KNY70-HA7863

This car is very interesting, as this one was a Ralliart Japan car - RHD, different roof scoop, mirrors and sumpguard, etc. The car made its debut on the 1993 Safari Rally under the Mitsubishi Oil banner, with none other than Kenjiro Shinozuka. The event went badly though, as they had to retire after engine trouble not even halfway into the rally.

Safari Rally 1993 (Mitsubishi)

In 1993, contesting the APRC was Ralliart Japan's job, and so their next event was the opening round, the Rally Indonesia. Not much is known of this event, but Shinozuka finished 2nd, behind Possum Bourne's Subaru Legacy.

Next up was the Rally of Malaysia. This time around, they finished 3rd, behind Colin McRae and Possum Bourne.

The car's final event of the season was the Hong Kong-Beijing Rally. They couldn't beat the Subaru Legacy trio of Vatanen, McRae and Bourne, and finished 4th.

Hong Kong-Beijing Rally 1993 (en.responsejp.com)

1994
They returned for the 1994 Safari Rally, which was the original Evo I's last appearance as a works car. They fared a lot better in 1994 than the year before though, and ended up in 2nd behind Ian Duncan's Toyota Celica.

Safari Rally 1994 (Mitsubishi)

Next up was the Rally Indonesia, with the car now converted to Evo II. They finished 3rd this time, little consolation to that was the fact that team-mate Kenneth Eriksson took the victory, with Possum Bourne 2nd in the Mitsubishi sandwich.

Ralliart Japan ended the season with the Hong Kong-Beijing Rally. They finished 4th.

Hong Kong-Beijing Rally 1994 (Classic Rally instagram)

1995
In 1995, they returned with the usual lineup, the only thing changed was the car, now sporting the Evo III updates. They had a rough event, but finished 2nd behind Yoshio Fujimoto's Toyota Celica.

Safari Rally 1995 (internet)

Whereabouts
After the 1995 Safari - and occasionally even before that - Shinozuka started using Ralliart Australia's cars (more on that later), and on the 1996 Safari Ralliart Japan had a new car (at least a car with different numberplate, but likely it was a different car). Of the APRC rounds back then, there's very little info available, so...

Track record
Starts: 8
Wins: 0
Podiums: 5

• 1993 Rally Indonesia
• 1993 Rally of Malaysia
• 1994 Safari Rally
• 1994 Rally Indonesia
• 1995 Safari Rally

Retirements: 1

• 1993 Safari Rally - engine

L6 MRE

L6 MRE made her debut on the 1994 Rally New Zealand, with Armin Schwarz and Klaus Wicha. The event counted towards the WRC and the APRC among others - so specialist drivers were also present to try to throw a wrench into the regulars' business. Schwarz was not baffled by them though, and finished 3rd, right in front of his more experienced team-mate Kenneth Eriksson.

Rally New Zealand 1994 (en.response.jp)

Rally New Zealand 1994 (KiwiRallyFan)

Her next event was the Hong Kong - Beijing Rally. No info on who drove the car or what the finish was, and pictures... no-no.

1996
She returned on the 1996 1000 Lakes Rally, with Ralliart test driver Lasse Lampi (this could indicate that at that time L6 MRE was a test car), and as an Evo III. They did what they could, and ended up 8th overall against very-very strong opposition.

1000 Lakes Rally 1996 (mattsoumi)

Whereabouts
She made it to 1996, albeit most likely as a test car; this could indicate that she was scrapped later on, but just as well she might be still around, although not likely.

Track record
Starts: 3
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1

• 1994 Rally New Zealand - Schwarz/Wicha

Retirements: 0

L5 MRE

L5 MRE made her debut as an Evo I at the 1994 Rallye Monte-Carlo with Armin Schwarz and Klaus Wicha. They had a great showing, winning a lot of stages, but a mistake cost them 4 minutes, and eventually they finished 7th.

Rallye Monte-Carlo 1994 (forum-auto.com)

Her next event was the Rally New Zealand (which was part of the WRC and APRC as well), this time with Eriksson. By this time the car was converted to Evo II spec (most notable difference from the outside is the different front sumpguard and bumper). Surprisingly, Schwarz finished 3rd, while Eriksson managed 4th in the car.

Rally New Zealand 1994 (internet / KiwiRallyFan)

Her next event was 1994 Hong Kong - Beijing Rally. At the moment I don1t know who her driver was (most likely Eriksson), and what the result was. Here's a picture though, supposedly of L5 MRE.

Hong Kong - Beijing Rally 1994 (www.scalemodellink.com)

Whereabouts
Since there's very little info on the APRC rounds of 1993-94-95, I can not fully say that this car had only two starts (ot this numberplate even). The car might have competed on the 1994 Rally of Malaysia and Thailand, as well as being used again as an Evo III...

Track record (most likely incomplete)
Starts: 3
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Retirements: 0

L4 MRE

L4 MRE made her debut on the 1994 Rallye Monte-Carlo (alongside sister car L5 MRE) with Eriksson and Parmander. Together with their team-mates, they won 11 of the 22 stages, but due to various problems, they finished 5th.

Rallye Monte-Carlo 1994 (mulpix.com)

From the ice and cold mountains around Monte-Carlo to the humid and hot rainforests of Indonesia: this sums up the journey that took L4 MRE from the opening round of the WRC to the opening round of the increasingly important APRC, the 19th Bank Utamaa Rally Indonesia. Now converted to Evo II spec, Eriksson remained her driver, and the pairing proved to be successful on gravel, winning the event by over 2 minutes. Shinozuka in the Japanese works car (KNY70-HA7863, article of it later) finished 3rd.

Bank Utamaa Rally Indonesia 1994 (en.response.jp)

Her next event was the Rally Australia (at least that's what I have any proof for; in between, she could have appeared on the Malaysian Rally). There was a big fight between McRae and Kankkunen, but Eriksson didn't have a say in that; he finished 3rd, almost 4 minutes behind McRae.

Rally Australia 1994 (en.response.jp)

1995
She made her return on the 1995 1000 Lakes Rally, which wasn't a part of the WRC in that year, with Tommi Mäkinen. After winning in 1994 (and putting himself in the spotlight) with a Ford Escort, Tommi won again. At this point, the car was converted to Evo III spec, and had a one-off yellow livery.

1000 Lakes Rally 1995 (itsbrucemclaren.tumblr.com)

1000 Lakes Rally 1995 (Rainer Nyberg twitter)

Whereabouts
She made it to 1995, but wasn't used in 1996. With many new chassis built (supposedly...), she is either in a collector's hands or was destroyed.

Track record (most likely incomplete)
Starts: 4
Wins: 2

• 1994 Rally Indonesia - Eriksson/Parmander
• 1995 1000 Lakes Rally - Mäkinen/Harjanne

Podiums: 3

• 1994 Rally Indonesia - Eriksson/Parmander
• 1994 Rally Australia - Eriksson/Parmander
• 1995 1000 Lakes Rally - Mäkinen/Harjanne

Retirements: 0

M8 MRE

M8 MRE debuted alongside sister car M7 MRE on the 1995 Rally Indonesia, and was piloted by Tommi Mäkinen and Seppo Harjanne. They finished 3rd, behind Colin McRae's Subaru and their team-mate Eriksson.

Her next (known for me) event was the Telstra Rally Australia, again with Tommi Mäkinen and Seppo Harjanne. They were running in 3rd for most of the event, but in the end slipped back to 4th after clipping a bank and almost losing the left-front wheel. While the event did not count towards the WRC (just the APRC), Eriksson's win and this 4th place kept Mitsubishi in the title race in the Asia-Pacific standings. (Ps. This is the only picture I could get of the car so far... sorry for the big logo.)

Rally Australia 1995 (www.mcklein-imagedatabase.com)

Whereabouts
More than likely this car was used in pair with M7 MRE during 1995 (although I can not say that for sure, so far I couldn't find any pictures or videos), if that is true, it was used at least on one more event, the Rally of Malaysia (where Mäkinen finished 2nd behind Eriksson and M7). I'll try to get info on these events somehow...

Track record (incomplete)
Starts: 2
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1

• 1995 Rally Indonesia - 3rd

Retirements: 0

M10 MRE

M10 MRE -alongside sister car M9 MRE- made her debut on the 1995 Rally New Zealand, with Tommi Mäkinen and Seppo Harjanne on board. They made a good start to the event, leading it after the first day. But like on many events back then, Tommi was pushing the envelope a bit far, and they crashed out on SS10.

Rally New Zealand 1995 PET (kiwirallyfan.com)

Rally New Zealand 1995 (itsbrucemclaren.tumblr.com)

She returned on the Hong Kong-Beijing Rally with an other Finn, this time with Ari Vatanen. They had one task: help team mate Eriksson in the APRC Drivers' Championship, and also to bring good points for Mitsubishi in their close fight with Subaru. They achieved both, with arriving to Beijing in 2nd, right behind Eriksson. (No photo yet, it is very difficult to get one of these old APRC events...)
 
Whereabouts
Just like M9 MRE, this numberplate has never returned to the stages, although it's more than likely that the chassis of both cars have been used if they were new builds; if not, it's possibly that this was their final showing.

Track record
Starts: 2
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1

• 1995 Hong Kong-Beijing Rally

Retirements: 1

• Rally New Zealand 1995 - accident

M9 MRE

M9 MRE's -and sister car M10 MRE's- story is not that unusual for works Lancers. Both cars debuted on the 1995 Rally New Zealand, with Kenneth Eriksson and Staffan Parmander assigned to drive M9 MRE. Eriksson was fast, but not fast enough, and finished 5th behind McRae and the three factory Toyotas.

Rally New Zealand 1995 (en.response.jp)

Rally New Zealand 1995 (forocoches.com)

She returned to competition on the 1995 Hong Kong-Beijing Rally, again with Eriksson and Parmander. The event was always one of the most difficult on the APRC calendar, and there was pressure: Eriksson could get a big lead in the championship standings, also, Mitsubishi could get a jump on rivals Subaru. In the end, Eriksson won, with stand-in teammate Ari Vatanen coming home in 2nd for the double win.

Hong Kong-Beijing Rally 1995 (Classic_Rally instagram)

Whereabouts
The M9 MRE numberplate has never returned to competition, but I don't necessarily think that the car was scrapped; it might have been reused with a different numberplate...

Track record
Starts: 2
Wins: 1

• 1995 Hong Kong-Beijing Rally

Podiums: 1
Retirements: 0

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

N2 APC

This car - just like sister N1 APC - was an APRC-exclusive car, with her being assigned to then up-and-coming Richard Burns. Their first event together was the 1996 Rally of Thailand. They were mixing it up with Mäkinen, Mcrae and Eriksson, but on the last stage of the first day they had a problem, hit a tree, rolled and retired.

Their second event together (there was Indonesia, but no English plates were put on those cars) was the Petronas Rally of Malaysia. The car got a Petronas livery for this event, and it went very well, as they finished 2nd overall!

Podium of the Petronas Rally of Malaysia 1996 (McKlein)

Next up was the Smokefree Rally New Zealand, and the Lancers sported a Rothmans livery this time. The event was star-studded again, but Mäkinen and Possum Bourne crashed, and that left Burns in the lead with Eriksson closing in. However, the Briton did just enough to keep his lead, and win his first major international event.

Smokefree Rally New Zealand 1996 (response.jp)

Her last known event was the 1996 Hong Kong-Beijing Rally, again with Burns. The drivers' championship already went to Eriksson, but Mitsubishi looked to retain their manufacturers' title. Burns couldn't answer Ari Vatanen's times, and had to settle for 2nd; however, a 1-2-3 finish still ensured the Title and good spirits.

The three musketeers, or N1 APC, N2 APC and the Japanese car lining up for the start (Mitsubishi)

1996 Hong Kong-Beijing Rally

Whereabouts

Same goes for this as N1 APC: not much possibility for its survival, but if it made its way somehow into a collector, it can still be around somewhere.

Track recod

Starts: 4

Wins: 1 - 1996 Rally New Zealand

Podiums: 3

• 1996 Hong Kong-Beijing Rally
• 1996 Rally New Zealand
• 1996 Petronas Rally of Malaysia

Retirements: 1 - 1996 Rally of Indonesia (Accident)

N1 APC

In rallying heyday of the '90s, there was a championship besides the WRC which was almost as important for the Japanese manufacturers as the big series itself - the now often overlooked and forgotten about Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, or APRC. The series was prestigious, and the events so special that many times the manufacturers called for specialist drivers - such as multiple times Dakar and Safari Rally winner Ari Vatanen, Asia-specialist Kenneth Eriksson, Kiwi Possum Bourne, and also Dakar Rally and APRC champion Kenjiro Shinozuka. Of course, besides these drivers, the top WRC stars were regular participants, with Mäkinen, Sainz, McRae, Burns, Kankkunen and Liatti taking part as well.

After this little intro, let's get back to the Mitsubishi part in all this. For 1996, Ralliart prepared two cars (or numberplates) for APRC use: N1 & N2 APC; these cars were often partnered by Shinozuka's RHD, Ralliart Japan-prepared Lancer. N1's first event was the 1996 Rally of Thailand, with the crew of Tommi Mäkinen and Seppo Harjanne. It is undclear as to what happened to them, but they didn't finish.

No info or pics, just this bad quality cutout of a video... 1996 Rally of Thailand

Her next documented deployment was the Rally New Zealand, again with Mäkinen. They were leading after the first day with a big gab behind them, but they hit a treestump on the second day and had to retire.

1996 Smokefree Rally New Zealand

Her final event was also the very last running of the infamous Hong Kong-Beijing Rally, but this time her driver was Ari Vatanen, multiple time Safari and Dakar Rally winner, 1979 World Rally Champion. He bid farewell to the car and the rally in style, winning it without doing any recce! Also, a 1-2-3 finish ensured Mitsubishi successfully defended their manufacturers' title in the APRC.

Hong Kong-Beijing Rally 1996 (Response.jp)

Whereabouts
This was an APRC-exclusive car, and given the fact that the Evo IV was already knocking on the door and this car just having done an endurance gravel event, there's not much chance for it still being around, although it's possible.

Track record (confirmed starts only)
Starts: 3
Wins: 1

• 1996 Hong Kong-Beijing Rally

Podiums: 1 (1996 Hong Kong-Beijing Rally)
Retirements: 2

• 1996 Rally of Indonesia - unknown
• 1996 Smokefree Rally New Zealand -  Lost wheel