Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI
The Evo VI was Tommi Mäkinen's fourth-title car (1999) and the peak of Mitsubishi's stubborn Group A philosophy — while rivals built World Rally Cars, the Lancer stayed production-based and kept winning anyway.
History
Mitsubishi Ralliart under Andrew Cowan took the road less travelled after 1997: rather than adopt the freer World Rally Car rules, it kept homologating genuine production Evolutions in Group A, betting that the road car's fundamentals — transverse 4G63 turbo, close-ratio gearbox, sophisticated Active Yaw Control differential — were strong enough. Through Evolutions IV to VI the bet paid out spectacularly against 'proper' WRCars.
Tommi Mäkinen won four consecutive drivers' championships (1996–1999), the last two in Evo V and VI, and Mitsubishi took the 1998 manufacturers' title. The Evo VI of 1999 refined cooling and aero within homologation limits; the 'Tommi Mäkinen Edition' road car of 2000 celebrated the streak with a lowered, quicker-steering special that has become the collector pick of the CP9A generation.
The works team finally built a WRC-spec Lancer in 2001 as results faded, but the Group A-era cars remain the marque's competition monument. Genuine Ralliart chassis are documented and collected; more importantly for the sport, Group N Evolutions (V through IX) became the world's default privateer rally car for a decade, winning national championships on every continent.
Palmarès
Drivers' world champion 1999 (Mäkinen's fourth straight, all in Lancers); manufacturers' champion 1998; WRC wins for the Evo VI including Monte Carlo 1999–2000 and Safari; the wider Evo line adds the 1998 titles double and a vast Group N record — P-WRC/production titles and national crowns beyond count.
What to check before you buy
Works Ralliart cars trade on documented chassis identity — Mäkinen provenance multiplies value several times, so the build/entry records are everything. For road TMEs and Evo VIs: verify RS vs GSR base, originality of the 4G63 bottom end (many were tuned hard), AYC pump function (a known failure point with expensive fixes) and rust in rear arches and turrets. Group N/period privateer cars are honest tools — check shell logbooks, FIA papers if present, and gearbox spec (dog-box conversions common). The TME's collector premium keeps rising; unmodified examples are genuinely scarce.
Did you know
- Mäkinen's four consecutive titles in a production-based Group A car against purpose-built WRCars remains one of the WRC's great engineering upsets.
- The Evo VI's front bumper openings were reshaped after the Evo V overheated in Kenya — Safari cooling drove the road car's facelift.
- Mitsubishi named a road car after its driver while he was still active — the Tommi Mäkinen Edition — a rarity matched by almost no other manufacturer.
In the marketplace now
View all →No exact Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI listed right now — here is closely related machinery on the market.
