by Kenneth Eriksson, but unfortunately their rally came to an end when the sumpguard gave way, and lost all oil from the engine.

Acropolis Rally 1993 (Rallysport Stockphoto / RSSP)

Next up for her was the Rally Finland, or as known then, the 1000 Lakes Rally, this time with Armin Schwarz. Armin has always been a better tarmac driver, and the car wasn't good enough yet to challenge in Finland, so they finished 9th overall.

1000 Lakes Rally 1993

1994

With Mitsubishi still committing only to a part-time programme, K6 returned on the Acropolis Rally, reuniting with Eriksson.They did pretty well, won 4 stages and was well in a points-scoring position when the suspension collapsed and they had to retire.

Acropolis Rally 1994 (McKlein)

1995
For 1995, K6 was in action again on Rally Sweden with her usual driver, Kenneth Eriksson. Rule changes (smaller turbo restrictor most importantly) favoured Mitsubishi, and after a good showing in Monte Carlo, they dominated this event, with Eriksson and Tommi Mäkinen leading through all of the event. However, due to team orders, Mäkinen slowed down on the final stage to let Eriksson pass him, and land Mitsubishi's and the Lancer Evolution's first win in the WRC.

Rally Sweden 1995 (LAT Photographic / Motosport Images)

Rally Sweden 1995 (juwra.com)

Whereabouts
Unlike the other Evo II's fates, K6 MRE's migh have been a bit different, as Andrew Cowan's museum has an Evo II with Rally Sweden 1995 stickers on... And it would be quite difficult to believe that neither him, nor Ralliart would have put away the first winning Lancer.

Track record
Starts: 4
Wins: 1

• 1995 Rally Sweden - Eriksson/Parmander

Podiums: 1
Retirements: 2

• 1993 Acropolis Rally - engine
• 1994 Acropolis Rally - suspension

K5 MRE

K5 MRE -alongside sister car K4 MRE- made her debut on the 1993 Rallye Monte-Carlo with Armin Schwarz and Nicky Grist (for a little story on the cars' livery, take a look at K4 MRE's story). They were doing quite well, but transmission problems cost them a lot of time, but they eventually rallied back to 6th position.

Rallye Monte-Carlo 1993 (Martin Holmes / rallylife.cz)

She returned to action in Portugal, again with Schwarz. They had a disastrous first day with losing a wheel, and an accident on the road section before SS13 put them out of their miserable rally.

Rally de Portugal 1993 (Pinterest)

Her next event was the 1000 Lakes Rally, this time with Kenneth Eriksson. The cars were a step behind the competition (mainly caused by the centre differential, which was switching torque between the front and rear axles whilst airborne, making the car unstable after landing), made apparent by the fact that Eriksson managed to win only one stage out of 35. They finished in 5th position though, earning precious points for Mitsubishi and themselves as well.

1000 Lakes Rally 1993 (Olivier Delhez / ewrc.cz)

Her final event of the season was the RAC Rally. Held in trecherous conditions that year (snow in Wales, ice in Kielder, etc.), the stages took their toll. Still piloted by Eriksson, they fell back initially, but fought their way back to 2nd by the end of the rally. It was quite a good result considering the lost time on the first day.

NetworkQ RAC Rally 1993 (pistech.karoo.net)

1994
It was not until the Sanremo Rally that K5 MRE returned to the WRC as an Evo II (in the meantime, she could have been used on some APRC events, like Malaysia or Indonesia, as there are little to none info on them events), and back with her was Armin Schwarz. Their reunion didn't end well, as they had to retire due to a fire. Before that, they won two stages.

Sanremo Rally 1994 (facebook)

Sanremo Rally 1994 (forocoches.com)

Update: before the event, a car with K5 MRE numberplates was used for testing. It would surprise me of this was the actual car they used was the same as this, but maybe yes, who knows...

Ralliart testing before the 1994 Rally Sanremo (Andrea Bruschettini)

Ralliart testing before the 1994 Rally Sanremo (Andrea Bruschettini)

1995
During the next season, she was back again - albeit only for the final event, the RAC. Mitsubishi was in a (bit hopeless) fight with Subaru for the championship, and K5 had a new driver (and Evo III specification), namely Tommi Mäkinen. Mitsubishi's title hopes collapsed when Mäkinen was forced to retire on SS9 with transmission problems, ending any chance of defeating Subaru.

NetworkQ RAC Rally 1995 (instagram)

NetworkQ RAC Rally 1995 (Shaun Flannery Photography)

Whereabouts
Quite a difficult question, just like with K4 MRE. Andrew Cowan has an Evo II supposedly from 1994, which was driven (supposedly) by Eriksson, more than likely in tarmac specification. This all but rules out K5, although it is possible it exists somewhere, as many of the old Evo IIIs have found their way into private collections.

Track record
Starts: 6
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1

• 1993 NetworkQ RAC Rally - 2nd - Eriksson/Parmander

Retirements:

• 1995 NetworkQ RAC Rally - transmission
• 1994 Sanremo Rally - fire
• 1993 Rally de Portugal - road accident

M5 MRE

M5 MRE - with her sister car M6 MRE - were the last cars that debuted as Evo IIs on the 1995 Rallye Monte-Carlo. Novelties for the season included improved engine and all-new front and centre active (electromagnetic) differentials. Mäkinen was her first driver, and they were 3rd for most of the event, but the new differentials developped problems, and they slipped back to 4th; a good start nonetheless.

Rallye Monte-Carlo 1995 (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo I to X book)

The car returned to competition as an Evo III on the 1995 Tour de Corse, still with Mäkinen. Although he had quite a lot of tarmac training in Italy, he was new to this event, and arriving in the finish in 8th and giving Mitsubishi some points was more than decent driving!

1995 Tour de Corse (video cutout)

After Corsica, the car was entered to the 24 Hours of Ypres Rally with Andrea Aghini as a test. They were doing well, but they had a pretty bad crash, drove the remainder of the stage with the bonnep open,and lost 10 minutes in the process. They finished 4th after Snijers' exclusion, one spot behind a young Freddy Loix, who was driving a F2 Astra at the time.

1995 Ypres Rally (diecastintherough.blogspot.com)

They returned on the Rally Catalunya, but this time it was not a good outing, as Mäkinen crashed out pretty early into the event.

1996
The season started in Sweden, and the car returned with Tommi at the wheel again. They made a great pairing on snow, and came home with the win!

1996 Rally Sweden (juwra.com)

She returned on the 1000 Lakes (Rally Finland) with Mäkinen still at command. This was a very close-fought battle with Kankkunen, but in the end, the Mitsubishi crew was victorious.

1996 1000 Lakes Rally (juwra.com)

Next up was the Sanremo Rally, still with Mäkinen. This was his first event as a world champion, and he immediately crashed out on the first stage.

Sanremo Rallye 1996 (facebook)

The final event of the season and the Evo III's works car career was the Catalunya Rally. Unfortunately, Mitsubishi had little hope of beating Subaru in the Manufacturers' Championship (unlike in the APRC), and their chances significantly dropped with Auriol's withdrawal (he had no car after Tommi's crash in Italy). Mäkinen was slowed by a stand-in codriver, and eventually finished 5th.

1996 Catalunya Rally

1996 Catalunya Rally (panoramio.com)

2013
In 2013, the plate and Tommi returned together for runs on the Killeri SSS during Rally Finland. I, for one, at that time didn't think he will drive one of his Lancers again, but fortunately, I was wrong!

As a show car

2013 Rally Finland (static.blogs.sudinfo.be)

2013 Rally Finland (Getty Images)

2013 Rally Finland - Tommi and Seppo posing with the car

2013 Rally Finland - in action on Killeri

2021
After an 8 year break, the car and Tommi have returned to do a demo run through 2021 Rally Finland's opening classic city stage, Harju. The car looked and sounded very nice and sharp, and Tommi seemed to have good fun, even though he had a stall.

Rally Finland 2021, Harju city stage (Ilkka Rytkönen)

Whereabouts
Well, it is rarely the case, but actually the confusing part here is that - theoretically - two cars exist as M5 MRE at the moment! Yet, none of them are 100% confirmed, and both can be M5 MRE! One car is at Andrew Cowan's museum, dressed up as the 1996 Rally Sweden winning car, and the other is Tommi Mäkinen's car, which was at Juha's museum. Now, when I wrote above that Auriol couldn't start in Spain because Mäkinen crashed his car, and he used M5 MRE like nothing happened, it is quite obvious that there were at least two chassis carrying this numberplate. So, both cars might be correct!


Track record
Starts: 8
Wins: 2

• 1996 Rally Sweden
• 1996 1000 Lakes Rally

Podiums: 2
Retirements: 2

• 1995 Catalunya Rally (accident)
• 1996 Sanremo Rally (accident)

N4 MRE

N4 MRE was the first of the 1996 batch of Evo III cars, and also one that started her life as a III, and wasn't a rebuilt II. Her first rally was the Safari, which is always a very difficult event. None the less, Mäkinen won it after he slowed down a bit (before the event, there was a serious concern as Tommi basically wrote the car off during testing as he was driving so hard, but luckily he understood what he had to do).

1996 Safari Rally (internet)

Whereabouts
Not so strangely to a Safari car, her career was done as a works car. It is possible that the shell was used for later Safari recce drives (like P55 MRE from the Evo IV's), but no other competition. Now she is in Andrew Cowan's private museum, sitting next to Burns' 1998 Safari-winning P33 MRE.

Track record
Starts: 1
Wins: 1

• 1996 Safari Rally

Podiums: 1

P6 MRE

1997
Well, this moment has arrived as well: P6 MRE was the last of the Evo IVs to debut, making only one appearance in 1997: on the RAC Rally GB, with Mäkinen. The drivers' world title was on the line, and Tommi only had to bring it home in 6th; however, he got the flu, and had very bad fever during the rally, but managed just enough as he crossed the finish line in 6th.

The RAC always looks something like this... (Mitsubishi)

1998
Her next appearance was the 1998 Swedish Rally, again with Mäkinen. The pair worked well, as they dominated and took 4 points more than Sainz. These points later proved to be decisive in the title battle...

Beautiful pic from the winning trio (Mitsubishi)

Her final rally as an Evo IV was Rallye de Portugal, again with Mäkinen; one year ago, a sister car scored the IV's first ever WRC win and also was the first car equipped with sequential gearbox to win a WRC rallye. This year, the competition was very tight, and Tommi made a mistake: in a forest stage, he overdrove a corner and hit two trees with the left side of the car. Game over.

On the first day, fighting for the podium, 1998 Portugal (Mitsubishi)

Whereabouts
Since she was relatively new and unused in 1998, later she might have been converted into an Evo V, VI or 6.5.

Track record
Starts: 3
Wins: 1 (1998 Rallye Sweden)
Podiums: 1
Retirements: 1 (1998 Rallye de Portugal)

P55 MRE

P55 MRE had a lengthy, but very rough career that ended as a Safari Rally recce car-but let's start at the beginning. The P55 MRE registration debuted at the 1997 1000 Lakes Rally (now Rally Finland), but despite the double digit, it was Mäkinen's car. And it was a great debut, as Tommi won his home event for the 4th time!

They edged Kankkunen by 7s to win the rally (Mitsubishi)

Next up for her was the RAC Rally GB, but this time with Burns. Burns was a man on a mission, beating his closest rival on the foggy opening stage by 17 seconds! But later he was so unlucky that a little stone was caught up between the rim and the tyre that the anti-puncture mousse didn't work, and with the time lost he only finished 4th.

He was the fastest, but also the unluckiest (Mitsubishi)

1998
She returned for the swan song of the Evo IVs in Sweden, again with Burns. This event didn't turn out too well for the pairing, as they got stuck in snowbanks, eventually ending up in 15th.

Nice picture from an event with a not so nice result (Mitsubishi)

Her last competition in the WRC as an Evo IV/works car was Rally de Portugal with Burns. He was in contention for the podium, but a gamble on the tyre choice didn't work, so he had to settle for 4th.

On the famous Fafe jump (Mitsubishi)

Whereabouts
This car might be one of the longest surviving Evo IVs in their original shape, as it appears in the season review video of the 1999 WRC season, where it is seen as a Safari Rally recce car; interesting to note that it retained its sequential gearbox. What happened to her is mystery...

Track record
Starts: 4
Wins: 1 (1997 1000 Lakes Rally)
Podiums: 1
Retirements: 0

P5 MRE

P5 MRE -against the numberplate rules- made her first appearance with Richard Burns at the 1997 Rally Argentina. They performed well, but the rear suspension couldn't handle the otherwise really brutal -at least for Argentina- stages.

The different paint scheme the Carisma wore in 1997 (Mitsubishi)

Her next event was Rally New Zealand, again piloted by Burns. They did well, but the competition was so tight that small mistakes couldn't be afforded. Despite winning the 2nd most stages over the rally, exactly because of these little problems they only finished 4th.

The speed was OK, but luck wasn't on their side in NZ (Mitsubishi)

P5 MRE then made the trip from NZ to Australia, but this time her driver was Tommi Mäkinen. He needed 12 points from the last two rallies to secure the title - he finished 2nd in Australia, collecting the half of it in a Winfield-sponsored car.

Yup, the Aussie gravel is very slippery (Autoshot)

Whereabouts
The car hasn't been seen since Australia 1997, so either it was scrapped or used as a Safari recce car like P55 MRE, or it was built into an Evo VI.

Track record
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1 (1997 Rally Australia)
Retirements: 0

P44 MRE

The car(s) with P44 MRE plates (more on this shortly) -in contrary to the double digits- belonged to Tommi Mäkinen in 1997. Her debut event was the 1997 Catalunya Rally, and there's no better way to debut than to do it with a win!

En route to the victory, 1997 Spain (internet)

This was followed by a long pause, but the car returned to action on the Sanremo Rally. Despite Mäkinen's inexperience of the stages, he finished third after a huge battle with Sainz on the last day.

Sanremo's fast, narrow roads and dry conditions meant tight competition (internet)

1998
Her last WRC event was the season opener Monte Carlo Rally - but this time with Burns. The young Brit had little to none experience of the tricky event, but in the end he didn't crash out like Mäkinen did, as he finished in 5th place.

Great pic from Rallye MC - note the frozen water on
the intercooler from the spray system (Mitsubishi)

Whereabouts
The car -or cars- that carried the P44 MRE plate hasn't been seen since MC in its original Evo IV shape; however, it is possible that it was used as a Safari Rally recce car or was converted to an Evo VI.

Track record
Wins: 1 (1997 Catalunya Rally)
Podiums: 2 (1997 Catalunya Rally & Sanremo Rally)
Retirements: 0

P4 MRE

P4 MRE has a very intersting story... quite like T22 MMR or X33 MMR, and yet not really. She made her debut with Mäkinen in Argentina 1997, and the pairing was immediately successful, as they won the rally.

1997 Rally Argentina (Mitsubishi)

Her next event turned out to be her last one: the Smokefree Rally New Zealand, again with Mäkinen. He had tough luck in NZ at that time, and unfortunately 1997 didn't turn out to be different: in heavy rain, he crashed so badly that the car was like a hatchback after it...

Still in one piece on the first day, 1997 Rally NZ (Mitsubishi)

And after the crash, Rally New Zealand 1997 (Classic Rally instagram)

1998
For 1998, Ralliart Germany got a new/another chassis with P4 MRE numberplates (I think it's impossible that they rebuilt a badly crashed Evo IV for a subsidiary team when the V was already almost debuting...) for Uwe Nittel's second WRC campaign in factory machinery.
They started the program in Monte-Carlo, and spent most of the time getting Nittel accustomed to the car. In the end, they finished 7th - not in the points, but still decent.

Rallye Monte-Carlo 1998 (Mitsubishi)

Next up was the Swedish Rally, which wasn't Nittel's strongest one. Despite this, he and Didier Auriol fought until the last stage to decide 6th place; Nittel lost, but it was still an encouraging performance on a very difficult event.

Rally Sweden 1998 (Mitsubishi)

They missed the Safari Rally (quite understandably), and returned on the Rally de Portugal. They were 11th after the first day, but had to give up any hopes of a strong result when a stone broke the engine mounting, forcing them into retirement.

Rally de Portugal 1998 (Mitsubishi)

Next up was a trip to Spain's Costa Brava - Rally Catalunya. The car's appearance has changed slightly, as the previous red parts were now purple. They faced a very strong opposition - not just from the WRCs, but from the increasingly faster Ki Cars as well. In the end, they did what they could with a car not so well suited for tarmac, and finished 9th - behind 6 WRCs and 3 Kit Cars.

Rally Catalunya - Costa Brava 1998 (Mitsubishi)

They missed the next two rounds - Corsica and Argentina -, and returned on the Acropolis Rally. They were 8th after the first day, and could have climbed higher on the second day, but a transmission failure forced them to retire.

Acropolis Rally 1998 (Mitsubishi)

Whereabouts
The car was likely never rebuilt after the crash in NZ, the one that Ralliart Germany got was more than likely a different chassis with the P4 numberplate. After the Acropolis, the team got an Evo V -R44 MRE- to use. This car could have been scrapped, but hopefully it is sitting in a collection somewhere.

Track record
Starts: 7
Wins: 1  

• 1997 Rally Argentina

Podiums: 1

• 1997 Rally Argentina

Retirements: 3 

• 1998 Acropolis Rally - transmission
• 1998 Rally de Portugal - engine mounting
• 1997 Rally New Zealand